hushed gray: the Kevin chronicles

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Better communication, eh?
I really believe the one-hour nap I got this afternoon did me more good than the eight hours I spent in bed last night. I feel marvelously refreshed. It probably didn't hurt that my stomach and mind were somewhat more settled.

Mr. T gave the second part of a sermon exploring different ways people can respond to God's Word, illustrating the points with various kings of Israel and Judah. There were a couple of particularly interesting points. In addition, I had some good talks, one on IM, today. I'd say it was a good Sabbath.

What's up for tonight? Dunno yet, but it's entirely possible it will be a quiet evening at the apartment.

posted at 6:49 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Friday, September 29, 2006

Sometimes you can't win for losing
I can't say I'm sorry to see this week coming to an end. It has actually been a pretty good week, but I am absolutely mentally drained from work. I think my wraps were part of "team coverage" for the top local story each of the last three mornings, though, so in the words of Billy Currington, "I must be doin' somethin' right."

I did a bit of Feast shopping today. Dress shoes, $35 shirts for $20 each, and $25 ties for $12 each, plus a suit bag since I doubt what I have would stand up to airport baggage handling. I can barely keep it closed between the car and the apartment.

One of the salespeople at the department store wanted to sell me a suit, and I said I might be interested if they had anything that fit. But when I tried on a 30-inch waist and had an inch or two to spare, I think the fellow gave up. I wasn't exactly in the market for a suit anyway, so not a huge disappointment there.

Just out of curiosity, why do department stores in particular, as well as some discount stores, have two sets of doors at each entrance? Is it a climate control thing, or do they think people who can't figure out how to get through the second door aren't worthy of shopping there? And what happens to those people who get stuck in between the two sets of doors?

I've prepared my "signature cover" for the Feast this year, choosing a 40¢ Rio Grande stamp to go along with Revelation 22:1.

posted at 5:11 pm | permalink | 0 comments

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Absolutely brilliant
An unnamed co-worker is paying $15 for an "interdimensional portal" listed on eBay. He plans to host a party to blow up said portal so it "doesn't fall into the wrong hands." Hilarious. Rock on, dude.

posted at 12:27 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Monday, September 25, 2006

Oh, what a night
We had some excitement at work last night. Around 10:25 there was a deep-throated "wmmmph" sound, the lights dimmed briefly, and the cable went out. Then a backup power system in the rack room began beeping incessantly. I got on the phone with the engineer and he said to call JEA (utility company) to let them know there was a problem. (They did not know about it before I called.) What the ultimate resolution was I don't know, as the street lamps outside were still out when I left; we were of course on the air because the generator was running. Anyway, there are some strange noises in that building when the power is out, all sorts of thumps and rattles. It halfway sounded like the PD's office was going to explode.

Yesterday I finally got around to doing Philosateleia gallery pages for the 1995 issues. It's definitely nice to push that a little closer to completion.

There's potentially an 11-hour shift ahead of me today, so I'd better get moving.

posted at 10:00 am | permalink | 1 comment

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Pickin' and grinnin'
Hey, it's a nice way to end the day, just sitting around poking at my guitar. I think the original artists would be absolutely appalled; I'm simply entertained.

A pretty good Feast of Trumpets, I'd say. Mr. M spoke on the first resurrection, a topic I'm not sure I've heard much about since last Feast. Mr. S talked about how trumpets in the OT were used for a number of purposes, specifically to sound warnings, but also to serve as a "reminder" to God to save His people. Although he didn't explicitly say it, I suppose a parallel would be we as we observe Trumpets are calling out to God to remember us.

I did manage to make it through all the hymns, though 160 wasn't easy. I'm getting better at not getting teary-eyed while singing about that stuff, but I still had a lump in my throat there.

I'm really tired right now. The M's had many of us young adults over for dinner last night. There were enough of us that we were sitting at two different tables, and somehow I ended up at what I guess I would call the "adults" table, for lack of a better term. That is, I was either the second youngest or youngest person at that table, whereas I would have been the second oldest at the other. Not that we're talking about huge age differences here, but it was an interesting change of pace. It was also interesting to hear some of the M's stories; it's very encouraging to me to hear some of the "older" members talk about how God has worked with them. By no means am I trying to discount the Bible, but those "modern" stories sometimes seem more real to me because they're being recounted firsthand by the people who lived them.

One comment Mr. M made in his sermon today is that people won't be changed to spirit against their will. Now, in terms of not being changed to spirit against one's will, my initial reaction is if one is truly converted won't he or she want to become a spirit being (Romans 8:23)? It's interesting in light of speculation I've heard from more than one quarter that perhaps single people in the Church at the time of Christ's return might have the opportunity to marry and have families. And that's quite an "interesting concept," to quote Alf. On the other hand, 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 seem to be rather straightforward as to what will happen to those with God's Spirit when the last trumpet sounds and Christ returns. And though it's interesting to wonder about such things, ultimately it comes down to something I realized before baptism, that it doesn't affect how I should live my life. God has the details mapped out; my job is to get to the finish line.

Today was the first time I've ever been asked to help collect the offering, probably at least in part because I wasn't on the schedule to do anything else during the morning service.

Somehow the clock has zipped right through to nearly 8 p.m. Time to move along.

posted at 7:48 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Not a great day
But at least it's over, as is the work week. Granted, laundry's probably going to take up a good chunk of time tomorrow, but that's one of those things that just has to be done.

I'm just tired, just flat tired. But tomorrow will be a better day. Tally ho!

Oh, and I've become somewhat fond of the word "bah." It says so much with so few letters.

posted at 11:52 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Statistical anomaly
I've been disgustingly unproductive away from work this week. At work, I'm kind of getting more comfortable with not having as much to show at the end of the day. I'm only one person, but it feels like I'm doing more than one job right now.

The good (and bad) people of Jacksonville have been anxiously awaiting word on the fate of 106.5 FM, and now they finally know. At 5 a.m. WOKV began simulcasting on 106.5 FM while keeping the original AM 690 as well. So now I'm on two frequencies but only one station since you hear exactly the same thing on either side. I suspect these first couple of days may be a bit challenging, trying to remember the new catch phrases and positioners and so forth.

Last night was one of those rare times when I was the first to air a story. (I know the first will be last and the last will be first, but work with me here.) Without going into excruciating detail, an appeals court in Tallahassee ruled a referendum can be on the November ballot. That overturned a lower court's ruling against the referendum. Shayna was a great help, putting out calls to groups for and against the referendum, and it was our top story at 8:30. The local TV stations were calling it "breaking news" at 10 and 11. Um, sorry, but no. It's very nice, though, to have a big story that doesn't involve anyone dying.

I'm not impressed with the new FOXNews.com layout because it looks as though someone spilled bleach on the Web site, just no real color to it. And that huge banner ad above their own logo is bad, too. In addition, I have to scroll down to find news stories that aren't the top story, and the layout isn't friendly to my screen resolution of 800x600 pixels. One might argue I could take care of the last problem by increasing my resolution, but I can't very well do that with my monitor and still be able to easily read what's on the screen!

It appears the song I'd written for Trumpets is not going to get performed on Trumpets. While I'm disappointed, I can't deny the piece probably needs some more work. Maybe next year.

I really need to fix the back tire on my bicycle so I can start riding again.

Last night's low was supposed to be in the upper 50's. If that actually happened, it's the first time we've seen 50's this fall. The weekend's supposed to be absolutely gorgeous.

posted at 11:57 am | permalink | 1 comment

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Spin cycle
I'm up, that seems like a good place to start this morning. Have a couple of different options on things to do today, none of them absolutely critical but hopefully I'll get a bit accomplished.

Last night after sundown, as the St. Augustinians were not interested in going bowling, Devon and I cruised over to the mall, then rented a movie and headed back here. It was an inexpensive enough evening.

Hurricane Helene is certainly taking its time getting across the Atlantic. The official forecast still calls for it to turn north, possibly in time to miss Bermuda.

That seems to be all I've got at this point...cheerio.

posted at 11:13 am | permalink | 0 comments

Saturday, September 16, 2006

We know drama
So, it seems Ashley and Teri a) don't think I talk about other people enough in my journal, b) don't think I talk enough about my feelings, and c) don't think I include enough "drama." I will attempt to address the first and third concerns here.

At lunch today Ashley saw that Jennifer had finished her meal, and said, "You ate my cookie!" Which Jennifer hadn't, the cookie was on Ashley's tray, but it was very dramatic.

Devon was late, as usual. (To lunch, not to church. He's never late to church. Actually, he tells me he was late once in the past year, so he's "seldom late to church.")

And now I've talked about people. Any other suggestions?

posted at 5:29 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Friday, September 15, 2006

There's no denying the truth
And what can I say, today's FoxTrot comic strip truly hits home for me. I'm glad this modern-day girth discrimination is being pointed out.

The refrigerator looks (and smells) a fair bit better now that I've cleaned out some of the old stuff. The bathroom is in reasonably good shape. I ever had time for a walk and time to soak a few stamps this afternoon. On a whim I also redesigned my desktop wallpaper; the scan of the American Indian engraving is still center stage, but I now have a row of photos across the bottom which is pretty nice.

I'm most glad it's the Sabbath, bringing the week to a close. I feel like I've stayed busy this week.

Over the past couple of days I've been playing around on guitar with "Friends in Low Places." Once I found a chart with some oddball diminshed chord on it, I was all set, and as long as I play it in a key of "G" I can actually hit most of the notes.

There has been a definite hint of fall in the air today. I don't really know how to explain it except it was upper 80's and it didn't feel hot outside. Although I'm sure it'll be a while before we get "cold" here, I'm going to miss summer.

posted at 7:55 pm | permalink | 1 comment

It's finally Friday
Yes, that's a tip of the hat to George Jones. If you don't know who George Jones is...well...nevermind.

The weekend's off to a reasonably good start. Managed to get out of bed this morning and took care of some errands including a trip to the post office (yay) and purchasing a new Bible (double yay). Now it's about time to clean out the fridge and clean the bathroom. And with a good seven hours of daylight left ahead of me, who knows what else might get done!

posted at 11:35 am | permalink | 1 comment

Thursday, September 14, 2006

How did I get ahead of schedule?
I mean, I'm nearly ready to leave for work, yet it's not time to go yet. This is a nice reversal!

This week has turned out to be a lot better than I expected overall. There've been some challenges, I've left work worn out a couple of times, but...it could be a lot worse, you know? At the very least, I'm nearly caught up on written and electronic correspondence (save one letter). For some reason I tend to let that stuff pile up.

Apparently the particular model of Bible I've been using is no longer in print--and available only in used condition starting at $150. Um...yeah. I'm thinking about going Bible hunting tomorrow to see if I can find a suitable substitute. Just finding the NKJV is hard enough, but it looks like there are still a few of those out there.

Today's Pickles comic strip is just wrong, but it's also hilarious in a sophomoric fashion. Where do people come up with these things?

posted at 12:16 pm | permalink | 0 comments

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Always runnin'
Down to just seven e-mails in the ol' inbox, and only one of them is more than half-a-week old. It has been a long, slow project, but compared to where I was at a week ago I'd say that's progress toward getting caught up.

posted at 12:56 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Unbelievably perturbed
I think Governor Jeb Bush has quite possibly the quote of the year. Jeb Bush (audio)

Well said, Mr. Governor. Well said. Perhaps that could even be the slogan for a new tourism campaign.

Over the weekend--on Sunday, to be exact--there was reportedly a magnitude 6.0 earthquake centered in the Gulf of Mexico. Some people here in Jacksonville apparently felt it, but I was not among them. But come on, an earthquake in Florida? I thought we were the Hurricane State. Weird.

All day long I had a delightful spring in my step, a fire in my belly so to speak. Or maybe the latter was just a bit of indigestion.... Anyway. I've got to grab hold of that clenched-jaw, can-do attitude and milk it for all it's worth. I've been sitting still and that scares me, hopefully soon enough. I am majorly ticked off at myself and maybe that's what it's going to take to change for the better.

posted at 12:36 am | permalink | 1 comment

Friday, September 08, 2006

Tired, just tired
Wow, what a week this has been. I managed to work 41 hours (including a 12-hour shift on primary election day), plus I should get paid for eight more since Labor Day was officially a company holiday. And because of scheduling at work right now, I was the de facto afternoon reporter a couple of times, including when a water spout prompted a tornado warning Thursday afternoon. I'm beat, but that paycheck should be nice!

My "catch up" day is coming up, thankfully. There are many chores and errands that need to be done, and I have a couple more requests to trade stamps (including a request from Israel) to fill.

I did get the Fall 2006 Supplement for The Philosateleian done this week, and adjusted a song I wrote to a different key.

posted at 12:18 am | permalink | 0 comments

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

I need a shoulder massage
What can I say, I guess I must still be tensed up from doing 14 newscasts in a row. By no means is it a physically demanding job, but it can be mentally exhausting, especially when it's just newscast after newscast without a break. Still, I willingly stepped into it, so I shouldn't complain too loudly.

So the Crocodile Hunter is dead. How weird is that, to spend one's life taunting crocodiles and then get taken out by a stingray. Steve Irwin was one of those larger-than-life figures, I think.

Had a real nice weekend at home, enjoyed the chance to see my folks. Rachel worked it out for me to lead songs in Columbus, she played piano and Devon played trumpet. We had some fun with those numbers. And the drive back to Jacksonville Sunday went very, very smoothly. I'd hoped to avoid the Labor Day traffic by coming back then, but I was surprised at just how few folks were on the road.

At present I have 19--count 'em, 19--messages sitting in my inbox. Hopefully I can resolve at least some of that in the morning, though I know another long day's coming up at work.

So much other stuff to do, too. I'd better get started on something or get to bed.

posted at 12:24 am | permalink | 1 comment