Tuesday, January 13, 2015

When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.


I got the last table at Starbucks this morning, the larger of the two sizes they have at this one and suitable for four people if they don't mind sitting very close. So when a guy asked a few minutes later if I'd be willing to share the table with him I agreed and consolidated my stuff. He looked to be a few years older than me, bald, and carrying a satchel, so I knew he was also there to work.

I didn't know he'd be on his phone for much of the time, talking loudly enough that Handel in my ear buds didn't drown him out. I also didn't expect he'd be frustrated with much of whatever he was working on and express that irritation with language we don't use at our house. I debated whether I should tell him his choice of words seemed particularly incongruent with my sermon prep, but decided to let it go.

For a variety of reasons my daily trips to the gym have been more like weekly, or bi-weekly at best. Today I begin anew. This evening I begin to hurt.
The road back is always uphill.

I finished that Richard North Patterson book this morning. His never end the way I want because I like all the loose ends tied up and he likes some things unanswered. But I like his stories, which are more complex than the typical whodunit book. Now to decide what's next on the reading agenda. In a sermon recently I made reference to a Cornelius VanTil book, "A Breviary of Sin; Not the Way It's Supposed to Be." I read it decades ago and should re-read it, so that may move to the top of the list. It's the polar opposite of a contemporary novel, whether Patterson, or Grisham, or.... This is heavy theology and VanTil's writing very dense. So if I choose that I'll have to gear up for it.

I found a place on the SE side of town that sells a lot of the stuff I need for the truck. Got one of their catalogs and prices are at or below the vendors I've been using, and I wouldn't have to pay shipping. Yeah, I gotta drive over there and back, but if I'm headed that direction for, say, car auctions in Scottsdale....
Yeah, I'll be stopping by there Thursday and/or Friday, shopping list in hand.

The thing about working on a truck (or doing something similar) is that there's a direct relationship between skill and outcomes, and between effort and outcomes. If I'm good, and if I give it my best effort, the results will be commensurate. If either one of those factors is lacking the end product will suffer.
Skill and effort are not certain indicator of outcomes in some professions - sales, medicine, ministry....

If you need something to watch on TV this week Discovery Network and Velocity are broadcasting the Barrett-Jackson auction. Tune in Thursday and you might see me on screen. (Very, very unlikely.)

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