Posts
and my schedule will lighten up some ... just one more week!
I've not gotten in exercise every day, just due to the schedule craziness. And reading/studying is not where it should be either. I'm just holding my breath, in anticipation. A lighter workload, coming soon to a Trinka near you. :)
I am in the process of reading through Psalms and the N.T. with a family in mind who's grieving, highlighting different passages that make me think of them. I thought it might be an encouragement to them - I know it has been to me!
Monday, November 28, 2005
Saturday, November 26, 2005
now THAT's the way to promote education!
An anonymous person has just donated college scholarships to every graduate of the Kalamazoo (Michigan) public schools.
It is so neat to see someone being generous like this, with no public recognition ... and the thought of how many lives will be changed as a result is just glorious!
In contrast, a lady whose blog I read is recommending that we do this:
Now ... if each person who e-mails their congressperson with this request would, instead, contribute money to meeting these needs ... think how much more productive they would be!
It's easier to demand that the government confiscate funds and channel them ... but the amount of beauracracy waste getting the money there, and the lack of accountability from those receiving the money is staggering.
Rather than having the government confiscate $1 of my money, and getting .10 to the needed area ... which will then be squandered by corrupt management. Why not let me give the whole $1 to an organization I've researched and trust that's meeting a need about which I'm passionate?
"Rich people won't do that ... they want to keep their money" the cynics say. OK. Then what's this going on in Kalamazoo, I ask?
In other news ... when home for Thanksgiving, my mom showed me her snazzy new handgun. Yep. Handgun. She's going to classes for a concealed-carry permit. "Calm in crises situations" is not exactly a phrase that comes to mind when I think of my mother ... but maybe a bit of firepower will encourage it. Find it all very hard to picture.
I did, however, request some handling-guns-safely, how-to-shoot-the-thing lessons from my step-dad this summer - I'm ignorant about guns, and I dislike having broad areas of ignorance (except of course ignorance of professional sports, which I actively cultivate.) :)
Cozied up house-sitting at T's house watching her cat, and soaking up the free internet today.
Trinka
It is so neat to see someone being generous like this, with no public recognition ... and the thought of how many lives will be changed as a result is just glorious!
In contrast, a lady whose blog I read is recommending that we do this:
This week, Congress will decide how much America will contribute toward an
important international effort called the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria.Let’s keep up the positive pressure: Please email Congress today and ask
their support for $100 million in the Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill for the
Global Fund-- an effort that fights back against three killer diseases and
encourages other countries to do their share. "
Now ... if each person who e-mails their congressperson with this request would, instead, contribute money to meeting these needs ... think how much more productive they would be!
It's easier to demand that the government confiscate funds and channel them ... but the amount of beauracracy waste getting the money there, and the lack of accountability from those receiving the money is staggering.
Rather than having the government confiscate $1 of my money, and getting .10 to the needed area ... which will then be squandered by corrupt management. Why not let me give the whole $1 to an organization I've researched and trust that's meeting a need about which I'm passionate?
"Rich people won't do that ... they want to keep their money" the cynics say. OK. Then what's this going on in Kalamazoo, I ask?
In other news ... when home for Thanksgiving, my mom showed me her snazzy new handgun. Yep. Handgun. She's going to classes for a concealed-carry permit. "Calm in crises situations" is not exactly a phrase that comes to mind when I think of my mother ... but maybe a bit of firepower will encourage it. Find it all very hard to picture.
I did, however, request some handling-guns-safely, how-to-shoot-the-thing lessons from my step-dad this summer - I'm ignorant about guns, and I dislike having broad areas of ignorance (except of course ignorance of professional sports, which I actively cultivate.) :)
Cozied up house-sitting at T's house watching her cat, and soaking up the free internet today.
Trinka
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
the joys of delegating
Since we have this day tomorrow set aside to think about what we're thankful for, I am prompted to mention some folks who don't often get noticed.
I am so thankful for the volunteers who are willing to show up whenever I have a big project here at work. The last two weeks' productivity is almost exclusively due to these dear folks who shelved books, stuffed envelopes, collated paperwork, etc.
It's such an enormous benefit to the office, and to me personally. When people compliment my efficiency, really, it's these folks' efforts they're noticing.
While those on the outside of the situation probably never realize all that they do, I'm so thankful that God DOES realize it, and they'll hear "well done" from Him one day.
Just in the last two weeks, these folks have spent HOURS here, while I tapped away at the computer, working on the NEXT project ... which they then came and spent HOURS on, while I worked on the next project ... you get the idea!
And I am thankful!
Joyce W., Sue M., Lori S., Joyce B., Ray B., Sylvia E., Karen J. ... and others too!
I am so thankful for the volunteers who are willing to show up whenever I have a big project here at work. The last two weeks' productivity is almost exclusively due to these dear folks who shelved books, stuffed envelopes, collated paperwork, etc.
It's such an enormous benefit to the office, and to me personally. When people compliment my efficiency, really, it's these folks' efforts they're noticing.
While those on the outside of the situation probably never realize all that they do, I'm so thankful that God DOES realize it, and they'll hear "well done" from Him one day.
Just in the last two weeks, these folks have spent HOURS here, while I tapped away at the computer, working on the NEXT project ... which they then came and spent HOURS on, while I worked on the next project ... you get the idea!
And I am thankful!
Joyce W., Sue M., Lori S., Joyce B., Ray B., Sylvia E., Karen J. ... and others too!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
this Access problem I'm wrestling with ...
Anyone out there know Access?
I'm working on our church directory, and all I want to do is turn off the labels of fields that contain no information.
Doesn't this seem like it ought to be a simple property listed somewhere?
Nope. Doesn't appear to be!
Here's a picture of my report design ... if anyone has any suggestions for how to get the "E-mail" and "Birthday" labels to shut off (in instances where there's no information in the field), I'd be MOST thankful for the help. I might even buy dinner, if you're not an ax murderer or an Amway sales rep!
Thursday, November 17, 2005
0-5 in 24 hours
Still getting to the gym ... still reading (enjoying 1 Peter 4 this morning).
However, not much ELSE is getting done! This time of year is always like this, and I need to remember that.
Every year, the directories get done.
Every year, the tax receipts get done.
Every year, the annual reports get done.
It always feels like they won't. But they always do. Keeping that in mind is helpful!
Total snow this season in Michigan as of yesterday morning at 8:25:
0 inches
Total snow this season in Michigan as of this morning at 8:25:
5 inches (and still coming down)
I was sitting outside Saturday night, after dark, with no coat talking on the phone ... and now this!
Trinka
However, not much ELSE is getting done! This time of year is always like this, and I need to remember that.
Every year, the directories get done.
Every year, the tax receipts get done.
Every year, the annual reports get done.
It always feels like they won't. But they always do. Keeping that in mind is helpful!
Total snow this season in Michigan as of yesterday morning at 8:25:
0 inches
Total snow this season in Michigan as of this morning at 8:25:
5 inches (and still coming down)
I was sitting outside Saturday night, after dark, with no coat talking on the phone ... and now this!
Trinka
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
2 years ... that's amazing
I realized last night that I've been exercising consistently for two years. (other than times when I've been too sick to get moving).
This is amazing considering my schedule and general dislike for anything that can't be described with the adjective "cozy". I'm expecting a certificate of recognition any day now. :) (guess I'd better get busy creating one!)
about these "youths" rioting in France.
"Muslim" youths. Muslim. They're leaving that important word out in nearly every report. The media doesn't seem to feel it's significant.
It's not about poverty. It's about ideology.
Trinka (who doesn't recall the fire-bombings from what I've read about the great depression ... hmmm ... there was a LOT of poverty then)
This is amazing considering my schedule and general dislike for anything that can't be described with the adjective "cozy". I'm expecting a certificate of recognition any day now. :) (guess I'd better get busy creating one!)
about these "youths" rioting in France.
"Muslim" youths. Muslim. They're leaving that important word out in nearly every report. The media doesn't seem to feel it's significant.
It's not about poverty. It's about ideology.
Trinka (who doesn't recall the fire-bombings from what I've read about the great depression ... hmmm ... there was a LOT of poverty then)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
where HAVE you been?
Well ... I'm right in the midst of my busiest season here at work ... Mid October-January is pretty crammed. On top of that, our new pastor is here, starting his first week. He's fitting in well, and we're all enjoying working together. BUT on top of an already-busy season, he's trying to find his way around town, get settled in his office, etc. And that requires my time as well.
Then in outside-work life, I've accepted a few more responsibilities than I should. Those should be letting up in mid December.
But until then, I'm grabbing shreds of time with my fingernails trying to stay on top of it all! :)
Exercise has been happening, though not as faithfully as before, simply because of all the above mentioned commitments. I actually took a couple hours vacation time yesterday afternoon just to get a walk in. It was one of those late-autumn days that just calls you to be outside.
Did get gas this morning for $2.09. This situation is definately looking up.
I'll make up for my blogging negligence with a delightful collection of plays on words that appeared in my in-box this morning:
For All You Lexiphiles (Lovers of Words)
1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; In feudalism, it's your count that votes.
7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
10. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.
11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
15. Local Area Network! in Australia: the LAN down under.
16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
17. Every calendar's days are numbered.
18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.
19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
22. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
24. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.
27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
29. Acupuncture is a jab well done.
30. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat
Then in outside-work life, I've accepted a few more responsibilities than I should. Those should be letting up in mid December.
But until then, I'm grabbing shreds of time with my fingernails trying to stay on top of it all! :)
Exercise has been happening, though not as faithfully as before, simply because of all the above mentioned commitments. I actually took a couple hours vacation time yesterday afternoon just to get a walk in. It was one of those late-autumn days that just calls you to be outside.
Did get gas this morning for $2.09. This situation is definately looking up.
I'll make up for my blogging negligence with a delightful collection of plays on words that appeared in my in-box this morning:
For All You Lexiphiles (Lovers of Words)
1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; In feudalism, it's your count that votes.
7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
10. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.
11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
15. Local Area Network! in Australia: the LAN down under.
16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
17. Every calendar's days are numbered.
18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.
19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
22. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
24. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.
27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
29. Acupuncture is a jab well done.
30. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Bill Clinton is Forrest Gump
Now, I saw this movie years ago, but don't really remember much about it ... other than that the main character seemed to find himself in the middle of every great historical event of his lifetime.
Yesterday at Rosa Parks funeral, Clinton, instead of just talking about her life and contribution, felt the need to mention that he and a friend took her actions as a permission to sit in the back of the bus ... fulfilling a life-long dream (or some-such).
Oh. Brother. Give. Me. A. Break.
He was 8 years old.
Why must everything out of that man's mouth be a lie? And why must the media insist on repeating those lies, trying to make him look like a paragon of virtue?
Just let him drift into history quietly. Please. He is a shame to our country, and if the democrats ever want to be taken seriously, they've got to divorce themselves from him! I would be willing to at least listen to their arguments, if their chief spokesperson weren't such a caricature.
Exercise ... I got to the gym Sunday, pilates Monday, dance dance revolution Tuesday (I do love that thing!) and a walk last night. Not as much as I'd LIKE to have done, but at least it was consistent.
I've been reading in 1 Peter 2 and 3, and just marveling at how different God's standard is from our own ... when people are unreasonable, or circumstances unpleasant, the Christian can take it as from HIS hand, and trust Him in it. He wants to create in us an un-natural reaction to bad circumstances ... one that will draw others to want what we've got.
Trinka
Yesterday at Rosa Parks funeral, Clinton, instead of just talking about her life and contribution, felt the need to mention that he and a friend took her actions as a permission to sit in the back of the bus ... fulfilling a life-long dream (or some-such).
Oh. Brother. Give. Me. A. Break.
He was 8 years old.
Why must everything out of that man's mouth be a lie? And why must the media insist on repeating those lies, trying to make him look like a paragon of virtue?
Just let him drift into history quietly. Please. He is a shame to our country, and if the democrats ever want to be taken seriously, they've got to divorce themselves from him! I would be willing to at least listen to their arguments, if their chief spokesperson weren't such a caricature.
Exercise ... I got to the gym Sunday, pilates Monday, dance dance revolution Tuesday (I do love that thing!) and a walk last night. Not as much as I'd LIKE to have done, but at least it was consistent.
I've been reading in 1 Peter 2 and 3, and just marveling at how different God's standard is from our own ... when people are unreasonable, or circumstances unpleasant, the Christian can take it as from HIS hand, and trust Him in it. He wants to create in us an un-natural reaction to bad circumstances ... one that will draw others to want what we've got.
Trinka
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