I learned a valuable lesson this week. I learned that when a football official asks me where I am working on a given Friday night, I should always feign ignorance and say something like, "uh, I don't remember. Must be at a city school." I learned this because twice this week I was asked where I am working tonight, and twice I replied, "Germantown High School". Twice, I received strange looks, as if to say, "How did YOU get a game there?". You see, Germantown is one of the "plum" locations for officials to go, since an official does not normally have to fear for his life there, as he would at one of the municipal stadiums that the city schools play in. I have no idea how I got this game, although whatever it is I did, I would like to do it again...LOL. Anyway, the game should be fun.
I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...
Friday, September 15, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Blues Before Sunrise
It had been on my mind to post, but not until my grandmother prodded me did I feel the need. Some people my find it odd that my grandmother is online, but I come from a long line of geeks. And we are proud of it.
This morning found me at Home Depot before sunrise, buying a new discharge tube for our clothes washing machine. After we bought our washer/dryer set, we found that it required about 1 inch more space than what our laundry room has. So, I had to turn the washer perpendicular, which necessitated a longer discharge hose. The entire process of me getting the washer/dryer installed and fully functional only took me buying $14 worth of the wrong size hose (Note to self: whenever something appears to be 'about the right size', it will not be. Guaranteed.), then spending $7 on hose clamps and a coupler to connect the two hoses. This was the source of the leak, so then it was $16 worth of new (and the correct size) hose. Problem solved. Jeez. So, I finally have repaired our clothes washer, and have declared it to be leak-free. Hooray clean clothes. The first load is in the dryer now. YAY!
Since being at Home Depot before sunrise is not usually my favorite way to spend a morning, I decided that Clapton's rendition of Leroy Carr's "Blues Before Sunrise" would be the first song of the soundtrack to the installation. Also included were Dylan's new "Working Man's Blues", Velvet Revolver's "Sucker Train Blues", Pink Floyd's "Jugband Blues", and The Moody Blues' "Isn't Life Strange".
School has indeed been strange this semester. None of my regular classes have any papers assigned, although my independent study will almost certainly have some. Still have not heard from the professor about what specifically my assignments will be. My Science, Technology and Human Values class is not at all what I thought it would be. It is quite boring, but appears to be not-too-difficult. I wish I had taken symbolic logic instead. My ancients survey is not as hard as I thought it would be, although it requires a tremendous amount of reading. My astronomy lecture and lab are quite time-consuming, though not-too-difficult. My philosophy of religion class is by far the most interesting class. So, far, we have read 6 arguments for the existence of God, and we have shown how all of them are at least weak, and in some cases, logically invalid. I chuckle at this exercise, because I have NEVER seen a convincing argument for the existence of God, but that is what faith is all about. If God's existence could be proven, it seems that everyone would be on board, and we would not need faith. LOL.
Anyway, school is going well. Graduation is something like 13 weeks and 3 days away, but who's counting?
We have some more adoption meetings in the coming days, and I have a seemingly endless number of football meetings. Oh well. About twice a week, Mike Clark texts me saying that he is stuck in a worthless meeting. I feel his pain.
Football has been going super-well. I have worked two varsity games so far, and I have two more on the schedule. The second half of the season schedule will be released soon, and I am figuring I will get a few more then. It is great to see my hard work finally paying off. When I was in the Clarksville association, I never felt I was being evaluated fairly. Only once was I ever observed by a supervisor in something other than a Saturday morning pee-wee game. The supervisors are always at those games watching their grandkids play, and observing officials, but it is really difficult for me to have the same intensity for a game with 9 year old kids as I do a game with high schoolers. But, I always did the best I could, because I knew we were always being watched on those Saturday mornings. Here in Memphis, the supervisors watch us during the JV games (and varsity, too), and watch us frequently. Rarely do I ever work a JV game without a supervisor there, they always observe the varsity games. Many guys do not like being observed all the time, but I figure if I am doing what I am supposed to be doing, I will be OK.
I had a varsity game two weeks ago, and I was about 5 minutes late getting there (we are supposed to be at the game site 1 hour before game time). Unfortunately, the supervisor for that night (who is also the Assigning Officer, therefore the one guy in the association that you do not want to piss off) came in right behind me and made a big deal about it (it IS a big deal to be there on time/early). He asked me what time it was, and I replied "about 5 after 6. He asked the crew what time it was, and one guy, without looking at his watch, said "about 5 after 6". (This is the definition of a great partner.) The assigner also had quarrel with my shoes, which were not shined to his liking (it IS a big deal to have mirror-shined shoes). As my crew left the locker room, he kept me behind and proceeded to rip my butt apart. I immediately figure my chances of getting any more varsity games had gone down the drain, but that has not been the case. Whew! At last night's meeting, he came in after about 10 minutes late and sat down right in front of me. I asked him what time it was, and he said, "about 10 after", so I looked down at his feet and said, "Well, your shoes look good". We both got a big laugh out of that. LOL.
Preaching at the Clarksville church last week felt nice. That was the third time I have spoken there, and I was much more comfortable this time than the other two. They have also called a new minister, Rev. Steve Louder. From what I have heard, he is a fine minister. I am hoping that church can start to heal its wounds and get back on track. Unfortunately, I have my doubts. Hopefully I am wrong. It was great to see my family while we were in town, and the Smith fish fry was much fun as always.
I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...
This morning found me at Home Depot before sunrise, buying a new discharge tube for our clothes washing machine. After we bought our washer/dryer set, we found that it required about 1 inch more space than what our laundry room has. So, I had to turn the washer perpendicular, which necessitated a longer discharge hose. The entire process of me getting the washer/dryer installed and fully functional only took me buying $14 worth of the wrong size hose (Note to self: whenever something appears to be 'about the right size', it will not be. Guaranteed.), then spending $7 on hose clamps and a coupler to connect the two hoses. This was the source of the leak, so then it was $16 worth of new (and the correct size) hose. Problem solved. Jeez. So, I finally have repaired our clothes washer, and have declared it to be leak-free. Hooray clean clothes. The first load is in the dryer now. YAY!
Since being at Home Depot before sunrise is not usually my favorite way to spend a morning, I decided that Clapton's rendition of Leroy Carr's "Blues Before Sunrise" would be the first song of the soundtrack to the installation. Also included were Dylan's new "Working Man's Blues", Velvet Revolver's "Sucker Train Blues", Pink Floyd's "Jugband Blues", and The Moody Blues' "Isn't Life Strange".
School has indeed been strange this semester. None of my regular classes have any papers assigned, although my independent study will almost certainly have some. Still have not heard from the professor about what specifically my assignments will be. My Science, Technology and Human Values class is not at all what I thought it would be. It is quite boring, but appears to be not-too-difficult. I wish I had taken symbolic logic instead. My ancients survey is not as hard as I thought it would be, although it requires a tremendous amount of reading. My astronomy lecture and lab are quite time-consuming, though not-too-difficult. My philosophy of religion class is by far the most interesting class. So, far, we have read 6 arguments for the existence of God, and we have shown how all of them are at least weak, and in some cases, logically invalid. I chuckle at this exercise, because I have NEVER seen a convincing argument for the existence of God, but that is what faith is all about. If God's existence could be proven, it seems that everyone would be on board, and we would not need faith. LOL.
Anyway, school is going well. Graduation is something like 13 weeks and 3 days away, but who's counting?
We have some more adoption meetings in the coming days, and I have a seemingly endless number of football meetings. Oh well. About twice a week, Mike Clark texts me saying that he is stuck in a worthless meeting. I feel his pain.
Football has been going super-well. I have worked two varsity games so far, and I have two more on the schedule. The second half of the season schedule will be released soon, and I am figuring I will get a few more then. It is great to see my hard work finally paying off. When I was in the Clarksville association, I never felt I was being evaluated fairly. Only once was I ever observed by a supervisor in something other than a Saturday morning pee-wee game. The supervisors are always at those games watching their grandkids play, and observing officials, but it is really difficult for me to have the same intensity for a game with 9 year old kids as I do a game with high schoolers. But, I always did the best I could, because I knew we were always being watched on those Saturday mornings. Here in Memphis, the supervisors watch us during the JV games (and varsity, too), and watch us frequently. Rarely do I ever work a JV game without a supervisor there, they always observe the varsity games. Many guys do not like being observed all the time, but I figure if I am doing what I am supposed to be doing, I will be OK.
I had a varsity game two weeks ago, and I was about 5 minutes late getting there (we are supposed to be at the game site 1 hour before game time). Unfortunately, the supervisor for that night (who is also the Assigning Officer, therefore the one guy in the association that you do not want to piss off) came in right behind me and made a big deal about it (it IS a big deal to be there on time/early). He asked me what time it was, and I replied "about 5 after 6. He asked the crew what time it was, and one guy, without looking at his watch, said "about 5 after 6". (This is the definition of a great partner.) The assigner also had quarrel with my shoes, which were not shined to his liking (it IS a big deal to have mirror-shined shoes). As my crew left the locker room, he kept me behind and proceeded to rip my butt apart. I immediately figure my chances of getting any more varsity games had gone down the drain, but that has not been the case. Whew! At last night's meeting, he came in after about 10 minutes late and sat down right in front of me. I asked him what time it was, and he said, "about 10 after", so I looked down at his feet and said, "Well, your shoes look good". We both got a big laugh out of that. LOL.
Preaching at the Clarksville church last week felt nice. That was the third time I have spoken there, and I was much more comfortable this time than the other two. They have also called a new minister, Rev. Steve Louder. From what I have heard, he is a fine minister. I am hoping that church can start to heal its wounds and get back on track. Unfortunately, I have my doubts. Hopefully I am wrong. It was great to see my family while we were in town, and the Smith fish fry was much fun as always.
I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...
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