"Ask five economists and you'll get five different answers - six if one went to Harvard." - Edgar Fiedler

Our Thursday routine involves me driving Pam to work, picking her up when she gets off at 5:30, and going someplace for dinner. We're not foodies and the priority is conversation with each other, not a waitress stopping by every five minutes to interrupt and ask, "How is everything?" (Well, in Crimea things pretty much stink, but that's probably not what you meant.) So we often end up, as we did tonight, at the Carumba's near the hospital. As the name suggests it's Mexican, but gringo-fied (not at all spicy) and they have a variety of gluten free options. Order you meal, get a number, and come back to pick it up when it's called out. No waitresses. Our standard is chicken fajitas with corn tortillas on the side, no beans and no rice. Cheap enough, and they advertise that all their ingredients are fresh and natural.

Tonight we talked some about what our lives might look like three years from now. Pam will be 65 (I'm ahead of her by 18 months) so we'll both be on Medicare. Pam working so we have health insurance coverage won't be necessary like it is now.

How long will we work? What would we do if we didn't work? (think: teardrop) Would we be bored, unfulfilled? And did we ever imagine having a conversation like this? (no)

Because I had her car for the day I took it for an alignment at the Kia dealership. I had tires put on a few weeks ago and the fronts had worn unevenly, so the $100 seemed like a wise investment. But I didn't realize it takes 90 minutes. Really bad coffee.

The F1 season starts this weekend with the Australian GP. The DVR is recording the first practice session as I type this.

I had lunch today with Matt to talk through his sermon. I'm headed back to Grand Rapids next week for a pastor's conference and he'll be preaching for me on the 23rd. I enjoy seeing these guys develop as elders who can cover for me when I'm out of town. Yeah, they sweat over it, but they confess to also enjoying the experience. And I especially like it that Pathway has elders who are more than just some kind of executive committee, a board of directors.

So Matt will preach at Pathway and do a good job. (Josh will teach my class second hour.) I'll be at Celebration Bible Church that morning with the people I served for almost seven years. Looking forward to that. And to the break. I need a break.