An attempt to get back in the groove

I have an interesting problem during the summer.

Too many days off.

Yeah, I know. I can just hear the sympathy dripping off you all.

Because I'm still at 80% of full time and I'm very busy during camp weeks and EYE I end up with a fair amount of comp time. My bishop is pretty directive about me taking it. When I'm at camp or EYE I actually end up working between 2 and 3 weeks worth of hours in a single week. And let's face it by the time I'm done I'm pretty well wiped out. Not only are the hours long (camp is 7 AM to 11 PM) but as a Myers-Briggs INTP all that "people time" just wears me out.

The problem is that if I'm taking comp time I can't get any work done! It's a conundrum. So I cut back to just 2 days a week for the last couple weeks. That keeps me from falling too far behind. Unfortunately it means some things don't get done right away. Like blogging.

What's that you say? Couldn't I blog from home? Sure. Heck that's where I am right now! But I try to get as much rest as I can (which I need since I'm OLD) plus I can get caught up on chores around the house. Things like mowing the grass, cleaning the garage and weeding the several quite large plant beds around the house. Which doesn't create a lot of bloggable adventure.

But I'm caught up on comp time and headed back into a more normal routine starting tomorrow. So I thought I'd get caught up a bit on blogging.

First, a momentous event! I met another of my online friends today! I've met folks from Tennessee, Maine, and North Caroline but I'd never managed to meet my friend Pseudopiskie who lives all of about 2 hours from here. We just missed meeting a couple weeks ago. So she drove up today and we spent the afternoon together. I'll link to our photo as soon as she posts it. She got the only picture. It was great to meet her, we chatted like we've known each other for years. Which we have, virtually. I'm now up to five online friends that I've met in real life. I'd love to keep adding to that list.

And a new movie!

Pay It Forward - I'm aware that there's a tendency to sneer at this movie by some. It offends our culture's well fed sense of cynicism. Tough. This is a wonderful simple story told very well. It's got a great cast (Kevin Spacey (who I'll watch in anything), Helen Hunt (who I'll watch in anything, although for different reasons in part), Haley Joel Osment, Jon Bon Jovi (who's not a bad actor at all), Jay Mohr, James Caviezel, even Angie Dickinson!). Yes, there are some sniffle moments in the movie and a surprise ending but what a wonderful concept. We could do a lot worse than take the idea of Paying It Forward to heart. Oh and it's also a great theological message that's perfectly in accord with the Gospel. Do something for someone else with no expectation of being "paid back" and ask them to "pay it forward". Even a nice trinitarian touch! This is a truly good movie in just about every possible definition of the concept.

Quick notes: On my weight loss front I'm stalled but that's OK. I wanted to prove to myself that this was a real loss. That it could be maintained during my "real life". And I have, steady in the low 190s with only a couple pounds fluctuation from day to day which is perfectly normal. And all done during a time when I have completely stopped working out! So I'm expecting that I can take the next jump once I kick the workouts back into my schedule. Good stuff.

Haven't ridden the bike much nor played much golf. I've written a few new things and I have an idea for something totally new for me. It's either going to be really cool or I'm going to a complete idiot. We'll see.

Peace