Hey...Where's Today's Photos?

Survivor night. So, I need to document my pick for who will be voted off the island. I think the fans will lose tonight and they will get rid of Hope. There. I said it.
[Post-Survivor update] Don't read this if you recorded the show and have not watched it. I was right. And we went pizzaless tonight, but added fruit and veggies. And MBH did not accompany us tonight. She had schoolwork to finish. So she had the sad task of watching the show alone. Did she yell at the screen? Probably not.

I got started with interviews on a new project I was assigned. Well, new to me. I found old paperwork where this was originally planned for last Feb, so it has been sitting on the shelf for a year. Anyway, I met with the key stakeholder to scope out what would be included in the project, so I will work on some documentation tomorrow.

Did y'all see the last Spiderman movie? He stops an out-of-control train using his web. Did you watch that and wonder if that would really be possible? Apparently, some people wondered enough to study it using physics.

And while they wondered that, someone also wondered about how it would really appear if you looked outside of a spaceship traveling faster than the speed of light (we all have ideas of that from Star Trek and Star Wars).

Speaking of movies, let's check out a CoV comic.


Lewis, you obviously did not look at the photo closely the other day. It was readily apparent to me who the best looking dude was. No family photo today, though. Susie Q, I am watching The Following, too. According to the TV rating site I frequent, it is not doing great.

OK, I am going to sit down and watch the Joe Schmo Show on Spike TV. You will see this tomorrow, but I got to read it tonight. Ha ha (read that with the Simpsons laugh).

[Thursday update] I got caught in a huge traffic jam this morning. My commute that normally takes 20 minutes took 50. I guess I was lucky since I was out early. Right now, it is looking like a 20-mile backup and mine was only 2 miles.

NZ & IT & USA

Today's title is almost Olympic in its scope. You'll see the appropriate references throughout the post.

Hey, NZ Girl, I do remember the huge tax returns we had when we were ex-pats. So I understand why you will not be doing your own taxes during this time.

I got some interest in the family shot I shared yesterday, so here's another one. This is Preacher Bro with his raccoon in our backyard here in the USA. That's right. For a while, he had a pet raccoon. She used to enjoy climbing up the arm of our couch and playing in my hair as I lay there watching TV. As she grew up, she started to exhibit some of her natural wild instincts and PB had to release her back into the woods. He did go see her a year or so later and she came to him that once, but not in subsequent years. I apologize in advance for the semi-unclad appearance of the human model.


As I was searching photos, I came across one from when I was with a college group in Europe. We went to the Colosseum in Rome, IT. No, I am not in the shot, but my buddies are. I had forgotten I had this picture.


Even with two photos, though, there is always room for Clarity of Vision.


Tonight, we return to our normal schedule of practice on Tuesdays and concerts every other Sunday with the East Valley Chorale. That's good. It goes along with having a job again. Things are getting back to normal.

[Wednesday update] Ouch. This is the weekend with the second of our annual concerts with an orchestra. That means we have practice Saturday afternoon and concert Sunday night. Oh well.

OK, it is dinner time on Tuesday night. That'll do, at least for tonight.

[Wednesday update] Is the rest of the country as caught up in the Jodi Arias trial as here in the Valley of the Sun? She keeps saying that she cannot remember things because she pays more attention to the prosecutor's attitude and posture and his yelling jumbles her mind. Hmm. I wonder if I could use that at work when I miss a deadline. "Sorry, boss. The client yelled at me and it jumbled my mind."

What Do You Think of The Americans?

No, not those of us whose citizenship is in the USA. I mean the TV program The Americans on FX Network. I am still not sure how much I like it, but it did get a bit better in episode 2. It is about Russian sleeper agents during the Reagan years.

Yoko Ono's turned 80 last week. That is too weird and makes me feel old. Of course, we know I'm not really old; just surprised when TV, movie and recording stars that I grew up suddenly seem more like grandparent's ages rather than a bit older than me.

Isn't idiom a funny word? I should find a way to say something like that in a Clarity of Vision comic. Today's, though, references a famous idiom that you have probably all said at some point.



You know, people say that fashions come and go. Can any of you look at this shot from just a few years ago and say you want these styles to come back? And how about those hairdos? We were kind of like the Kardashians of our day, huh?



I had been hoping to hit the gym tonight, but I've got a nice little headache and think I will stay home. You can go ahead, though. I'll wait for you here.

We had Red Robin for lunch yesterday. I was pretty good, but a bit (really, a bit) too high-calorie for what I should have eaten. I did replace the regular bun (on my chicken teriyaki burger) with a corn-jalapeno bun. That was tasty. However, I just Googled those buns and found that they are still wheat flour-based. Oh well. I liked it.

End of Monday post. I need to take another couple of Tylenol.

[Tuesday update] I just got back from the dentist. I know the new ultrasonic cleaners are more effective, but whew,  they can also be pretty uncomfortable. And that high-pitched whine they emit seems to exacerbate the discomfort. I have to have a crown replaced because decay has eroded the tooth underneath. That is not a cheap procedure.

They Really ARE Paying Me

My paycheck finally arrived in Saturday's mail. I am glad the USPS hasn't stopped Saturday delivery yet. And I checked the online system and it shows that I have entered my direct deposit info, so the next check should go straight into my account.

The Games Gang played LNoE:TR again today and I was a human. The zombies overran us and we lost. There are so many of them and so few of us. It seems inevitable. I remembered that I had not told you because I am watching The Walking Dead right now as I type this and it is all about zombies.

Need a work-related thought right now. Here's CoV about presentations and the fact that numbers don't lie...do they?


All of you that are not CPAs..how do you prepare your tax returns? I used to use a CPA, but since I still have to gather all the data anyway, and my returns are not complex, it is easier and cheaper to just go ahead and use TurboTax. No, I cannot be sure that it is finding everything that a professional would, but unless I am willing to choose both options one year, I'll live with the software solution. Sorry, NZ Niece and CPA Cuz.

How about this old photo of Half Dome in Yosemite? OK, I guess it is not that old. I took it in 2005. I was playing with some filter effects in Photoshop last week and this was the result.



I am ready for Sunday night dinner. So, I will sign off for the evening. As usual, you will see this tomorrow morning.

[Monday update] Of the top Oscar winners, we have only seen Argo, Les Miserables, and Brave. How about you? Have you seen all or most of them?

[Monday update 2] Hey, I've got a dentist appointment in the morning, so I may post a new blog entry before I go or I may wait until I return. Can't you just cut this suspense with a knife?

Show Me the Money

Hey, I just checked our bank account and there is no deposit. Whazzup with that? I can only guess that they cancelled my direct deposit request when they let me go and did not ask me about it when I was rehired. I will follow up on this first thing in the morning. Well, more like second or third thing since I will be in the office a lot earlier than the finance team comes in.

Hey, niece, here's the deal with timing. No, first I want to remind you that Survivor airs on Wednesday nights. So, while I write the posts in the evening, I add final comments and post them the following morning so that the date of posting matches that same workday. So, the post talking about Wednesday night Survivor party was indeed posted Wednesday morning. This one that you are reading right now (at whatever time it is in Kiwiland) was written Thursday night and posted Friday morning AZ time.

Linds, since we were already visiting in the previous paragraph, I'll keep talking to you. You're not a newbie on moving between our different time zones, but I am claiming newbie exemptions on stuff at work.



How about a photo? We haven't had one of these in a while. This is a shot of some butterflies at the Botanical Garden back in 2005. Why haven't I shared it before? I am not sure. Maybe I got mixed up with Kiwi time?


The stinking dog is tracking in dirt with his wet paws from all this inclement weather. Yes, I said stinking. Yes, I said inclement. So, sitting here on the couch and looking towards the back door, I see a bunch of little paw prints on the laminate floor. Somebody ought to get up and clean that. Yes, I said somebody.

We played Munchkin at lunch today and your humble author won. It was come from behind steal, but I'll take it. It was just in time, though, because I had a conference call at 1pm and we finished with about five minutes to spare.

Enough for tonight. Final and review in the morning before I post it. If we don't visit again, have a great weekend.

[Friday update] It seems that today, in 1980, was the Miracle on Ice. Don't know what that is? Well, you can check it out at the link, and you can be glad you are a youngster.

Snow in Phoenix?

We are actually experiencing winter weather like many of you live through every year. As you can imagine, it rarely snows in Phoenix, but the TV news is making a big deal of it right now. I guess it is fairly unique. Wikipedia says the last measurable snowfall was in 1998, so it has been 15 years. With the cooler weather, I bet the roads stay wet tonight, so it's a good thing my commute is early. [Thursday update] It wasn't really snow. It was something they are calling graupel. Still, it messed up drivers yesterday.

Tonight is Survivor Party, so I need to make my prediction as to which team will lost the elimination challenge. I guess Favorites last week and I was correct. So, let's go out on a limb and guess Fans. MBH may not be able to go, though, since she has a monthly call with a school-related team. [Thursday update] apparently, now that the season has started, we have to guess the person and not just the team of who will be voted off the island. So, I tagged along with my sister and she steered me correctly. I need to learn their names so I can vote my own way next week.

Speaking of school, a lady I work with has a son at my niece's school. She introduced herself today at a third grade wax museum event (her son was JFK). She is blond, but chose not to attend as Marilyn Monroe. A little too weird, I suppose.

I was assigned a second project today, so things should start heating up soon. That could mean I won't have time to study for my certification at work anymore and may have to actually do homework. In today's prep class, I had taken time to write a story using the keywords, so I was ready for the activity. It includes shopping for his team, having a heart attack and going to the hospital, avoiding surgery, and eating only eggs. Yup. The more visual, the better for memory.

I am not trying to foment dissent, but I am trying to foam a finger.

[Thursday update] I got a note from a reader commenting on a previous CoV. She said it is a good thing the company is cutting back on the breakroom supplies and not toilet paper. That's true. That could get out of hand. OK, I won't pursue that reasoning any further.

I am actually out of things to say already, but that's OK. It is time for Pizza and Wings. If you were reading this and had an opportunity for Pizza and Wings, I would allow you to go. [Thursday update] Pizza and Wings were mighty tasty.

{Final Thursday update] Guy Fieri opened a new restaurant in NYC. However, he did not register a name popularly used to reference the place and someone purchased it and posted a fake menu. The options sound like a SNL skit. Review it here.

Mid-Week Already?

Since we didn't work on Monday (at least in my family), it is already mid-week on our second day of work this week. Whoo hoo. That's good news.

I told Dad a funny story about cleaning the grout on the shower floor. I actually worked on cleaning it five times and it never seemed to look right after it dried a bit. Then. I realized that the light color of the floor and the lighter shade of tile we used made it look washed-out, and no amount of cleaning would change that. No, it's not bad looking, just not what I expected. Here. Take a look. Yeah, you can see the red grout on the lower part of the wall and the lighter tile on the floor compared to the wall.



OK, let's get a little visual exercise reading about getting a little physical exercise. I started off thinking to do another Tai Chi-related comic, but then I thought of the downward dog position and it was all downhill from there.



Take a look at this computer simulation game (excuse the stronger language than the original show had). I don't know about you, but it is really cool. That is like a Star Trek episode on steroids. And it is not even that expensive. We should totally do this, but I don't know enough people with laptops.

Survivor Party tomorrow night. Always a good time. Let's see if I can correctly support the right team for which will go to Tribal Council.

Time for dinner before Chorale practice, so I will sign off now. I will post this tomorrow morning, as usual.

[Wednesday update] There is no Wednesday update. I got nothing. Anything from you? No? OK. See you tomorrow.

Sore and Showers, Zombies and Tea

Did I mention that I was joining the Games Gang for lunch last Friday. We played Last Night on Earth: Timber Ridge. I had to leave at 1pm after 1.5 hours, but they kept playing. The game ended at 2 hours and the zombies won. It was a fun game, though. You can read a bit more about it here.

I am finally recovered from the stress of recording the CD on Friday night and Saturday. I didn't really think about the stress at the time, but I felt it by Sunday. It went much better than I had expected, and it sounds as if the CD will be a good one...maybe better than the first.

However, this experience helped me understand a verse from the Bible. Remember when Jesus was born? No, not literally. You are all too young. Luke 2:9 says that the shepherds were abiding in the field, and when the angels appeared, "they were sore afraid." So, I bet it was because of the stress of seeing an angel that they became sore.

Sunday was the annual Valentine's Get Together at JV+KLIK's house. We had some spicy, but not too much chicken and beef and some sick desserts. Sick means really good, right? If not, ignore that last sentence. She made a sopapilla cheesecake and an eclair casserole and homemade tortilla chips with cinnamon sugar and a fruit salsa.

On Monday, Dad and I finally grouted the floor of the shower, so we should be able to let it cure and start using it around the first part of March. Why? Well, I got the day off from work for President's Day. I knew presidents were good for something.

So, did I maybe take MBH out for a coffee or tea at Starbuck's? No, but I wrote this CoV (involving a Spoonerism, in case you wondered).


Did y'all see the SNL with Jennifer Lawrence a few weeks ago? They did a cute spoof of Top Chef called Top Dog Chef.

I was telling the family that I finished a Kindle book this week because I read some during lunch. I did not finish any books during the whole time I was unemployed, and I think it was because I felt guilty taking time for pleasure when I should have been looking for a job. I guess this means I am back to normal.

OK, this is the end of my update on Monday night. We just watched this first episode of Amazing Race in Bora Bora. As usual, we don't care who gets out on the first episode.

[Tuesday update] Did you notice I did not publish yesterday? We had the day off, which is why I could work with Dad on the shower. I am back today, though. If you have to work, four day workweeks are better than five days...IMHO. Just saying.

Post-Valentine's Sugar Hangover

Between my sweet tooth and all the candy the school teachers brought home, I don't need any more sugar. How about you? Do you end up with a lot of candy on this day? We went out to eat for our V-Day celebration.

We are watching Once Upon a Time as I write this. Do you watch it? It has been a clever weaving of a modern drama with fantasy characters, and this second season is starting of strongly. Rumplestiltskin is waiting on an airplane right now along with the daughter of Snow White and the Prince and her son.

We are playing some zombie game at lunch on Friday as we send off one of the Games Gang. They have blocked off 2-1/2 hours to play the complete game. I warned them that I may have to leave at 1pm after 1-1/2 hours. They said that is OK if I play the human hero and not a zombie. Speaking of lunchtime, I have read more books on my Kindle since I came back than I did the entire time I was unemployed. Yeah, I felt guilty enjoying time at home and now I can again enjoy my reading.

Oh, speaking of Valentine's Day, I think this is what happened Thursday night...as I remember it after my sugar coma.


Do you remember the accident the other day where coffee creamer closed a freeway? Apparently, a similar situation happened in California with Gatorade. I suspect these are government conspiracies to prevent drinking and driving. Get it? Drinking? Liquid spills? Ha ha.

That's enough for tonight. As usual, I will decide about updates before I post this. [Friday addendum] Well, tonight is CD time. I hope it goes better than I currently suspect that it will. I did mention that they should be sure the microphones are not placed near any of us who tend to sing more loudly than the group, or that he rearrange us to avoid that situation. Come on, guys. You know who you are.

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, Survivor is underway with its typical drama. Mentioning that word, though, reminds me of the CoV for the day, so let's look at it before we talk about TV.


OK, Survivor is another season of fans vs favorites. I cannot say who won in case you recorded it but did not watch. However, there are some people back who I love to hate. And we always have fun at the Survivor Party. We took a poll as to which team would have to go to Tribal Council. MBH and I were right an the others missed their prediction.

I heard some talk on the radio on the commute today calling Rubio's weird decision to take a drink of water in the middle of a sentence "Zero Dark Thirsty." Clever, huh?

I guess it is good that I no longer work at US Airways since they are moving to Ft. Worth. Well, unless I wanted to move back to TX, which I don't.

Speaking of TX, though, that is where Dad and Rick and I were on our first album (I said CD yesterday, but they didn't exist back then). We joined our former high school choral director and several others on a Christian musical album and went over to (maybe) Greenville Avenue and spent a Saturday making the recording. And then our second recording session was two years ago with the first of the East Valley Chorale CDs.

Let me wish a Happy Valentine's Day to my valentine of almost 40 years... and to my wife. Ha ha. I crack myself up. Of course I am talking about MBH, who has stuck with me through thick and thin.

I am out of thoughts tonight. I will review this again in the morning before I publish it and might add more content.

[Thursday addendum] On the radio, they talked about the origins of Valentine's Day. It seems Valentinus was stoned and beheaded. What better way to decide to give our loved ones flowers and candy, right? Maybe that's what they stoned him with? Anyway, if I had easier access to CoV tools, I might have replaced today's comic with one about that, but, meh. I don't want to spend the time.

[Thursday #2] I am doing very poorly in preparing for our Sunday School lesson this week. So, I still don't know what the war and the covenant have to do with entering through the narrow door.

[Thursday #3] Oops. I forgot to mention that it is also the anniversary of the Capone St. Valentine's Day massacre. Actually, that sounds closer to the original Valentine's Day activities than the flowers and cards and stuff. Just saying.

One on One Done at One

I had my first 1:1 meeting with my boss Tuesday at 1pm. It went fine. Since I am still getting settled in and do not have any deliverables ready for any projects, we talked mostly about standards and expectations. So that led to scheduling a knowledge transfer meeting on Thursday with another team member to see what the new processes are.

I just returned from Chorale practice; our last one before we record our CD this weekend. On the way back, Dad said the idea of being on a recording reminded him of a favorite vacation memory. It must have been the mid-70s since one of my pianist sisters-in-law was with us. We went to church on a Sunday morning in Granby, CO. The preacher stopped the service before his sermon and said, "I hear a singing group over here in the church," pointing to us. Dad insisted we were just a family. Still, they asked us to come back that night for a concert. So, we borrowed some hymnals and prepared a concert and sang that night. I had forgotten the incident until Dad told me the story tonight. How about you? Any favorite vacation memories? [Wednesday addendum] I almost forgot one important fact that helps Dad remember that Sunday. The pastor's name was Jimmy Carter (no, not that Jimmy Carter). [Addendum 2] This is actually the third CD Dad and I have been on, but that's a story for another day.

As inspiring as that may sound, this CoV is kind of the other end of the spectrum.

Based on what I am reading, it sounds like the President focused primarily on gun control in his State of the Union address tonight. Here is what Yahoo said about the speech. "Still, the speech largely reflected the priorities of a Democratic president returned to office by a convincing margin and who will not face re-election again."

I haven't studied my Sunday School lesson yet. It is Demands #22 and #23, "Strive to Enter Through the Narrow Door, For All of Life is War" and "Strive to Enter Through the Narrow Door, For Jesus Fulfills the New Covenant." Sounds intriguing, right? I can hardly wait to find out what John Piper's point is.

I am listening to the news and it sounds like that crazy ex-policeman in CA has been killed. That was a scary-sounding incident, at least to me.

Survivor Party starts again on Wednesday. Whoo hoo. And it has some returning players that I loved to dislike last time.

OK, enough for tonight. I will post this on Wednesday morning so that the date matches when I normally post. So, there could be an addendum or two if anything catches my eyes or ears before then. [Addendum 3] One of our local freeways is closed because a semi flipped over. It was carrying coffee creamer. Yes, that is a possible CoV idea, although I don't know yet where I would take it. Maybe something about the police milking the situation?]

Tonight is the Last Practice Before CD Recording

Well, we will just have to live with our current notes and volumes for the CD on Friday and Saturday. If he tries to change anything tonight, we would just get confused and do even worse. I'm sure it will be fine. After all, we sold over 1500 of the original CD. And I am sure it will sound pretty good.

I have meet several times with individuals, but have not led a meeting with a lot of attendees. Still, just in case, I will not use a SWOT Diagram. That stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It includes these elements.

However, in my world, I should probably be careful what words I use.

I haven't worked on the shower floor in several days. I need to get on that, though, so it can cure (or whatever the word is) for a few days and we can get the shower door hung.

The Games Gang at work played Small World on Monday, but I had some meeting prep to do, so I missed out. I heard that Ryan won. One of the group is leaving the company, though, so he will need to replaced so that we have a foursome when needed.

Well, I have one meeting today and three tomorrow. Things are starting to get moving now. That's good. Anyway, have a great day, whatever you are doing.

The Game Gang Goes On

As has been common since I rejoined the workforce, I am writing the blog on the night before publishing it. I have not yet wanted to spend the extra time at work putting a post together, although I may add anything interesting I hear on the radio from time to time.

The Sunday School lesson went well this morning, although the class was not in a talkative mood. I had to really pull them to get any participation.

We've got our CD recording sessions this coming Friday and Saturday. As of right now, I am not excited about the process. We will record about 14 songs, and this will take around 10 hours. Yeah, my voice is tired just telling you about it.

I found that, by moving back into the building that I was first in some three years ago, I am in the same building as the old group that plays games during lunch. So, I joined them for a game of Munchkin one day. I remember now that one problem is that it often exceeds one hour. This game took 1hr 15min, and I didn't even win. I did not join them on Friday for Zombie Munchkin as I was meeting my former boss for lunch.

Well, I am starting my second week of employment. I know some of the work expected, and we reviewed the new standards I need to follow. So, I know I have a meeting Tuesday morning. Tomorrow, I will build a checklist for the smaller initial efforts I have been assigned. That will let me a) start work with a plan, and b) validate my expected deliverables with my boss.

This CoV is a discussion we had at lunch on Sunday.

[Monday update]
I did hear about the Grammys last night. I actually know a couple of the songs that won, even though I rarely listen to music on my commute. I like some of the Mumford and Sons songs, like I Will Wait. They won Album of the Year. And I like the Song of the Year, We Are Young by Fun.

And I heard the Pope is stepping down, the first to do so since 1415. Yeah, they are saying it is evidence of his deep humility. I suppose that is true.

Finishing My First Workweek in Several Months

I am starting my last day of my first week back. I am just starting to get engaged in the work for which I was hired. Mostly, I have studied for the certification exam. I have also held a couple of meetings about my first project, and yesterday, I began to review the documentation for projects from the other team members to see what data we are now capturing. It is close, but a little different from three months ago. I am sure I can catch up.

Our team holds its weekly meeting offsite once a month. So maybe today's CoV could be related to that. However, I wrote down the idea on Tuesday, well before I knew about these team building meetings.

Oh man. I am typing this on Thursday night and I just remembered that I need to go pick up the dry cleaning so I have a white shirt for a Chorale concert Friday night. Then we have another concert on Sunday night. And next weekend, we have CD recording sessions on Friday night and all day Saturday. Yeah, I am really excited...not.

[Friday addendum] Man, I thought I was staying kind of ready to awaken early by getting up when MBH went to work. Nope, the 5:15am alarm is just rude and relentless. Still, it does allow me to miss the worst of the traffic and forces me to get my day underway.

Yes, I did scoot by the cleaners last night to pick up my shirts, so I am ready to sing tonight. No, we have not watched the first show of the new season of Smash yet, but yes, we did watch Glee (which had a lot of singing in it. Yeah!). No, I don't have anything else to say, so yes, I am getting to work now.

Have a good weekend.

Here's Something of Interest

Actually, I am talking about refinancing the house to get a lower interest rate. We just started the process maybe three weeks ago and we closed today. Whoo hoo. We locked in at 2.38%. Have you done it in a while? We had to sign so many stinking forms. It took about 45 minutes. Luckily, we had the Expedition so that we could haul home our copies of the forms.

During lunch on Wednesdays, I am joining a study group to prepare for PMP certification. We have to be ready before July 31 because they are moving to a new version of the test on August 1. I think we can make it. I have to facilitate sessions 7 and 11. We are all taking turns.

When I got back from lunch, I unlocked my screen and saw a website featuring the face of our CIO. It was like he was looking right at me. That is where this came from.

I am writing this on Wednesday night while watching Joe Schmo on Spike. It is a fake reality show where everyone is actors except the Joe Schmo character. Yes, it is profane (hint. no preachers allowed), but we like it.

I decided to play a bit with a photo from our trip to Calico Ghost Town in 2005. Here is a shack beside a small railroad done in a painting style.

Well, it's time to start my fourth day of work. I hope it's a good day...for all of us.

Two Days in a Row!

I still have a job after two days. That's good news, right? I have a meeting about my first project in the morning. So, again today, I studied for the project management certification test a group of us will take later in the year.

Today's CoV came from a lunchtime discussion we had yesterday.

Did you watch the Super Bowl? If so, was it for the game or the commercials? I started it more for commercials, but it ended up being a good game. Anyway, Conan O'Brien showed what the Clydesdale commercial was really about.

I sent out the CoV for the first time today to the work email list. While I was unemployed, I did not have the email list and so did not send the comics to them. I got a lot of "Welcome back" emails from people who would not have known I was gone or back if it were not for Clarity of Vision.

What else? I need to a) get back to work on the shower, b) get back to the gym, and c) get back to work on the Sunday School lesson I have to teach on Sunday. So, I will end this post now. No, it doesn't imply I will actually do any of those tonight since I have Chorale practice, but it sounds like it, right?

How Do You People Do It?

I made it through my first day, but I was tired last night. How do y'all do it every day? So, I did not make it to the gym. And tonight is Chorale practice, so I can't got tonight either. Anyway, I do have a desk and a computer, but the badge is not set to let me in my building yet, and I do not have an account to login to the computer or the network yet. I do know my first assignment, but have not met with the client pending access to the system and his calendar. Anyway, I had my Kindle with me yesterday, so I used it to study for the certification exam I want to take later in the year.

I just read a scathing review of the TV show Smash in the NY Times. Well, they may not like it, but I enjoy it. It begins its second season tonight.

Oh, here is a CoV about stinkin' badges. Do we need them?

The Sunday School lesson for this week is Demands #20 and #21 about Doing the Will of the Father. One of the things we will discuss is that, since Jesus is fulfilling the law, we no longer live our lives keeping those commandments. Rather, we must "filter" the law through the changes brought about by Jesus and his command that everything is summed up in love. So, no longer do we get to take vengeance in his name on the wicked. We cannot put blasphemers to death. Sorry.

Being tired last night also means I did nothing on the shower. And again, since I am at practice tonight, I won't do anything again. Speaking of shower, I need to borrow an ohm meter to see if the elements both work because the water seems to take too long to get hot.

I also did nothing with photos, so I've got nothing else to share. Let's all get today started early, OK?

A New Workweek Dawns

I am writing my blog post for Monday, Feb 4, while watching the power delay of the Super Bowl. So far, I think the Ravens are easily outplaying the 49ers. And I am OK with that. They haven't won since 2000, but then again, the 49ers haven't won since 1995, but then again, the Ravens only have one title while SF has five. [Monday update: Great ending to the game. Congrats to Baltimore...the former Cleveland Browns]

Why am I writing it tonight instead of tomorrow morning? Well, don't forget that I am starting my job on Monday, so my life of leisure is over. I just got through filling out the new job paperwork, so I think I am ready. I have to get out and drive during rush hour again. However, our car broke down yesterday, so I am driving my son's car while he is driving Dad's extra car. Confused yet? [Monday update: Traffic sounds pretty bad. I will likely not be there by 8am]

My comments on the Super Bowl power outage [Monday update: I am not yet in full CoV mode, so I do not have any ideas what I will do tomorrow or going forward. Stay tuned]

What does this mean about finishing the shower floor? I'll decide after I get used to working five days a week.

What does it mean about future CoVs and blog posts? I'll probably update them at night while I get used to working five days a week. However, right now, I plan to post them in the morning before I leave for work. [Monday update: It looks like I might also occasionally add additional thoughts before I publish, but who knows what will happen day to day]

Last Unemployed Friday

Well, I certainly hope and pray that is true. The last I heard, I am scheduled to start this coming Monday, but I sent a note last night to validate that. Either way, though, I am certain I will start before next Friday.

So, we laid the floor of the shower yesterday. Once the adhesive cures, we need to grout it. Grout has to cure for 21 days before it can get very wet, so it will be almost March before we can use the shower.

That was yesterday. What will I do today on my last day to lay around and watch TV or climb a mountain or whatever I decide? I get to spend some 1:1 time with my favorite grandson. Jack is spending the afternoon until Phyll gets off work. Yup, just me and him. That will be nice. I am excited. He is reaching such a fun age.

So, before he arrives, I need to create today's Clarity of Vision and publish today's blog post. I also need to finish the John Piper Bible study for the week. It's about appropriate anger. It makes me mad when they say I can only get angry about certain things. Well, here is the CoV.

Hey, I thought this was cool. I couldn't visualize this like the artist can. Could you?

It's time to do a bit of straightening before JV arrives. Have a great weekend and thanks for your prayers about my employment. I know God has answered them according to His will.