"Some people think football is a matter of life or death, but it's far more important than that." - Bill Shankley

We have too many of them here, so they're running a special.

The benefit of being wide awake at 2:30 is the amount of work you can get done before the sun has cleared the horizon. Half the day's chores were crossed off the list.
At about 3:30 I went back to see if I had closed the bedroom door on my way out. I had. That was some LOUD snoring! (not normal, thankfully)

After two years the U.S. Attorney General's office has closed its investigation into Lance Armstrong and allegations involving doping. Normally that would be considered vindication and give credence to his claims of total innocence. (No athlete has ever been tested more than Armstrong without a single positive result.) But the Attorney General's record on doping cases is so bad Armstrong gets no real benefit from their decision. This office (San Francisco) couldn't convince a jury that Barry Bonds used steroids. (Just show them a hat from his rookie year and a picture of his head in his last year. "If it doesn't fit you must convict.") And this same office had their first attempt to convict Roger Clemons thrown out when they showed jurors evidence the judge had already declared inadmissible. From Armstrong's perspective, once the CA district of the U.S. Attorney General's Office got involved it was a lose/lose.

This afternoon I drove an hour SE of here to look at a car. The '62 Nova had been on Craig's List for a week or so for $5400 but in an email exchange the guy said he'd go down to $4500. OK, worth the drive. I've been following prices pretty closely and if it was a decent car (as the ad said) it would be worth $4000 or a little less. Nothing to lose by offering him $3800 and see how he responds.

He drove it to work this morning, a Kohl's in a large outdoor mall. I found it in the parking lot and in 60 seconds or less knew I wasn't interested. It had an Earl Scheib paint job so bad that they didn't even bother taping off some of the trim. I could have done as well with six cans of Rustoleum. Both bumpers were bent, the hood had been sprung, a floor pan replaced badly, a vent window cracked... and the engine compartment was a disaster. The "recently rebuilt" engine had oil dripping down from both sides of the valve cover, wrong air cleaner, and on and on.

Interestingly, the guy had a For Sale sign on the dash that said $6000. I wouldn't have paid $1000 for it.
The arrangement was that I'd call him and he'd come out from the store so I could start it up. I sent him a text saying "I am at the car, don't bother coming out. It's not something I'm interested in."
And hour's drive home. But I learn from every experience like that. Each one prepares me for the next.

Russia and China vetoed the U.N. resolution calling on Syria's Bashar Assad to resign. Those two nations must have amnesia or they'd remember what happend in Libya. It's not if, but when Assad is overthrown. And whatever govt. follows will remember that U.N. vote. A unanimous vote in the Security Council this morning would not have changed things on the ground but the absence of a resolution due to those two nations indicates their tolerance for brutal totalitarianism.
Oh wait. Now I get it.

One of my former students now pastors a church in Glendale in the north valley. They've challenged us to a co-ed softball game to be played after a joint picnic the afternoon of the 26th. To enhance the camaraderie Josh and I will swap places on the 19th. I'll preach and teach at his place and he at mine. These breaks from the routine are good for everyone, preachers included. From the speaker's perspective it presents some challenges, but the unfamiliar bell rings clear. A different voice can say the same thing with greater impact.

One of the big advantage to preaching through a book of the Bible (we're doing Romans now) is that I don't have to sweat the, "What am I going to preach this week??" issue. (There are many other benefits.) But in two weeks I'll to a one-off sermon followed by a one-off lesson in his class.
Hmmmm.... What to do??