February 11 – “The Case of the Account Supervisor”

I took on one of those much-despised, yet frustratingly required acts of home ownership yesterday.  I called the electric company.  No, we weren’t without service and the transformer pole in the back was still standing strong.  This was worse.  This was about a billing issue. 

See, about two weeks ago we switched from balanced billing to paying just whatever the actual charge was based on our meter reading each month.  And why did we do that, you may ask?  Oh, we liked the idea of knowing what the bill amount would be each month.  The problem came when we received notice that our balanced billing amount was going up again this month.  I did some checking and realized that they were holding almost eight hundred dollars of our money in that arrears account to pay for the high usage months.  And that amount had steadily increased over the last year.  It just seemed reasonable to me that if the arrears amount was increasing, then the monthly payment should be decreasing.  Am I crazy?  Well, don’t answer that.  Let’s change it to, isn’t that a little crazy?

So I called in two weeks ago to make the change and request a refund.  But no.  I wasn’t allowed to request a refund yet, because the amount of the money in the arrears account wouldn’t be “official” until after February 10^th.  So I had to pay the higher balanced amount and wait until yesterday to call for the refund.  Strange, but OK.  I followed proper procedure.

The first person I talked to was doing just fine until she heard the amount of money in question.  Above her pay grade.  I had to be transferred to an account supervisor.  I’m leaving out all the “please hold’s” and “give me a minute to check that out’s,” but here is a clip of the phone conversation.

Account Supervisor: “OK.  I have all that taken care of.  It will take 15 to 25 days to process the check.”

Me: “15 to 25 days?  Really?  It actually only takes about 15 minutes, doesn’t it?”

AC: “Um.  Well, no.  See, the request has to be sent back to “The Back” .  And then it gets approved there.”

Me: “But aren’t you the Account Supervisor?”

AC: “Um.  Yes sir, but the request still has to be approved and then it gets sent to the check writing department.”

Me: Seems a bit much for 15 minutes of work.

AC: “Um.  So if you haven’t received it after 21 days, give us a call and we will expedite the check.”

Me: “Why don’t you just expedite it now?”

AC: “Um.  What?”

Me: “Just pretend like it’s been 21 days and go ahead and expedite the check.”

AC: “Um.  Um.  Um.”

After the third “Um” I decided to let him off the hook.  I assured him that I would be watching for the check and would call in three weeks if I haven’t seen it by then.  Then I thanked him, called him by name , and said good bye.  And now the waiting game begins …

Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Father, give that account supervisor a really good weekend.  He deserves it.  Amen.

February 10 – “Advanced?”

After a good staff meeting at the church and an even better lunch meeting with my wife, I somewhat hesitantly headed out to my advanced ukulele class yesterday.  I have received three different emails about that class, all indicating that it probably wouldn’t have enough students to actually meet.  Then I got the standard, “Your class will meet …” email.  So, I went to check it out.

And it was pretty much as I feared.  Oh, the instructor was still quite personable.  The people in the class are nice old dudes like me.  There are only ten in the class instead of the usually required fifteen, though.  Apparently the instructor convinced the powers that be to still have the class.  So all of those were good things.  Then class began.

Now, I had been working on the first several pages of the new book before class began.  As a result I had an idea of what could happen here.  There is a lot of individual note picking instead of the usual chord strumming that I like.  Why is that a problem?  Because I have absolutely no background in reading music.  I remember the “Every Good Boy Does Fine” and “FACE” memory tools, but apparently that knowledge is supposed to be second nature by the time one reaches this particular class.  I still have to go through the whole scale thingy for every note.  And that does not make for quick transitions.  I suppose that’s the bane of learning something in a classroom setting rather than with private lessons.  See, the instructor just keeps on going.  And most of the people in the class have no problem at all following him.  I can make it through about five notes before I get totally lost.  I think our beloved teacher realized that at one point.  I guess he could see the blank stare on my face.  So he provided us with the chords to that particular song and gave us the option of just playing those.  That saved my bacon.  Well, until he started some thing where he was counting notes on his knuckles and saying when he got from his thumb to his pinky that meant you could change the note and add a seventh to it.  I had no idea what that meant.  When he did it the fourth time I figured it was something that was supposed to be helpful, but I didn’t even know the words he was using.  I haven’t felt that lost since high school geometry proofs or trigonometry, with all its sines and cosines. 

Now I have to give props to my lovely and talented wife.  She is a piano player from way back, so she tried to give me a crash course in music theory before class.  She did help me understand the point in those five lines with the extra notes penciled in underneath the line.  I finally figured out that you have to start with C down under the lines, then do the alphabet up from there, but you only go up to G in this particular alphabet before you start over again.  I backed up completely and now I’m trying to learn it like I did when I learned Greek.  It doesn’t really matter what the name of the note is, as long as I know that it’s the one that comes out when I pluck a certain string with my finger pressed down at a certain fret.  Of course that will not help me in class.  He gets going in a song and never stops, and his way of helping is to say the names of the notes out loud as he races along, like I actually know them.  I think I may be in over my head here.

Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Father, I could use some help with the reactivation of some musically-inclined brain cells.  Amen.

February 9 – “Timber”

After working on the Sunday teaching and then going to staff meeting at the church, I decided to swing by fire station 7.  I heard that a wall had fallen down there.  I just couldn’t picture how or where that would happen, so I wanted to see it for myself. 

The facilities director of the city was on site checking out the repair progress as well.  A few of the guys took me outside to one corner of the building.  The wires from a brand new transformer pole were wrapped around the supports to the emergency generator platform, and the generator was humming away, providing the station with needed electricity.  Thankfully, it wasn’t an entire wall that fell down, just a part of the brick veneer at a corner of the building.  Here’s what happened.  The old transformer pole that ran electricity to the building had been slowly eaten away, I assume by termites.  The outside looked fine, but it had been gutted on the inside.  Subsequently, there was no way the weakened pole could hold the weight of the transformers.  The entire thing came crashing down.  On a positive note, it fell away from the building.  The other side of that coin, however, was that as it fell, it pulled the connection to the building away, ripping out some of the bricks. 

As far as repairs go, the new pole is already up.  Repairs to the brick and anything underneath that may have to be replaced are pending.  Once that gets done, they can start reconnecting everything.  Surprisingly, it may all happen by the end of this week.  I sure hope all goes as planned so they can get off the generator and back to normal.

Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Father, thank you for taking care of the guys who were on shift when that pole collapsed.  Keep the workers safe this week so they can get everything done.  Amen.

February 8 – “Delivery”

After water exercise class was canceled (We got an official notification in the mail yesterday.  Even came with a refund check.  And it used words like “we are vacating the pool immediately.  Sounds like somebody was involved in quite the little tiff), Chris made the executive decision that we were going walking instead.  By “executive decision” I mean a decision she makes that carries way stronger weight than any executive order any president has ever signed.  Needless to say … we went walking.  Ended up going two miles, too.  I felt it waking up this morning.

I also made a fire department call.  I was working on the teaching for Sunday when a call came through that there was an actual structure fire happening.  I quickly donned my fire department garb and headed out.  But when I checked the address something very odd came up.  By all rights the map part of the app should have taken me to 37^th Street, but it kept insisting that I go to 50^th Street.  I was just curious now.  The fire was already out, so I figured the guys were all headed back to the station.  But I wanted to see what this address would lead me to.  And what did I discover?  As I read the map, there should have been a set of apartment-like structures right in the middle of a bunch of old, run-down cotton compress warehouses.  Hope the guys on the truck had an easier time than I did.

I went on by the station since I was out.  I had two baby Bibles I had to deliver to A-shift guys.  The first one was supposed to be working out on the East end of the Island at station two.  I pulled up and noticed that a battalion chief truck was in the driveway.  Sure enough, both on duty chiefs were leaving as I went in.  Not sure what the official reason for their visit was.  I think they were just doing their regular in-person check of the station.  Once I got inside and shook hands all around I realized that the proud new papa was not there.  One of the guys told me they thought he was on C-shift.  Great.  But then I heard another voice from the captain’s office.  How lucky could I get?  The captain on shift that day was none other than the new baby’s grandpa.  He jumped at the chance to personally make the delivery.  It meant he could just show up unannounced to see that grandbaby.  I understand the feeling …

The second Dad was scheduled to be on shift at Central station.  I even stopped by to say hi and double-check with the administrative assistant.  She assured me that she had already seen him earlier in the morning.  Perfect.  I have been trying to get these Bibles delivered for weeks now.  I headed on back to the fire fighters’ rooms and what do I behold?  The station battalion chief was there, but no one else.  They had just left to do some pre-need walk-throughs of structures.  See?  These fire fighters don’t just sit around the station waiting for a call to come through.  There are always preparations they are going through to keep us safe.  But, I was thwarted again.  But this time I decided to trust the chief to make sure young Pops got the Bible for his daughter before she started dating.  Thanks for the assist, Chief.

Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

Father, thank you for the never-ceasing preparation the fire fighters do.  Keep them safe.  Oh, and happy.  May they be happy, too.  Amen.

February 7 – “Ukes and Bones and a Missing Class”

I just found out that the advanced ukulele class that is supposed to start on Thursday of this week might not start after all.  Apparently not enough people have signed up to make it a viable class.  The last email I received said they needed at least four more people who have already had the beginner’s class to sign up.  Oh, well.  I guess I’ll have to force myself to practice on the songs I get from Jim that the praise team is singing each week.  Some of them call for cords that I have never been able to successfully finger, so it would take a lot more practice before I would feel comfortable strumming with the team on a Sunday morning. 

Chris and I finally caught up to this season in our binge watching of the TV show Bones.  That’s the forensic anthropologist show that is in its twelfth season now.  This is supposed to be its final season, too.  One of the episodes we watched last night was interrupted by President Obama’s farewell speech.  We only had about half of the episode, so we’re hoping that wasn’t anything crucial to the long-term story line.  So far there has been no indication of how the series will end.  Guess they could all die in an explosion.  Or maybe Cam and Aristoo will finally get married.  And Aubrey will make up with his Dad and finally marry the intern he’s dating.  And Daisy will get hired by the NFL (I forgot what that means, but it’s not the football league).  And Hodgins will walk again, and he and Angela will have another baby.  And Bones will get saved and she and Booth and their kids will buy a tropical Island paradise and move there (Or maybe just move to Galveston and buy a hotel or something), where she can write books and Booth can miss being an FBI agent until the reunion movie is filmed.  And Zach will be cleared of the murder charge against him.  Oh, and Mr. Bray would get his doctorate and take over running the Jeffersonian.  I think that would tie up most of the loose ends.

I just had a brief interlude.  We went to water exercise class and no one was there … again.  I finally tracked down a website from the last receipt email I got.  All it said was that all classes have been canceled for that location.  No other explanation.  I did get a phone number and texted it to see what was going on.  Now we are back home and Chris is pulling me out the door to go for a wal …….. k

Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Father, thank you for the weather.  It was good to get some exercise in today.  We both needed it.  Amen.

February 6 – “Food, Fun, Commercials and … an exciting game??”

Well, this year’s SOUPer Bowl commercial party went off pretty much without a hitch again.  We use the SOUP designation because it is also the kickoff for Seaside’s February ministry emphasis, collecting cans of soup for the needy. 

There were quite a few new folks in our midst this year.  Several of the couples who have been coming to Seaside over the past few weeks decided to give it a try.  I counted at least 24 people at one time or another.  It was hard to keep track, with the kids racing ion and out from the backyard.  They couldn’t resist playing with the dogs and the swing and the old outside toys we have. 

Meanwhile, the adults were struggling with games of their own.  The traditional Superbowl Bingo game was certainly a hit.  Especially after Charlette won the first bingo and took home a bag of Wonderful Pistachios.  Had to keep the awards in line with current commercials, of course.  She almost got the X award as well, but Janell’s Mom had a Bingo at the same time.  How could I go against a Mom?  So we decided to spread the wealth a bit.  Mom got a big ol’ bag of Skittles.  We ended up with a tie in the Scavenger Hunt category, so Anne and Theresa split a big bag of bite-sized Snickers.  The final Bingo was supposed to go to the first to black out an entire card.  No one did that, partly because none of us ever saw Minnie Driver.  In fact, I didn’t know who Minnie Driver was, but she was one of the squares on several of the cards.  As it happened, I split the final prize, an 8 pack of Pepsi, between Cory and Robert, since they were the last ones to leave.  Oh, and Greg took home the prize for the person who most seemed to care about watching the actual football game.  He walked away with a toy football and a brand-new, totally generic, football t-shirt. 

Now, the food was once again fabulous.  Chris did a huge crockpot of chili.  We also had baked potatoes and chips and dips and little smokies and sausage balls and a great crab salad thing that Sam brings every year and I do my best to chow down on.  I’m sure there was other stuff as well.  The point is … there was plenty. 

The commercials were not really anything to write home about for the second year in a row.  My personal favorite was the one about avocados.  It involved a secret society of some kind.  I need to see it again.  The kangaroo cooking at the barbeque was interesting, and I kind of liked the elephant who breaks the treadmill.  We all missed the Budweiser Clydesdales.  Oh, and Doritos.  We missed the Doritos creativity as well.  The worst of the worst went to the ghost dog beer commercial.  That one was just weird.  Who wants to see a dead dog in a commercial? 

I have to admit that the game got more than a little exciting.  25 point comeback and a victory in the first ever Super Bowl overtime game.  That has all the earmarks of a trivia question for years to come.  And speaking of trivia, I understand our Easy-Peasy Super Bowl Trivia from this year will be reprised at Lee College in Baytown.  Lots of luck with that one …

Colossians 3:13-14 says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Father, thank you for the folks who came to the party.  It is always good to have fun with brothers and sisters.  Amen.

February 5 – “You gotta dream”

After an aborted trip to the library, Christina and her kiddos came over yesterday to spend some time with their highly favored grandparents.  The library problem came when they arrived and Christina realized she had forgotten all of their library cards.  That meant no checking out this time, so they just looked at some books there for a while. 

Of course there were certain protocols in place when they arrived here.  First order of business was for all of them to grab a snack from Nana’s horde of wonderful snacks in the pantry.  Fruit snacks, pop tarts, and Cheez-its were the optimal choices of the day.  And of course all the snacks were just intended to hold them over until the pizza could be ordered and picked up.  Oh, and this particular visit was met with another special request from Noa.  Cailyn was invited over to play while they were here.  She did make it for about 30 minutes or so.  She had softball practice to get to, though, so she couldn’t stay long.

It was the pizza run that was the source of the grandchild anecdote of the day.  Josiah went with me to pick up the goodies, and on the way he shared with me his innermost, heartfelt desires.  It seems that he is saving up his money from birthdays and anything else he can get.  He has something very special in mind, too.  From his own mouth his priorities are as follows.  See if you can read it all in one breath.  That’s all he needed to say it …

“Hey, DadDad?  Guess what?  I’m saving my money up.  I have some money now.  I don’t know how much, but I have some and I’m saving it all up and I’m gonna get something with it when I have enough.  And do you know what I’m gonna get?  Well, I’m pretty sure that I’m gonna get a Samsung phone.  They’re the best for the games I want to get.  Or maybe I’ll get a Lamborghini.  Yeah, that’s what I really want to get.  Or an iPad.  I need one of those, too.”  And after a very brief pause to catch his breath he added with a sigh, “Or maybe I’ll just get some transformers that want.” 

Whew.  That was a mouthful of dreams for a six-year-old.  But you gotta dream.

Colossians 3:12 says, “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Father, thank you for the wonder of dreaming.  Amen.