Basically, I think things went well, but we'll have to see.

You may or may not remember a few months back when I talked about Kyle N. suddenly showed up with his congo drum one night for Bible study expecting to play. We worked with him so he could.

Well, after months of not bringing it, he showed up with it again last night. This was after it had been explained to him that he couldn't play if he hadn't come to practice, which he never has. I got to be the heavy who told him that again and wouldn't let him play. (And believe me, we didn't need the added distraction of trying to work with him.) I guess I wasn't straight forward enough, because he asked me again a minute later when I returned from getting the music stands. At that point, I will admit I was blunt with him and told him point blank he wouldn't be playing with us. I was trying to figure out if we had words to all the songs for the group and making sure we had what we needed for the team up front since no one else seems able to figure that out for themselves.

Anyway, I was home at lunch time today, just about ready to go back when his dad calls. He was trying to figure out what happened last night. So I explained what had happened and why. He talked for quite a while. The good part is that he seemed to understand where I was coming from and wasn't angry with me. He just wanted my side of the story since Kyle come home quite upset last night. He asked me if I thought Kyle was ready to play with us. I told him I didn't see why not, but passed him off to Pastor Jon.

See, we've discussed several times just having the worship team be staff and high schoolers. So, as soon as I hung up, I called Jon to give him the heads up. We talked, and I think we aren't going to worry about what age the youth is until we have so many kids we can't work them all in. Especially since we're talking about a drum and not another guitar. :)

Obviously, we're still feeling our way through this. I need to talk to Kyle more when I'm not trying to do 20 things at once and not feeling generally well and apologize for being short with him.

Yep, yesterday, my stomach was killing me all day. Not sure why, but I'm feeling much better today. Not that I got alot of sleep last night. Woke up at 4 and couldn't get back to sleep. About 6 I finally got up and got ready for work. Got here about 7, and I'm one of the last to leave. Ironic, isn't it? But I guess this makes up for my long lunch hour yesterday when I dozed off.

The things I do for a free meal.

In other news, escrow officially closed today. I don't think I've ever been this excited about being so far in debt I don't see how it will ever get paid off. :)

Welcom to this week's Thursday Threesome, brought to us this week by childhood sayings and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Sticks and stones- Are you an outdoorsy sort? Would you prefer to spend all your spare time hiking, biking, swimming, etc? What's your favorite outdoor activity?
I enjoy being outdoors, and I enjoy being indoors, just depends on my mood. Favorite outdoor activities? Swimming and ultimate Frisbee of course.

Twosome: May break my bones,- Have you ever broken a bone? Or needed stitches? Or been hurt badly enough you should have gone to the hospital but didn't?
Never broken a bone or needed stitches. Yet. The only time I’ve had a serious enough problem that I needed to go to the hospital was when I had something irritating my eye. Had to drive myself, too, which wasn’t fun, trust me.

Threesome: But words will never harm me- The pen is mightier than the sword and words do truly have the power to hurt. But sometimes we slip and just can't help but vent our anger toward that slow moving driver or the jerk who cut in front of us and took the last of what we needed. What's your favorite insult to hurl? Do you try to censor yourself when the kiddos are around?
I actually try to censor myself at all times. (You’d be shocked if you knew some of the stuff that flew across my mind on the rare occasion.) Usually it’s something shocking like, “O, come on!” “What are you thinking??” Really bad stuff like that.

Forgot to include my results from the President selector poll. No real surprise to me here.

1. Bush, George W. - US President (100%)
2. Libertarian Candidate (76%)
3. Buchanan, Patrick J. – Reform/Republican (71%)
4. Bayh, Senator Evan, IN - Democrat (63%)
5. McCain, Senator John, AZ- Republican (61%)
6. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (52%)
7. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (48%)
8. Phillips, Howard - Constitution (46%)
9. Lieberman Senator Joe CT - Democrat (46%)
10. Dodd, Senator Chris, CT - Democrat (44%)
11. Kucinich, Cong. Dennis, OH - Democrat (43%)
12. Gephardt, Cong. Dick, MO - Democrat (42%)
13. Feinstein, Senator Dianne, CA - Democrat (42%)
14. Biden, Senator Joe, DE - Democrat (41%)
15. Daschle, Senate Minority Leader Tom, SD - Democrat (40%)
16. Clinton, Senator Hillary Rodham, NY - Democrat (40%)
17. Leahy, Patrick Senator, Vermont - Democrat (38%)
18. Graham, Senator Bob, FL - Democrat (36%)
19. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat (33%)
20. Kaptur, Cong. Marcy, OH - Democrat (32%)
21. Moseley-Braun, Former Senator Carol IL - Democrat (31%)
22. Feingold, Senator Russ, WI - Democrat (26%)
23. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (25%)
24. Bradley, Former Senator Bill NJ - Democrat (21%)
25. Hagelin, John - Natural Law (21%)
26. Jackson, Cong. Jesse Jr., IL - Democrat (19%)
27. Gore, Former Vice-President Al - Democrat (19%)
28. Clark, Retired Army General Wesley K "Wes" Arkansas - Democrat (16%)
29. Green Party Candidate (10%)
30. Vilsack, Governor. Tom IA - Democrat (10%)
31. Socialist Candidate (8%)
32. Hart, Former Senator Gary, CO - Democrat (3%)
33. LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. - Democrat (0%)

Thanks to Misty and Aleta for the link.

Then there's this one for CA governor.

1. Bill Simon (dropped out) (36%)
2. Tom McClintock (73%)
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger (39%)
4. Gray Davis (26%)
5. Peter Ueberroth (dropped out) (18%)
6. Gary Coleman (5%)
7. Cruz Bustamante (4%)
8. Audie Bock (3%)
9. Peter Camejo (0%)
10. Angelyne (0%)
11. Arianna Huffington (0%)
12. Larry Flynt (0%)
13. Mary Carey (0%

Anyone want to tell me why Bill Simon is top on my list? But this does confirm who I was already planning on voting for.

I feel like I'm running in a million different directions right now.

Called utility companies and set up the switch over in utilities. In spite of every one's best efforts, I'm going with standard cable. Aparently, there's a satelite dish at the condo, but I'm too addicted to TV to use that. I need to be able to record something and watch something else. Especially with multiple roommates. The only people I forgot to call is my current cable company to stop my service with them.

Meanwhile, I'm really hooked on Six Strokes Under. It's a weird mix of sports book and mystery that I'm actually enjoying. And I'm getting drawn into the sports scenes, too. I so wished I could have kept reading when lunch time was over. And tonight, I'm planning to call home before the convention comes over to watch the Enterprise season premier.

Advise from someone? I'm trying to decide if I should have my carpets professionally done, or if I can just rent a Rug Doctor and save $100. The previous owners of my condo had two cats, so I need to make sure all the cat dander is gone. But I don't want to spend any money I don't have to. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Fortunately, comments are back, so I can actually read them if you offer them to me! :)

Got a call this morning saying the loan docks were at the escrow office for me to sign. So, instead of going home at lunch time, I headed out there. Unfortunately, I also found out that to have my property taxes impounded every month (like I've already agreed to have happen), they were going to take 9 months worth. I had things calculated down to the penny, but that was much more then I expected them to be. So, I came back and asked for a payroll advance to cover the added months. Then I went to the bank and got a cashier's check for the rest of my downpayment and the closing costs. And you know what? I'm not even scared about how big the check is. Guess I've been getting used to it over the last month, because otherwise it would have killed me.

The worst part is that I had to get the advance. I was seriously hoping I wouldn't have to. With payday being Friday, it would have been nice. But I'll be paying that off for the next 5 months. O well.

Anyway, I'll be dropping the check off tonight on my way to the final walkthrough. By signing the papers today, escrow will hopefully close on Friday. That's still the target. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Yet at the same time dreading the work of packing, even though half my stuff is still in boxes. Really wish I could just wave my arms and everything would suddenly be moved. But since this isn't Bewitched, I'll plan on working like crazy after work all next week.

I think the excitement of my countdown (11 days), is because that's when the move will actually be over. Then comes the funner work of unpacking. But it's still work. Hopefully, by the end of the month, things will be organized and I can relax and enjoy my new place completely.

My weekend felt like a three day weekend, which was nice.

Of course, it was a two and a half day weekend.

Friday afternoon with OtherSeth at Magic Mountain was fun. I'd forgotten just how much you can do in that park when no one's there. We didn't get there until after 2PM, yet we rode all the major rides, including the new one, and were out of the park by 5:30PM. The only downside was that it was HOT in the sun. Probably up around 100.

Then Friday night, Mom and Dad came into town on their way back to Northern CA from Colorado. Via Phoenix and me. Spent the night with them, then we went out and looked at my new condo Saturday morning. They were very impressed. That afternoon, we hung around the trailer and did laundry. Not the most thrilling visit, but it was great to see them.

Then Saturday night I went home AND DID MY LAST TWO LOADS OF LAUNDRY HAVING TO PAY WITH QUARTERS!!!!!!!!!!! And why would that be again? Because escrow closes Friday and I move in 12 days! Frankly, it couldn't come any sooner. Friday, I did a load of towels and had to dry them twice. That's just way too annoying.

Sunday we had our first worship team practice before evening service. Went fine, but having to be at church at 5 sure does break up my afternoon. Of course, in a couple weeks, I won't have to leave until 4:50, which will be nice.

And, you knew this day would come, but I must once again talk a little politics. Something I have to get off my chest reguarding the governor's race here in CA.

First, Arnold is all but accused of being anti-immigrant, and therefore, a hypocrit. And why? Because he voted for proposition 187. Now, for those of you outside CA, here's what they proposition made the law of the state. Illegal immigrants were treated only for emergency procedures in state hospitals. Other then that, they didn't qualify for welfare of anything else the state of CA gives to the poor. And why is that? BECAUSE THEY ARE ILLEGAL!!!!! Yes, it makes life harder for legal immigrants. It would be nice if it didn't. But there's no other way to treat people who come here by breaking the law. See, there's a big difference between what Arnold did and what these people are doing. Any body who actually uses their brain would see that.

Not that it made any difference. The courts, in all their wisdom, overturned the law.

Now, Governor Davis is attacking Arnold, saying anyone who can't pronounce California shouldn't be it's governor. Now, Arnold as governor does scare me, but not for that reason. I don't think he really knows what he's doing to lead our state, and there are other people better qualified. But the fact that he has an accent isn't one of the issues I'm concerned with. And, the majority of the media isn't even bothering to report on this.

Meanwhile, we've got the only Democrat who broke ranks not wanting to break his ties to MEChA. I had some dealings with them and other clubs when I was going to the junior college. Frankly, they would scare me if they were anything but talk. But they are a racist group. (Wait, they are racists against European Americans. Can I call them that?) And the fact that he won't call them on it really bothers me. Unfortunately, I see him as being our next governor because I think Davis is toast. Hope so, anyway.

My gas theory sorta worked. When I bought gas Wednesday night (and my 3 gallon light was starting to come on), it had dropped! To all of $2.05 a gallon. Last night when I drove by on my way home from Bible Study, it had gone down again. To $2.03. With prices falling this fast, I'll be able to afford everything here pretty quick.

Yep, there's a reason I'm blogging this early. I'm leaving the office for the day in 8 minutes. Heading over to Magic Mountain this afternoon with Seth. Hopefully the park will be empty, so we can make ourselves sick on the rollercoasters. Actually, I haven't been since they openned the newest coaster, so I'm looking forward to it. Plus I've only been on the last coaster they built once.

And Mom called about an hour ago to say they're leaving Phoenix just now. They'll be here before I'm ready for them, but this is the way my schedule worked out. They're leaving an hour before I thought they would. :) Looking forward to seeing them and showing off my new condo.

Haven't heard from Jeff. But I don't expect to before this weekend sometime. Really didn't expect him to show up this weekend like he mentioned. But we'll see. Not that I'll be home again until late Saturday.

And that's my life at noon on a Friday. Have a good weekend, everyone.

Quiz day here at RR. Starting off with Mary's Tuesday Two.

1. Name a moment/incident/storyline in a book that you’ve never been able to forget
I’ve been trying, and I really can’t remember any life changing storylines in books. I’ve enjoyed the stories in the last few Thoene books. But a scene I’ve never forgotten is Honey trying to act like a gangster in the barn loft in book number 2.


2. What is your favorite first line of a novel?
“Nothing. Nothing but nothing. She stood in the middle of nothing and turned in a small circle. Everywhere she looked, everywhere, she saw nothing.” Sandy Dengler – Taste of Victory.

And now, for this week's Thursday Threesome, brought to us by traffic lights and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Red- Stop! Take a moment from your busy day and let us know what it's like now that the kids are back in school. Hey, even if you don't have kids, I'm betting the traffic pattern has changed on your commute! ...and not for the better, -eh?
Actually, my commute doesn’t change that much between summer and school. Probably because of how close I am to work. Don’t know what effect it will have in 16 days when I move.

Meanwhile, there is life on campus again for the first time in months. It really does start to feel dead when the students are gone. Even though I don’t talk to that many on a daily basis, just seeing them outside the windows changes something.

Twosome: Yellow- The leaves will be yellow and gold soon in New England! Who's your team this year? Oh, college of course! (Okay, you can go NFL if you'd like ...)
Master’s, duh! Never mind the facts that I don’t even follow them and we don’t have a football team.

Threesome: Green- Go ahead, tell us what is happening in your neck of the woods as Autumn approaches. I've heard tales of the ash trees turning golden in Pennsylvania while central California is still in triple digits. What are you seeing when you're out on your porch?
Autumn? I think I’ve heard about that season somewhere. Things do cool off, but not until mid to late October. Still around 95 every day here and likely to be that way for quite some time. We get lots of wind during October and November. Some trees do loose their leaves, but nothing like in other parts of the country.

ACK! It's already 5!! Really need to get going since tonight is worship team practice. Last one on a Wednesday, however. We're switching to Sunday on Sunday.

Went and looked at a couch last night. Not convienced that it was that much better then what I already had. But they mentioned a place that seems to have great deals on their furniture. Maybe I can snag something there.

And I need to look at mattresses for bunk beds, too, so if roommates need them, I've got them.

For example Jeff. He called today because he's thinking of moving back to the area. Initially, he just wanted to move in for a couple weeks until he could figure something else out. But I think he's going to move into the new place. It'll be fun having him as a roommate again. If he does indeed move back here. We'll just have to see.

Still don't have my Alias set yet. I'm expecting it in tomorrow's mail.

Meanwhile, it's dinner time. Gotta run.

I was a good little boy the rest of the weekend. Didn't spend a dime I didn't have to. In fact, didn't spend a dime I should have, like gas. I'm gambling that gas prices will go down tomorrow since Labor day is over with. Here's hoping. They're at $2.09/gallon at the cheapest station here in town at the moment.

Got a new neighbor in my apartment this weekend. My last neighbors moved out over the fourth of July weekend. And they are certainly making me look forward more to my move. (Only 18 days.) Saturday, at 10 PM, they stick in a movie. And the walls start rattling. I went over and asked them to turn it down, which they did no problem, but we were back to it being that load Sunday and Monday. Just hope I don't walk into a situation like that at my new place.

Anyway, I went through Beauty and the Beast this weekend. Only 11 months after the DVD came out. I love that movie! And I watched part of my Rocky and Bullwinkle season 1 set. Meanwhile, remember that Alias season 1 came out today!

Monday, however, I took a different tack and read as much as possible. Finished Murder Pans Out that way, reading over 3/4 of it.

In between reading, I had the guys over and we watched 3 episodes of Babylon 5. Mikey, their new driver (so I don't have to drive after I've moved), seemed to like the show. And doesn't seem too lost, which is good considering we're about to finish season 2.

Then Seth and I went out to dinner and he came over and we watched Spider-Man. So basically, I had a nice relaxing weekend.

Now I come back to reality and work. What a bummer. :(