Thursday, February 10, 2011

Filling In Time

Once again, I find myself sitting around waiting on a visit from the HVAC technician.  We think we solved the furnace crisis, finally -- the computer in our new "smart" furnace thought it was connected to a multi-stage thermostat (whatever that is) and needed to be reprogrammed for the actual thermostat that came with it, namely a single-stage thermostat.  Since the reprogramming six days ago, it has worked flawlessly.  Unfortunately, the air in the house has been getting dryer and dryer despite out having a whole-house humidifier system.  So they are coming back today to make sure that the humidifier is wired up to the new furnace correctly.  What a pain.

My wife wisely keeps reminding me that this is the price of home ownership.  I wish I had her patience with those things over which I really have absolutely no control.

Although she herself lost patience, a little, this morning when she let the dog out to relieve himself and he took off like a rocket down the street.  Whatever extra time she might have had to get some work done and get a jump on the day went right out the window.  She had given up on finding him and was heading in to work when he rocketed in through the garage as she opened it up to get her car out.  My dear one left for work less than pleased with her dog.

I had the sense NOT to point out that getting a dog wasn't my idea.

So until the tech comes I will work on some stuff for church that will eventually find itself onto these pages:  hymn lyrics, poems, and the Easter reflection I'm signed up to do.  I really want that Easter reflection to be perfect, as it will also be my swan song as a Lay Liturgist.  Next year, our church will be going to two services, one at each campus and the lay liturgists will be expected to drive from one church to the other between services.  I disagree with this strategy on a number of levels, but mostly because of the waste.  It's hard to be an advocate for a Green Sanctuary when you are commuting between two buildings unnecessarily every week.  I can only vote with my wallet and my feet when it comes to church policy, so I have elected to leave the Lay Liturgist program rather than waste the fuel and add to the pollution that this commute will cause.  I know, it's only a few times a year, but global warming isn't going away just because I look the other way on my values in this instance.  We have enough members in our church to allow for each liturgist to pick their church and their service.  I would rather see us aggressively recruit more people who are looking for a soapbox than have us drive in haste between two buildings that are not even remotely close together.

I truly hope that they don't decide to do the same thing with the choir.  It would break my heart to quit, but I cannot in good conscience be one of the 40-plus people who drive the miles between churches twice each month.  We have not heard even a whisper about how the choir will be expected to deal with the change.  I personally am hoping for a split into two groups, but even that is problematic.

We'll see.  For now, I just want to go out on a high note with my Easter reflection.  So...I'd better get to work!!


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