The Convention

Now I'm going to leave before somebody gets the idea that this blog is active again >_>

Day 1

So I got out of the house just fine at about 4:50 in the morning. Tulsa's airport is fairly laid back and I went through the security check with no problems. I even had my toothpaste all ready to go in a zip-loc bag.

When I checked in and got my boarding pass, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had seat number 1A, which meant I would be right in the front of the plane. “All right!” I exclaimed, “They must have bumped me up to first class or something, maybe there weren't enough first class passengers!” This however, turned out to be a false surmise as not only was it not first class, it had no storage area for my bag unlike everyone else's seats. And leg room was scanty. It was a smaller plane than I had previously flown in and they apparently put the passengers they referred to as “Elite Passengers” (which seemed a bit snobbish to me) in the back. I guess they do that on the smaller planes, I don't really know. It was a fairly uneventful flight and I was able to finish a book that I had started well before the semester had begun. This is the first section of time I've had to be able to do that, which was very nice.

The flight attendant (or whatever the politically correct term is) was a man that I think had mixed parents, he looked something like Obama in skin color and something like Barney Fife in mannerisms and looks. He was very polite and would always offer me things by saying “Sir, would you like.....” and with a long, flowing sweep of his arm, gesture toward whatever it was he was offering. When I got up to exit the plane (that was the one perk of being in seat 1A, I left first) he gave a slight bow, a sweeping movement with both his arms and showed me where the door was. I appreciated it but felt I probably could have found it myself. He was very polite and very obviously took his job seriously, which was one reason he reminded me of Barney.

Leaving the airport was no problem. I guess airports must trust each other's security because no one bothers to check anyone leaving the terminal. That's nice because it would take up more time if they did. I got to the group just as they were getting to drive off. They are taking multiple trips out to get all of the conference attendees. We made several more stops around the airport until we were full. I was seated next to a young man named Zack who is in bio-mechanical engineering but want to be a doctor. He is from Pennsylvania and is taking a “Shakespeare in Film” class this semester. We knew some of the same plays.

The Hilton hotel is very nice. It's eleven stories and mostly class on the outside. At the desk I found out I am sharing a room with a chap named Eli, who has yet to arrive. This didn't surprise me and I look forward to meeting him. I was a bit stunned when I opened the door to the room and saw only one bed however! Thankfully the couch does fold out into a sleeper sofa so it will be just like back home :)

The room is very nice but everything costs a lot. I would have expected that in a fancy place like this, most of the things would be already paid for and “complimentary”. Apparently they milk you for all you've got. Internet is not free. It's something like $10 for 24 hours. They offer movies and games on the TV but those likewise are not free. They also offer a continental breakfast.... in bed! But that's $11 and if you want juice it's another $4.

I get reimbursed for certain expenses but that seems like it would be overdoing it. I'll just go and get something cheap downstairs in a bit.

On second thought.... the cafe had sandwiches for $12 so I'll pass that up and just eat chips in the conference room. The dinner they have planned is free to the voting delegates but for any guests it is $57! And that's one of the cheap meals they have here. It had better taste good and there had better be plenty of it, is all I can say.

I also found out that they do have free Wifi in the lobby with an access code, so that's what I'm doing at the moment.

The actual business part starts in about 15 minutes so this is the Traveler, signing out for now.

Day1 (end)-Day 2

So now I have a brief reprieve. It is nearly 10:00pm at night and our committee has finally finished all its work and will be making a recommendation to the general assembly tomorrow.

Speaking of which, as soon as we got here we hit the ground running. As voting delegates, part of our responsibility was to conduct chapter affairs and review what had been happening. I was on the financial committee so we were looking at things such as expenses, expense reports for next year, fiscal reports, and if the chapter had been spending its money wisely. I volunteered and was voted to be the recording secretary so my little netbook came in very handy, once again.

Our Financial Review Committee was then broken up into five smaller sub-committees to review specific problems. One committee tracked down chapters that had not paid their dues, for example. My committee was probably the most controversial one.

You see, starting about 15 years ago, it was decided to start a program that would encourage secretaries to turn in their paperwork on time. Out of the 220 chapters, only about 50 of the chapters would turn in their paperwork when they were supposed to. So the committee back then decided to offer a $500 reward to those chapters who did their paperwork three years in a row. The number of chapters didn't rise significantly. This program was then evaluated and done away with but many people objected and a motion was made to have a five year trial period. Chapters would be given $100 for turning in their paperwork on time (regardless if this was their first time or not) and for the second year $200, for the third year in a row: $300. Over the past five years, the average number of chapters turning in their paperwork on time rose from 54 to 61 (I did the numbers). Out of 220 chapters that isn't very much and was spent $10,000 doing this. The answer was clear-cut to me and to most people in our committee.

The recommendation was that the trial program was not successful and the monetary award should be done away with.

However, those chapters who do get the money now feel as though they are having something taken away from them, and those who haven't feel they ought to have a chance to get some money too. One guy said “Well now there is no incentive to turn in paperwork on time!” I think this completely misses the nature of the thing. You don't /deserve/ the money in the first place, in fact it seems wrong to reward someone for doing what they are supposed to do anyway! Do I get paid by my teachers for turning in my homework on time? No, I get penalized for /not/ doing it on time. It's what I'm supposed to do.

I find that in general, there is a rather liberal mindset and people look at things in an emotional “that's not fair for me” way rather than objectively and for the good of the organization. There are SO many people saying things like “Well I feel like....” and I just want to say “I don't care how you feel about the money, just stick to the points at hand., seven chapter for $10,000 is not good!” Then some people say “but we have plenty of money” and that annoys me as well. This must be how government is run. “We have plenty of money so we can continue this thing even if it only helps one person.” Where do we get the money?

So.... minor rant aside :)

Our committee seemed by far the most busy. We debated, discussed, skipped refreshments and went straight until about 10:20 that night. Our chair had been so busy the whole time that he had skipped dinner and I had been busy trying to type up proposals and recommendations and the minutes. I did this during dinner and in-between the applau.

Yes, that's what they called it. Right at the beginning of the convention a rather down-to-earth looking chap stood up and said “I'm going to teach you guys something. We have a lot of ground to cover and lots of awards. In the past we've gotten behind schedule because people feel they need to applaud. Well at this convention we're going to “applau”. I'll teach you how it's done: hold your hands apart like this [visual demonstration] and then bring them together once [clap!]. That's it. We're done.”

I liked it very much actually. I am not one of those people that gets carried away with applause. I will clap a couple of times for a person and that's it. And if the rest of the people stand I will not do so simply because everyone else is doing it. If I feel moved by respect or something then I will, otherwise I remain stubbornly in my seat. I won't respond to peer pressure. So the idea of just clapping once delighted me. It got the urge to show some approval out of the way without wasting all the time. Brilliant!

My roommate and I hit the sack around 10:40pm, tossed around a while and went to bed.

Day 2

Breakfast in the morning was rather dull for a fancy hotel. They had some muffins that tasted a bit stale and croissants and that was about it. For drink all they had was coffee and tea, no juice or even water, which was kind of disappointing. Maybe that's to encourage people to buy the $15 breakfast in bed deal.....

Meetings with districts, meetings with chapters, committees, general business meetings, oh yes, it was all there. We met in the morning for our Business meeting, in which the various committees reported and then people voted or made motions.

Off topic, I was noticing that facial hair must really be out of style. I saw two other people (out of 500 delegates) that had any kind of facial hair. It made me think that Hollywood must really be setting the image in this country....

...anyway. The discussion was interesting but very long. The first couple of motions went over very well except that half the delegates seemed to be in a shouting contest to second a motion and be put on the minutes. The gentleman taking the minutes (retired military) was obviously rather peeved about it all since it was both disorderly and made his job harder because he couldn't hear anyone.

But then we hit a couple of propositions to accept the Computer Science programs of two different schools as being an “engineering program” and therefore the students of these programs would be eligible for membership. There was heated debate on both sides, ammendments proposed, votes called, votes contested, ammendments contests, the chair was contested and called out of order, a division was called for twice (which meant that a head count of 234 chapters had to be taken multiple times) etc. etc. The chair was amazing, I did not envy his job.

Some people on the one side were saying very “personal” things like “I feel that they don't have any other honor society to go to so we should accept them into ours.” Aw... how sweet of you.

And at the opposite extreme, one guy essentially said “engineers are better than computer science people and I don't want to be associated with them. It would water down the society.”

Votes were finally called, hours were spent on this procedure and probably 20 people were lined up to talk. It was a big circus and unfortunately our secretary award thing will also probably be hotly debated, tomorrow *wince*

Dinner was very “meager” with the cost only being $34. It consisted of pasta (and a bit rubbery in my opinion) and chicken with Parmesan cheese. It was good, don't mistake me, but it was something that I could have made myself and fed two families with $34. I should start a catering service, if people are willing to pay that kind of money. I guess the expensive part is that it looked pretty.

More chapter business, district business, and committee business. It's all rather a blur at this point. At dinner we had a nice steak and that was very good. Very tender and there was a good portion this time, with mashed potatoes and gravy. I was glad for that. It was more expensive though: $62.

More committee business (a couple of hours) and now I'm in my room and ready for bed. It's late and I'm tired, it was a long day. There were so many awards given out today it was staggering. Awards for having a good chapter, awards for doing a certain program, awards for turning in paperwork on time. Everyone gets this plaque and I wonder what is the point of it all. It seems so silly and pompous. We award each other for everything it seems! One girl was upset that she didn't receive a laureate award and felt she should have and didn't understand why she didn't get it. Maybe she just doesn't understand that some people might be more qualified. Maybe she needs to learn that no one /deserves/ any award at all! that in the real world, not everyone gets the trophy after the little league game.

But then again what do I know? I'm just the lowly backwoods guy from Oklahoma ;)

Day 3

So I began the day bright and early. Breakfast was slated for 6:45 but apparently there was nothing on the menu. I personally checked and after wandering around for a while and only finding the $11.00 breakfast from the cafe, I was pleased to find what looked like a continental breakfast. I grabbed a plastic-wrapped giant muffin and an orange and then realized that this particular continental breakfast came at a cost of $2.00 for the muffin and $1 for the orange. Out of principle (basically I couldn't reconcile paying that much money for a plastic-wrapped pastry) I skipped breakfast.

The main part of the morning was spent in the general assembly. The chair of the committee for which I was secretary presented our report. The ever-controversial Secretary Award was quickly passed by. Since we didn't actually need to make a motion (then it would just expire) we tried to be as low-key as possible. No one objected at the time but this definitely was brought up in “New Business.”

There were some other interesting and boring policies. People were making ammendments to the constitution which scares me because people often write these things on notebook paper without much thought and then we vote on it. I'm apparently very Presbyterian: I like my constitutions/Statement of Faith and I like them to be unchanged unless absolutely necessary! Short and carefully worded language is a must.

Anyway, once new business came there was a lot of discussion with one of our committee members (the one who had called for a vote to reconsider last night) and who seems the very “generous” and “knowledgeable” and “progressive” type from New York, put forward the motion that the committee may have acted hastily and asked for an extension of one year and to have another committee conduct a survey as to why the program did not work. It was a smart move on his part and very carefully worded. In effect it continued the program but only for a short while. He generously agreed that the program did not work but urged us to have a survey as to why it did not work. I could have told him but I don't think that “procrastination” and “moral depravity” are particular buzzwords on convention floors. People are lazy. People aren't naturally generous. If there is no personal incentive (i.e. “I don't get any of the money myself but my chapter does) then people don't do it for the chapter. People, like Adam and Even tend to dump their responsibility on others and don't bother to train new officers or to obey existing rules. It's all very simple really!

There was MUCH discussion and eventually someone put forward a motion to amend the motion. This is always a bad thing in my opinion. It means much MORE discussion without specifically addressing the point at hand. We then have to vote and discuss amending the motion, then go back and vote on the newly amended (or left unamended) motion. Then of course someone usually contests the vote (done by “Aye” or “No”) as needing a written vote because it was too close and much time is spent having the runners going around passing out slips of paper, then a vote is taken and we can finally get back to the vote at hand. Lots of people proposed amendments and I think all of them were stricken down. The one exception was to this particular motion about the Secretary Commendation Award.

The amended motion was broken into two different motions, one that proposed to keep the program for another year to be evaluated by the committee next year, which *cough* is /exactly/ what we did this year. It made no sense to me but again good for him. People are very free with giving away money for another year, especially when they think they can get some of it themselves. The second part of the motion was to set up a committee to survey and find out why the thing didn't work.

In the middle of it all there were members coming forward saying “I'm from a small chapter and we use this money for scholarships”, “we depend on this money, please don't take it away.” There was one older gentleman (the same who had addressed our committee personally and who looked as though he were about to cry) who said that the students at his school are not very wealthy, they have debt and they used the $300 (matched by the Dean) to set up two scholarships for Juniors and he didn't know what they were going to do if they didn't get the money.

I had to be calloused but I wanted to say “Cry me a river!” The point of the program is /not/ to help small schools who are struggling with money, it is to give incentive to secretaries to turn in their paperwork on time. It's not working. One shouldn't have to give a bribe for doing what you're supposed to do anyway. If they really want scholarships, raise the funds themselves instead of expecting to get money for turning in paperwork. Once people get it once, they feel entitled to it. Yikes people!

The survey passed (so there will be an official inquiry next year) but happily the extension to the program did not, and by a significant margin as well. I was very pleased to see that. Maybe democracy does work sometimes.

One group got up and gave a little skit about the goings on at the convention and made fun of so many awards being given out. This was particularly amusing to me since so many chapters got plaques for turning in paperwork, for having a project, for voting in members: all things they are supposed to do anyway but now they get rewarded for it. Yay! So the skit basically said “well, we know you're all special anyway and you /all/ deserve rewards so we're giving away Nobel Peace Prizes!” In light of recent happenings, this was a well-aimed remark :)

But overall, a good many of the people were well-behaved, intelligent, and reasonable. Though some appeared to be a bit prideful and even haughty, there were a good many that were down to earth and just wanted to get some work done. I think everyone I spoke to was planning on being in academia and in retrospect, it was a rather dry and dull conference without any children around. It seemed that most everyone there was childless, even some of the middle-aged folks. They had devoted their lives to academia and science and children would just get in the way. I found it rather depressing but the same thing happens at school. Either the professors are always talking about how messed up their kids are (yelling and screaming at each other) or they are married but have no children: that would ruin one's career after all......

Now for the interesting part (took me a while didn't it?!)

There was an event at the local university but... my plane left at 4:55pm, the bus going to the airport left at 3:15 and arrived at 3:30. However, the proceeding at the university ended at 3:00. and buses from there would not get back to the hotel until after the buses for the airport left. I talked with one of the local students and said that I probably should just stay at the hotel then. “No problem, I'll just give you a ride, I'll have you back before 3:00, it will be no problem.”

Upon his assurances I did go. We had a lunch outside, in 40 degree weather, under a tent, with the wind and drizzle. We had a box lunch consisting of a Fritos bag and a croissant sandwich that had been sealed in a bag. Oh, it was good and all, but not $25 good! Food prices still strike me as exorbitant....

So we went to the ceremony and about 2:45 I was getting a bit nervous, looking around because we would have to leave at 2:45 in order to get back by 3:00 and catch the bus at 3:15.

At 2:55 I was thinking we were going to be cutting it really close, the ceremony was still going.

At 3:05 I felt like we might be able to catch the bus (maybe) if it was late.

By 3:15 I gave up and finally found the guy as he was coming out. He gave a sign of recognition. “Oh yeah, you needed a ride didn't you? Well just get on the bus.”

“You don't understand, the bus from the hotel has LEFT by now. It doesn't matter if I get on the bus or get a ride.” He seemed.... slightly apologetic? He said I should have called him. I did. His cell phone was off during the meeting. That will teach me to trust student assurances! He said he couldn't give me a ride to the airport but did take me back to the hotel. I wasn't sure how much good that was going to do but when I got there I went up to the desk and ordered a taxi. It was the only thing I could do because otherwise I would not have made the plane. I was informed it would be about $70 and a call was made to “George.”

While waiting for George, another cab pulled up and looked at me and asked if I needed a ride. “Sure, how much?” He hesitated a moment and then said “Sixty dollars”. I jumped at the hesitation and feeling confident said “fifty.” He thought a moment and then said “Okay, get in.” I ran in to the desk to tell them that I didn't need George anymore and went with the new driver whose name was Josef. I tried chatting with him. He was from Lebanon and according to him had been working there for 10 years or so and was trying to earn money to get his family over. I hate to be suspicious but I have to admit that I'm not sure his story was true.

He called in to the office with my credit card number (I do have fraud insurance so I felt it was safe enough and besides that I didn't have any option) and noticed that he didn't give the person on the phone the amount we had agreed on. He didn't say any amount...... would I get it for $50 like we had agreed on?

As I got out he said “Okay, so that will be $50, then there is the $5 for the toll fee and the $5 for the credit card fee.” Tricky guy. A word to the wise: don't try to get the best of a bargain with a cab driver.

But now I'm in Chicago and things look like they are on schedule. I think I'll go get something to eat. Something that's cheap..... you know: less than $30 or something.

Echoes in the dark

It's almost haunting to see this old place....

And I still need to finish part 2 of that dream. I still remember it :)

This evening was a Christmas party at the Y house, with a bit of a Bible study on prioritizing one's time based on the story of Lazarus. It was essentially about training yourself to think in terms of eternity. I think that when Christ said "I am the resurrection and the life" it really did point to His union with His people, and in Him we all rise. Not to sound mystical but it's almost as though since we are part of His body, as He rises we rise with Him. Lazarus was a token of that resurrection promised to believers and as united to Him we should strive to live as part of His church, different parts of the body carrying out the tasks assigned to us. However menial or insignificant it seems at times, all parts of the body are useful and all parts are employed in some way in every part of the world, bringing cleansing to it.

I've been feeling quite a bit unlike myself lately. Tonight I arrived early (accidentally) so took a walk down to the lake. It was amazing to see the ice frozen in wavy form all along the coves and large sheets had built up on the spits. I saw absolutely no one there, it was kind of lonely. I had not been to the lake since September. I sat out there for about 40 minutes, thinking and praying, something I've been doing a lot of lately. In some ways I feel as though a piece is gone and I'm left as a shell, or perhaps have drawn into a shell. In this current state I am certainly not a candidate for new friends (or old friends for that matter). Yet at the same time the only way I sense to get out of it /is/ for that to happen. A very odd conundrum indeed. I've been praying for things to become very obvious to me. It's not good for man to be alone and I realized again tonight how much I just want to say "I went on a walk down to the lake, the ice was really neat, would you like to see it?" Which doesn't really fit into conversations with normal acquaintances. To share with someone even simple things. Feeling like a recluse when I really don't want to be. Wanting to be me again!

Yet all the while confident and trusting that in due time God will provide for me more than I can imagine. It's been comforting to look back upon people like Abraham, Moses, and David and see how God was with them through their lives - even when things seemed difficult - and in the end they were given great joy and peace.

Psalm 128
"Happy are all who fear the LORD, who walk in the ways of God. What your hands provide you will enjoy; you will be happy and prosper: Like a fruitful vine your wife within your home, Like olive plants your children around your table. Just so will they be blessed who fear the LORD. May the LORD bless you from Zion, all the days of your life That you may share Jerusalem's joy and live to see your children's children. Peace upon Israel!"

The Great Escape (pt. 1)

Every once in a while a man must escape.

He must escape into the recesses of his mind while he slumbers and embark upon an adventure which only he can foresee.

Only, he doesn't know what he will foresee. The subconscious knows. And so does The Shadow.

Listen to my dream.

Darkness covered the realm like a blanket of night. Daylight was hidden in shadows as clouds formed above the small town and soon dusk had fallen. The gathering clouds huddled together as though their combined strength could overwhelm the unsuspecting population below. The wind blew and a steady rain began to fall.

It was a dark night. And it was indeed stormy.

A small group of adventurers was gathering into one of the buildings. The building itself was obscure and did not stand out from the rest. One might pass by it a dozen times without taking notice of it. But I took notice of it this night. Something was brewing and growing with intensity in sync with the rain upon the roof.

"This book says it all!" exclaimed the electrical engineeringish looking fellow standing excitedly above the others. The rest of the group was seated looking rather puzzled. A dark-haired fellow rolled his eyes.
"That's just like you Logan, always thinking about books."
"No Jon! This is for real! The book speaks of a great treasure of knowledge, hidden by the Ancients long ago. I went through a lot of trouble just to track down the missing pages from the book. Seems some old monk decided to use them for scratch paper. Lucky for me he didn't throw anything away!"
"Hmm, well that certainly sounds interesting," said the oldest at the table, a man named Bruce. "I would like to hear more about this."
"Well apparently there are clues hidden away that tell where this treasure is hidden. All we have to do is look for them!"

There was stunned silence.

"No wait, I know it sounds strange and ridiculous but I think that the clues are actually hidden right here! That's why I've asked you all to come on this trip with me. I knew you couldn't refuse once we'd traveled all this way."

The silence grew, if that is possible. Logan continued his monotonous monologue.

"Look, the people here are supposedly descended from the Ancient tribe. From all the rumours I could find while looking on Google, they are pretty reclusive and act rather strangely. All of this sounds suspicious to me. I think I may be onto something."

If there had been a cricket, it would have chirped.

"The book doesn't say much, it just tells of a certain "path" that must be followed to lead to enlightenment. I say we start by talking to some of the villagers here. I admit it's kind of a creepy ghost town with just a few residents, but some of them are old enough to at least remember a few stories. So.... any questions?"

"Yeah!" said the blonde guy with glasses. "What have they got to eat in this town?"

**********

While they are trying to figure out the answer to that question, let me introduce you to the characters of this dream. They are
Logan, which is kind of a given.
Jon, who plays a very reckless part
Bruce, brought along to bring some semblence of sanity to the madness which is this adventure (my brain must have decided it needed some)
Jonathan, who plays mostly the part of a gap-filler and really isn't important
Evelyn, the one who finds the killer and the killer's bullets.... being shot at her.
Laura, who really just appears randomly

So now that the group has apparently mysteriously eaten and is satisfied, we resume the tale after a few disappointing door-knocks later.

"Ungh!" exclaimed Evelyn, "Those who aren't home just aren't willing to talk it seems!"
"Yes, it did appear that they are rather reclusive and reluctant to share any information...." mused Logan. "I did get the impression that some of them knew about it but didn't want to speak on the subject."

A shadow flitted in one of the alleyways and the bent man attached to the shadow appeared.
"Psst, c'mere!" he rasped.
A bit dubious, Logan motioned for everyone to stay back while he joined the man in the shadows.
"I kin tell you a bit" said the gaunt figure, "but you got to promise me you won't tell that I toldja."
"I promise." was the terse reply.
"Good. Now there's a door that leads to an iron house near da edge of town. It's hidden away in da bushes, you could passit a t'ousand times an' never spot it. It's locked."

Logan waited for what seemed like a fair amount of time before asking ".....and..... you have the key?"
"Do what?" queried the geezer.
Logan involuntarily winced. "I asked if you had the key." He repeated in a louder tone.
"Huh? No! 'Course not! Else I had opened it myself a long time ago!" He cackled and scooted off.

Bruce thought he had seen some bushes on their way in so the group walked in that direction silence. The rain had stopped but the darkness seemed to be growing thicker, sort of like gravy left to simmer, if that's even an acceptable analogy.

Sure enough, the door was no where to be seen. Evelyn's keen ears detected it after a bit of poking around in the bushes with a long stick. "Here it is!"

It was locked.

But on the front were six engraved symbols: a cube shape with some intricate indented carvings, a triangle with a scene of children playing engraved. A hollow half-sphere that looked something like a planet with moons circling it in orbit.

"Well, if it's anything like the movies I've seen, it's obvious that something fits inside each of these engraved symbols." deducted Logan, as he sat down to ponder this new development.

"Oh! You mean like this?" said Laura, head cocked to one side as she reached into her pocket.
"I found it stuck in the ground near the building we first met in. I thought it looked like a stone at first but it was too heavy."
"Let me see!" Logan sprang to his feet and crossed the distance in two large steps.

It was perfectly round but had raised orbits that showed tiny moons circling the miniature globe. Though it must have been of an ancient design, the startling thing was that it showed no wear whatsoever. It might have been a freshly made sculpture from a tourist shop, only there were no tourist shops in this town for the simple reason that they had no tourists.

"Aha! This must be one of the six keys! It has probably been buried for ages but the erosion has finally exposed it. The last bit of rain we had must have been the final touch. Great job Laura! Now let's see.... there doesn't appear to be any writing, it weighs about 5 pounds, feels almost as heavy as lead and I wonder what it's made of....hey!"

He said "hey!" just then because (with another eye-roll) Jon had just snactched the sphere out of his hand. "Just see if it fits! Oh my!" He shoved the ball into the slot and the door began to creak open with an ominous sound.

"Well, that was easy." said Bruce.

"Yes.... I really expected us to have to find all six symbols..." said Logan, perplexed and admittedly rather disappointed. The group started to march inside and lit some torches that were just inside the entrance.

Logan and Evelyn were the last two.
"Hey! I said you should have been in an Indiana Jones film and here you are" elbowed Evelyn with a grin.
He grinned back and walked through the doorway wondering what was inside.

And thus falls the curtain on act one of this adventure. Act two should follow shortly.

Trip to Ireland

Well, another long overdue post but hopefully this one is quite full of information. I make no promises but I'll try to get it all straight, in order, and just hit the highlights. Otherwise this would be far too long. Days are given according to "Stillwater reckoning" and probably do not coincide with Frodo's days.

After a few months of anticipation, the time to take a trip to Ireland to visit E ("Frodo" hereafter I suppose) had come about.

The day before the trip was relatively busy. I had a few things to prepare at home and was swamped with tasks to do at work. My employer was realizing that I wouldn't be there for the next week and a half and wanted a few things done. I got everything done and was in bed by about 10:00.

Day 1:
The alarm went off at 3:00 AM and I was up and getting ready. The N's showed up around 4:00 and we drove the hour-long drive to the airport.

Going through security was interesting and not as strict as I had imagined it to have grown. We had to take off our shoes but there wasn't really a strip-down or anything. My bag was subjected to a careful look through the x-ray machine and I suspected that the Pringles can may have been the cause of concern.

The flight to Newark was pretty smooth. I always enjoy the take-off part. The feeling of sudden acceleration combined with the moment you first gently lift off the ground makes it quite the thrill for me anyway. I was seated next to an older gentleman who sounded Middle Eastern and we didn't talk much.

Once at the airport in Newark, I happened to notice that my sticker for my luggage only said Newark while the other two had luggage which said Belfast. So I checked and it was a good thing! My bag came down the chute and would have been sitting all by itself in the airport. The attendant said it was strange and it should have gone all the way to Belfast.

Anyway, the most exciting part was when Laura and myself got on the bus and took a trip to the Empire State Building. The traffic through New York City was horrendous and I was glad for the experience though I think that if I were to try to drive it myself, I'd have a heart attack! Lanes were disregarded, pedestrians tried to push their way in front of traffic and traffic tried to push their way in front of the pedestrians. Even stoplights seemed useless as the traffic going one way blocked traffic going the other way. At one point it took about 15 minutes to go two blocks distance! Let me walk the rest of the way, please!

But we finally made it. Walking the streets was fun, there were interesting shops everywhere and a hot dog/pretzel stand on just about every corner. I bought one for each Laura and myself on the way back. We made it safely to the building but it took about an hour and half to get to the observation deck on the 86th floor. Elevators took us from the 2nd to the 80th floor in about 45 seconds and we then had to wait around for another space of time until the stairs opened up and we took those the rest of the way.

The view was fabulous. There were rooftops with gardens, one even had a small house on top of a skyscraper that was covered in ivy. The city is amazing and it's incredible that men had the skill to design and build it. It reminded me that God has endowed us with great gifts and we should use it to subdue the earth as He has commanded.

The trip across the ocean was interesting. The plane was very nice and the back of the seat in front of every passenger had its own touch screen with a selection of movies to watch, games like chess, checkers, solitaire, and sudoku to play, and music to listen to as well as relative position on the globe and flight path. I ended up just going to sleep for about four hours amidst the drone of the plane.

Day 2:
We arrived in Belfast fairly early. After going through customs and being asked if we had any plants or foodstuffs and getting our passports checked we were greeted by Frodo! It was so good to see her again and she looked quite well. She took us on the bus to the town central and then we walked to Renwick. I was excited to meet all the friends I'd heard and read about.

We went to the Zoo that afternoon. It had been quite some time since I'd visited one and this one had a beautiful setting. It was on a hillside and all the pens had grass in them rather than the concrete that I had been used to seeing. The favourite site for me was probably the black Spider Monkeys who put on an impressive show for us. The tails grabbing on like a fifth hand looked very useful.

I talked with Frodo for a while that evening and then took a walk to clear my mind before bed.

Day 3:
This was Friday and Philip was arriving so we looked at the botanical gardens briefly and then went to fetch him. It was neat to see brother and sister reunited as they hadn't had much contact the past nine months apparently.

I don't recollect much further from this day aside from Dean visiting and he's quite the interesting fellow. He told us lots of tall tales and the joke of the night was "Did you get that off of Wikipedia?" He apparently edits Wikipedia articles to his own liking, regardless of whether it's the truth or not ;)

I took another walk this evening. Being in a city rather crowds me.

Day 4:
Saturday. We took a trip to the M's dairy farm. We first got on the train and rode it out to where we were picked up by Mr M. I liked him immediately. He was very quiet but very friendly. He drove us out and when we arrived, we were treated to tea and scones (for us Americans it's kind of like biscuits, only better). I put some jam on my scones and he told me I needed some cream so he very nicely helped me to some :) It was delicious. The two boys (twins though they look absolutely nothing like each other) joined us later. I liked Reuben a lot. He reminded me of one of my younger brothers. They had a scattered assortment of guns and swords on the lawn which I thought was the way it should be: one should never have to walk more than a few steps to reach a good weapon.

Reuben showed me the ranch and while the rest were jumping off of the wall onto the trampoline (Mrs M said it would be all right), he and I did some "superman" jumps off the wall. I was kind of sad to leave them, we'd only just met!

But it was on to the Giant's Causeway. Apparently lava cooled and crystalized into these hexagonal pillars about a foot across so you have something of a stairstepped landscape. Some stick out farther than others. It really is an amazing site. It was good to be on the coastline again, I think it had been some time since I'd been to the ocean. Maybe four or five years.

We also saw Dunluce Castle which was built on a cliff and pretty impressive. I really enjoyed seeing the structure and marveling at the ingenuity and skill of those who had built it. The cliffs in this area were really neat because they were rocky and sheer yet there was grass growing all over them as well. It gave it an old and other-worldly feel.

The drive home (the M's lent us their van) was rather exciting, though I'm sure Alan would disagree. Driving on the opposite side along /very/ narrow coastline coastline roads must have been very nerve-wracking. We made it safely however.

I did not go on a walk this evening.

Day 5:
This was Sabbath and another very wonderful day. We visited Shaftsbury Square church in the morning which mostly consisted of small old ladies who welcomed us quite nicely but didn't seem to remember Frodo (who had been going there throughout the last two semesters). Frodo confirmed that they never seemed to remember her and always asked the same questions. We also met a homeless chap named Cliff that Frodo and some of her friends had been able to minister to throughout the year. Oddly enough, the first night I went for a walk I saw him and he asked for money. I was the wrong person to ask for that! I had nothing!

In the afternoon we went for dinner to the W's house and were fed quite royally. The Irish food was a bit more plain than I was used to (more like potatoes, meat, gravy and cauliflower) but it was all quite good and Mrs W kept serving more and more! I didn't want to refuse so I ended up eating quite a lot. We then went on a walk and afterwards sat talking until it was time for the evening service at Trinity.

Pastor D was preaching and I had heard one of his recorded sermons before so I felt somewhat like I knew him. It was a great evening but the best part was a Psalm sing (or "Sam sing" as I found out). I loved being in the room singing praises with the other believers in there. The men's voices were booming and it seemed so easy to follow the baseline with that sort of backing. We got home late that night and went to bed.

Day 6:
This was the day that we took a hike to Cave Hill. It wasn't a long hike and the cave was rather unimpressive (more like a spot that some people dug out of the rock) but the view was great from up at the top. It was a relatively clear day so we were able to see quite a lot. Frodo was very joyful at this sight. It was fun to watch her run from place to place.

We ate lunch down on the lawn and went back to Belfast. Frodo joined me for a short walk that evening and then we all went to bed. This was quite possibly one of my favourite days (though it's hard to choose!) and I'm sorry I don't have much more to say about it.

Day 7:
We took a look at the Botanical gardens and also took a trip to the local Cathedral. It was very impressive but with the organ music playing it was also a bit eerie. It seemed as though everything was shrouded in mystery and in darkness. Like a going back to the shadows of the Old Testament. Humanly speaking it seemed so right, so reverent. I thought about asking one of the attendants if they truly thought God desired to be worshiped in this manner, yet I knew that the answer would probably be "of course! What else could it possibly be?" It seemed right, yet was so uncharacteristic of the light of the gospel and the simple glory and majesty of what God has revealed. Men unnecessarily shroud and confound it. It made me rather sad. Maybe I have some Reformer in me. The building was beautiful though and the stained glass was absolutely spectacular. The colors were incredibly rich and the details even on cloth was amazing. It made me glad that men tried to honour God with their skill and artwork and it must have been a beautiful place to worship, yet there was still that element of darkness that just didn't seem right. It did give me reason to think about it for a while.

Oh! One of the best parts was a stop to a bookstore on the way down town. It was an evangelical bookstore but they had, without a doubt, the best selection of theological books I had ever seen. I could have spent hours looking at all the old used volumes of Brooks, Owen, Hodge, Brown, Watson, etc. Some were quite beautiful volumes too! But all rather expensive unfortunately. We had tea in a little shop (Clements, or something like that) on the way back. I actually had a milkshake, Laura had a smoothie, Alan had hot chocolate and Philip had coffee so I suppose Frodo was the only one who actually had tea. Earl Grey in fact. The stuff that Mrs W would call "absolutely horrid" because it was scented. I had tried and didn't really mind it, though it didn't quite seem like a "manly" tea, if one can consider drinks to be manly anyway.

Frodo and I went on another rather brief walk then I went to bed.

I should also mention that she did a lot of the cooking and was our guide for most of the time and I greatly appreciated all the work she did for us. We must have been quite a burden but she bore it heroically. Thank you so much!

Day 8:
We took a trip to Dublin, about a three hour drive on the bus either way. The first stop was Trinity college and a look at the book of Kells. It was very impressive that the monks who had worked on it could do it all so well without any kind of "technology." It was beautiful and the care that was taken for each page was quite amazing. They clearly had a reverence and respect for the work they were doing. The Book of Kells is a Latin translation of the four gospels.

We went up the stairs and I thought we were exiting but was astonished to find myself in what was called the "Long Hall." It was filled with many thousands of huge, old, leather-bound volumes in racks that stretched up to a high, vaulted ceiling and on the second floor. Now /there/ is a place I would have liked to have stayed in for a while longer! They had a neat display of books and artifacts that I enjoyed looking at too. We also visited a museum which was very interesting too. The artistry of the old Gaelic people was very impressive. Some of the gold filament work was astonishing. Such care was taken in just about everything they had there, from swords to bronze arrowheads to artifact and relic holders. I really enjoyed that museum.

That evening the folks at Renwick were having a "Disney night" and watched Mulan. I don't particularly like Mulan and I was feeling rather claustrophobic that day after Dublin so I excused myself. I needed time to think as well. I thought about asking to leave the house but only three possibilities were presented:
1. Leave and try to get let in later (but I didn't want to disturb the movie)
2. Ask Frodo for a key so I could let myself in. I poked my head in the door but the room was very crowded and she was on the opposite side and I didn't want to disturb the movie that way either.
3. I could climb the back wall and get back in that way but it was raining and the slate roof was rather slippery.

So I just stayed on the back stairway and stared out for a while before finally turning into bed. Frodo, if you read this I hope I didn't seem mopey, I really wasn't. I just couldn't be in a crowded room after being in a crowded city and needed to be out. I'm not a city guy, that much is obvious.

Day 9:
Last day in Ireland. We took a trip to Slemish, a small hill out in the middle of the countryside. It was a fairly steep climb and it was fun to get to the top. There are a lot of sheep in Ireland. Frodo was something of a mountain goat, urging Emmaline to hurry it up. Emmaline's defence was that she had spent the past few weeks revising and getting no exercise.

We also stopped by a forest. For more of a description of that, see Frodo's blog. But it was very beautiful too. Quite different from what I was used to with all of the green undergrowth.

Frodo joined me for another brief walk and then I went to bed.

Day 10:
We took off fairly early to let Philip off at the airport. Emmaline was driving this time which I think Alan was grateful for. The roundabouts especially seemed to be annoying for him.

We all said goodbye and got ready to get on the plane. As we left and I took my last look at Ireland, my biggest thought was that somewhere down there was a good friend whom I appreciate very much.

It was a very good trip. I was glad for the opportunity. Ireland was really neat, the people were very welcoming, and the sights were beautiful. That's about all. There is much more that could be said but I'm sure not much more that could be read ;)

Good night.

Three months?!

Yike! Time to dust this off!

I am very, very, very seriously thinking about shutting this down after post 200. Since I've only got three posts to go after this one, that's a good possibility.

Well let's see, some brief recollections....

Friday and Saturday, enjoying the fact that it was the last day of classes, spending some time visiting my family, surprising my brother with a cool "punch card" piece of an old Fortran program.

Hauling hay, playing frisbee, watching my mother's team play soccer (she's coach). Girls running, parents yelling excitedly.

Travel home, planning to work on a project, delighted to find it was canceled. Alone in the house, walking in the park, throwing the frisbee around while listening to a lecture on my iPod. Climbing a tree and enjoying the scene as dusk settled. Prayer. Walking home.

Sunday and communion. Time with friends. Frisbee with the kids in Enid. Nerf-dart guns in the Wagner's living room (Mr Wagner shooting Beth). Austin back in town.

Studying for Motors most of the day Monday, feeling prepared. Monday morning getting crushed by the exam. It really is the least favourite class I have ever had.

Monday evening going out to supper with the Jon's at New China Buffet. Then seeing "Expelled" about Intelligent Design vs. Evolution with Ben Stein. Quite entertaining and stimulating.

Now going to work. Glad to be completely done with three classes so far.

Not quite as scheduled....

So sometimes a day doesn't always go as planned. Or perhaps it never goes as planned. I think it's a humbling experience and makes me mindful that I am reliant upon God for every day. Even if I don't say it, that should always be in my mind: that I am not the one who controls my life, God does.

So what happened?

Well, I'd planned on getting quite a bit of studying done. You know, finish a lab report, work on some homework, write a prelab, things like that. Things were going nicely this morning. Since it was the first Saturday of the week it was time to clean. And like every Saturday morning, my roomies were nowhere to be found ;)

I vacuumed out the top cabinets (finally!), managed to make some cookies, and start some N---- beans for supper. I heard a hissing sound from the back and quickly ran into the hallway to see what was going on. The hot-water heater was blowing water out the top. I shut off the water going to it and it subsided. After waiting for it to cool a bit I took a look at it. I didn't know if it was just hot and something was steaming or what the problem was exactly. Every time I turned the water on and it got to the top (I was draining it with a hose) it would start spraying out the top again.

It turned out that there was a small pinhole right at the top of the heater. A hotwater heater is constructed like a cylinder inside a cylinder. The inner "core" is empty and hot air flows from the burner below up to the top. Then the water is in the outer ring. Well, the pinhole had sprung in the inner ring so water was spraying out and dripping directly down onto the burner. Not good.

I thought about trying to patch it up but realized that if the wall was that thin, then it probably would just spring another leak sometime soon. So I borrowed Dan Y's truck and got a new one at Lowe's. Since I was the only one home today, it took a bit of maneuvering to get the old heater out, and the new one in. The new one was bigger than the older so I had to make a few modifications and an extra trip to Lowe's for some parts. But it's hooked up now and doesn't appear to be leaking, which is a good sign! Lowes would have installed it for another $260! That wasn't about to happen..... It was already more expensive than I'd anticipated.

Now when I turn on the hot water in the kitchen, it's almost with a sense of pleasure. It's amazing how little conveniences like that are so often taken for granted.

So that's two lessons learned today: Never think that I control my day, let alone perfectly, and be thankful for the conveniences I have.

Now I really should get started on some homework :(

Laughter

A while back I wrote a guide for a game called "The Hobbit" (the game was excellent by the way) and I frequently receive e-mails from people who usually don't take the time to read the guide and simply e-mail me with their questions, expecting me to take time out of my life to help them with their gaming problem that they could have simply looked at the guide to find: after all, that's what the guide is for.

Most of the time these people don't even bother to respond with a "thank you." I guess they think I'm life-less AIM bot whose only purpose in life is to wait around for questions on games that I can answer.

The following is an e-mail I received recently that caused me to laugh quite a bit. Okay, so perhaps it isn't nice to make fun of people but this case deserves sharing. It's stereotypical of what I sometimes have to deal with.

hey my name is xxxxx and i bought the game the hobbit for ps2 and im on chapter 8 im supposed to go into the cider house now i dont know if my game is bad or what but where there should be a door it looks like as if you are looking outside into the water and it wont let me walk through it its behind bard i cant get into the cider house can you tell me if there is a door there and its just my game or am i doing something wrong if i jump into the water i can see the cider house and ppl standing there even check points but it wont let me get into it please help if you can im about to throw the game through a wall thanks if you can

After a properly written response on my part (albeit confused because I have no idea what she's talking about):

ok so i have done that believe me i love play station but there is no place that i can get into across from him is a place that has side rails on the steps right well it wont let me in ive gotten all the jems in the water even the white one ive walked along the building ive jumped into the water i think i have done everything ive saved at all the save points just to see what would happen and nothing do you know what i mean when i say the door behind bard isnt there that its blue is it like that in your game there isnt even a sign in front of anything that it will let me read when i first got to that level it did but not now i have no idea what im missing and im pretty good at finding what i need to do

The punctuation police will come and find you! Do you need someone to help you fix your broken shift key! Something! Anything! I have no idea what you're asking of me!

I responded with a request for a photo of the problem she's having. In this case, a picture is certainly worth a thousand run-on words.......