Xanga ate another entry of mine. Very. Annoying.

 

As you can tell, I did not remove myself from the Star Wars BlogRing as promised. I went to bed instead, figuring I could do it the next time I was here. Now I think I'll wait until I find a better SW blogring first, and I don't feel like making the time to search for one right now.

 

Saturday my boss was supposed to work the full day's shift with me, while another coworker was scheduled for a partial day to cover breaks, lunches, and closing the first register. My boss didn't show up, nor did he answer his phone, so I called his boss for permission to call someone else in as a replacement. No answer, so I call the Mesa store boss, who does give me permission, but by this time it's 1.25 hours after open because I've been by myself on the busiest Saturday of the year, running around helping customers as best as I can while still trying to make all these calls. Eventually, the last employee on the list answered the phone, and she was kind enough to come in to cover lunches and closing the first register despite the fact that we woke her up on her day off. Eventually the coworker originally scheduled to cover breaks, lunches, and closing the first register came in and agreed to stay for store closing procedures. My boss did eventually call--over 4.5 hours after he was scheduled to be in, right when I was about to start lunch (already late as it was!).

 

Eventually, I was able to piece together what happened: my boss came home from work the previous night to discover his house broken into and robbed. He couldn't leave the premises until the door jam, door, and locks were all replaced, or else potentially lose more property to robbers. While that is a horrible set back--and I have him, his roommate, and the robbers in my prayers--that was horrible management on his part. If he knew the night before he should have called someone to be his replacement then. If any of us have an emergency he expects us to call him asap so he can schedule a replacement for us. I was extremely disappointed in him when I found out the whole story.

 

Saturday night I finally saw Batman Begins and The Goonies. The sound and imagery of Batman made me even more disappointed that no one was interested in seeing it with me in the theatre. I enjoyed seeing both movies. I can now understand why everyone speaks so highly of Goonies. Thanks to jinnetics for hosting a movie night while my other friends celebrated their anniversary.

 

I was very impressed with Fr. Gene's homily on Sunday. He discussed his 44th anniversary of ordination and his 25th anniversary as our pastor. He explained how his mother would often remind him, "Familiarity breeds contempt," both before and after he entered the priesthood. How he had to remind himself to slow down during masses (which he might preside over as many as 14 per week) because he had become so familiar with his role. I was proud to see that he saw that fault, even if he still exhibited it during this mass! He related it to the solemnity, as he pointed out how many parishioners approach the Eucharist carelessly rather than with the reverence owed.

 

I had a hard time obtaining a family to present the gifts, being turned down almost a dozen times. I just don't understand it. To present the bread and wine (as well as the water, tithe, and book of intensions) that will be transfigured into the Body and Blood of Our Lord should be an honour. It should be doubly an honour on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.

 

Luckily, my boss called late Sunday night to let me know his door was lockable again, and that I was not needed to fill in for him on Monday. So, I have been able to stay off my leg all day and get the rest that I so desperately wanted all week. I'm not going to do any chores in or outside of the house, and I've been using my cheetah cane to get up for water and restroom breaks. So, with no weight on my leg all day, hopefully I'll be back to riding my bike this week. If not, I'll have to make a doctor's appointment.

 

I'm not sure whether the extra vitamins C & E which Richard had suggested have been working, as work has kept me on my feet running around. Saturday was the worst on my calf muscles, between being extra busy and understaffed. My mother gave me a 'healing salve' which she says will help. I'm not sure how a salve can repair internal damage, but I'm giving it a try, too. Whatever it takes.

 

felgild requested some recommendations for his parish's web site. Well, I'd guess that my parish's web site is at least as underwhelming if not more so. I've inquired of the parish office staff on what we could do to improve it, but they're not ready for that level of web ministry yet. We've only just started emailing ministry schedules in the past three years, and only in a standard format this year. Here's a list of web sites I think should be on a parish's links page:

My site looks weird in sublymonal.

 

So, why all of the new traffic, the old timers ask? (No, not really. But maybe they're asking silently.)  Well, I have a rather large subscription list (much larger than the ones I choose to show), which used to fill my inbox with many pages of blogs per day.  However, now I can go a day or a two at a time with nothing in my mailbox from Xanga.  OK, so I don't check my email daily, so maybe you don't think it matters.  But I like that window into other people's mindsets.  So, when I had some spare time after LepreCon, I started checking out my blogrings.  Several have swelled in numbers, while one (the Star Wars BlogRing) has only had me post within the last year.  So, while checking out my blogrings and clicking on people within them (and those that commented on their pages) I found a few places to comment and a few I've added to my digest.  now I get a digest most days, even if it's only a few posts.

 

So what happened to all my peeps?  Some died, some migrated away to other blogs, and some quit or heavily reduced their blogging.  As with all my online acquaintances (and the few rl friends mixed in) I keep them and their families in my prayers, wherever they've gone. 

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So where have I been?  Well, here's a quick recap: 

 

Last week I visited my grandparents' parish for mass, then went to their place for lunch and a game of Mexican Train Dominoes.  After that, I went to Imperial Outpost to play Fractured Souls.  It was good to see my old pal Chris again, even if I had to play my 4th level psiwar at APL10. 

 

Monday I started preparation for this Sunday's readings.  I often tell myself that I will prepare each Sunday's readings, not just the ones I'm scheduled for, but I never do.  I get so much more out of the mass when I've prepared the readings.  I just need to sit down and o it next week, keeping the momentum of this week. 

 

That afternoon we had a Hogwarts Live Action 3:  The Centaur of Hogsmeade casting call/planning meeting.  The game is coming along.  I really hope we can have more than two shopkeepers this year for Hogsmeade. 

 

Tuesday I felt my calf muscles get worse and worse on the ride into work.  I was late getting in, and walked with a slight limp.  Luckily, I got a ride home.  Wednesday morning I felt better, but in the less than a quarter of a mile ride to the bus stop I knew I wasn't riding the bike for the rest of the week.  I've been busing since.  A knife fight nearly broke out between some bus riders that didn't like each other's eye contact.  Yeah, eye contact is worth your life.    How do people end up like that? 

 

Tonight this guy offers to buy a bottle of water off me on my way into the grocer.  So I tug one out of my holder and hand it to him and rush inside before they close.  As I do so (because I had absolutely no fresh fruit and nearly no fresh vegetables or tortillas in the house, having needed to go shopping on Sunday or Monday, and I was hoping to have dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow), he says, "Thank you, Paul."  So I do a double take, and no, I don't recognize him.  He wasn't out there a few minutes later when I left, so I may never know.  This kind of thing happens to me a lot, and I wonder, are these people I should know?  Did I just strike up a conversation once with this individual who found me memorable or was this once an acquaintance of mine, long forgotten?  I worry that I'm not in right relationship with the world if all these people are supposed to be known by me.  Which kicks me back into prayer for the individual, myself, and those who encounter need from either end of the spectrum. 

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Why do I get a lot of hits on this site from California, France, and Italy? 

 

I'm going to drop that useless SW blogring as soon as I finish this post.  I have been a member since the 27th of September 2002, but now I will have to search out a new SW-related blogring.  Does anyone have any suggestions? 

 

Speaking of finishing this post...thanks to Alluveal for the quiz:

 

Yesterday I worked with Ivan and Wayne on getting the Hogwarts Live Action 3:  The Centaur of Hogsmeade event descriptions up on the Phoenix Con Games web site. 

 

In the afternoon, my mother, grandparents, and I went to my church for the 40th anniversary mass for Fr. Milt.  My mother was a EM who volunteered at St. Joseph's Hospital (where he works) when she first met him.  He also presides over some of the weekend masses for my grandparent's parish.  When I moved 12 years ago I discovered that he also presides over some of the weekend masses for my current parish.  Fr. Milt was ordained at the Pentecost mass in 1966, so our parish celebrated by having a special mass and a reception afterward.  Because my grandparents' parish won't be having something for Fr. Milt for a few more weeks, they wanted to show their support by coming to his anniversary mass at our parish. 

 

As I've mentioned before here, Fr. Milt is one of the finest homilists I've had the pleasure to hear.  Yesterday was no exception.  He related how the Church of today (naming examples from within our parish) and the Church of the Gospel reading (those touched by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost) are the same, and how the Church motivates him in his vocation.  I can't really replicate it, but suffice it to say that both he and the majority of parishoners couldn't help but get teary in his heartfelt thanks to the Holy Spirit and His people. 

 

There's a reason there was an uproar in the parish when they (Fr. Greg) talked of not needing Fr. Milt anymore a few years back.  He makes the listener both think and feel about the subject of his homily, which always ties into the readings of the mass. He engages the community as he reads the Gospel in a way few can read.  Outside the mass he makes relationships with parishoners.  Often times my grandparents say that Fr. Milt will stop by their parish before mass to greet people even if he isn't scheduled for that mass.  I know he will help folks in private matters after mass once the majority of people have gone, through email, or elsewise with prior arrangements.  He is a blessed man, and he blesses the people whose lives he touches.  Thank God for Fr. Milt.

 

After mass there was a nice reception with two-layer chocolate cake with cherry filling and your choice of punches (sugar free, sweet, and tart) all provided by the Womens' Guild.  A huge card for the parishoners to sign and a collage of photographs from his early priesthood were on display.  And Fr Milt was kind enough to slowly mingle with everyone who had showed up to celebrate with him. 

 

 

Busy, busy week.  Devon, Jason, Wayne, and I saw X3 on Tuesday.  You could tell that it was by a new creative--both the good and the bad that comes with that--just like in the comics!  So, yeah, it's worth seeing. 

 

We tried watching Supernatural again on Wednesday, but as we reached the climax the file corrupted.  So now we'll never know how the brothers survived the "Hell House."  Well, at least not until it reaches reruns. 

 

Friday night was Who night.  The episode "Bad Wolf" was awesome!  I also had the opportunity to play Run for Your Life, Candyman--a violent parody of Candyland.

 

Saturday Monte once again ran his Star Trek:  Secret War campaign.  As we approached 2006 Earth under cloak we noticed a colony on the far side of the moon which according to historical records shouldn't have existed.  Capt. Maddox requested that Lt. Cmdr. Priam (my character) create an away team to investigate it.  It was then that we began receiving a signal broadcast at the ship. When we received it on the view screen, it was a recorded entertainment titled, "Fear Factor".  When the comm officer went to turn off the broadcast he couldn't.  The signal increased until it backlashed through the consol and nearly killed him.  Luckily, Lt. Cmdr. Fiona (Kitty's character) was on the bridge and was able to pull him back from the brink of death.  Capt. Maddox then put the ship on yellow alert, had all active sensors turned off, and moved to put the moon between us and the planet. 

 

 

 

I've got to go.  I'll pick up with today hopefully sometime tomorrow. 

 

Maybe there's hope for me yet: