Do You Believe in Miracles?

I do.

At least that's the story I'm sticking with come Sunday.  I'm the substitute preacher this week, during a series on the Apostle's Creed (short, Protestant-y version of the Nicene Creed, for any readers who may be Catholic - you know who you are).  I get one whole verse on which to riff: John 1:14, which is plenty, thanks.  I also get to tackle that line in the creed that says Jesus is God's "one & only Son" (or only-begotten, for you traditionalists).

In my preparation for this thing during Christmas week, which is in itself fortuitous timing, I have found that belief in this one part of the creed requires belief in the miraculous, pretty much like the whole of Christianity does.  And by miraculous, I don't mean the Hallmark Channel version of miracles, as in the collision of Providence and chance, resulting in changed lives, changed hearts, etc.

I mean miracles that DEFY THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS, go against logic, science, mathematics, startle us with how NOT NORMAL they are, forcing us to confront the Infinite stepping into the finite, the supernatural overriding the natural, God intervening in the human affairs.  How one can embrace full-on Materialism and also believe in Christianity as portrayed in the Bible (the Incarnation, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, etc.), is beyond me.  

How a follower of Jesus can believe in the pre-existence of Christ PRIOR TO the Incarnation is beyond me, too, but that's another discussion altogether.  I'll give that one only a passing slap on Sunday, as my focus is really elsewhere:  the existence of miracles, honest-to-God (and I mean that literally) fall-on-your-face (yep, that, too...) miracles that happen whenever God and humanity interact.

Wish me luck.  I'll need a miracle to get through this one.  ;)

Office Christmas Parties... Naughty, or Nice?

The parties you go to during the holidays with your co-workers seem to take on the personality of the company (or the department head, depending on who's acting as host).  At least I hope so!  When I hosted one last weekend for my staff and their spouses at Biaggi's, it was low key, cordial, friendly, pleasant.  Tonight, at D's department party at the department head's house, it will probably be like last year: crowded, hot, exuberant, feisty.  We'll see in a few minutes.

*****

Follow-up report:  Why yes, indeed!  Much like last year.  Crowded, hot, exuberant, feisty.  A couple of slight improvements over last year, however, not the least of which was sharing the pot at the end of Texas Hold-em.  :)   But, note to self:  not a good idea to antagonize spouse's boss by helping the opposite team in Win, Lose, or Draw.  In order to recover from this gaffe, much groveling ensued, but to a good result.  My reputation as a sparkplug for injecting a little life into the party stayed intact.  :)

Travel Month(s), Part 4

Let's see... 72 degrees and breezy, or 22 degrees and breezy?   When would I trade the former for the latter?  When the latter is in Lambeau field for the Vikings game, that's when!

But boy, I'll tell you... 72 and breezy was pretty great.  When I first traveled to Hamilton, Bermuda in June I was NOT ready to declare it Paradise: too warm & humid.  But this time, wow.  So comfortable.

Getting there was not so great; one of the bumpiest flights I've had in a long time.  Hailstones pounding the plane on the tarmac, and then flying through these clouds to boot:

But once there, and in between meetings hanging out on the street with my co-workers, leaning up against the nearest palm tree in the shade and feeling the wind drifting across my "happy face"... I was ready.  Paradise it is.   These are shots out my hotel window, including moonset at dawn:

Then there's the views from the meeting rooms.  Mighty hard to concentrate on business when the pier is waiting...

And you don't even have to bring up the local rum (made by Bacardi, which has its world headquarters there) and the ridiculous deep discount available on it at the Duty Free shop at the airport.

Still, bone-chilling cold at Lambeau that forces one to have a snowshoe (hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps) to warm up... well, I guess that's a worthwhile experience, too, especially when shared with co-workers and mostly paid for by a vendor, including dinners, snacks, drinks, etc.  Worth a little chill to the bones for the sake of camaraderie.

Back in the hotel room after that zero-degree windchill, this was the view that mattered most:

Well, this was the last of the travel for a while.  My feet will be on the ground for the next several months.  Let it snow, baby!

Not the brightest bulb in the package

When a guy gets to be a certain age, he thinks he can still do what in his 30s was pretty simple stuff, but eventually has a rude awakening about his youthful abilities: they fled some time back and never told him they were leaving.

My turn was a little over three weeks ago.  After finally this June selling our house in the prior metropolis where we moved from 3+ years ago, we finally decided we could buy a house here.  We found one we think we can pay off before retirement, and agreed to make the jump.  Moving day into residence #17 (in 38 years) happened three weeks ago.

It's not like we didn't have professional movers, we did.  But yours truly jumped the gun a bit.  The Friday of our move-in weekend I had an appointment set up at the new house to have a technician hook up the cable.  So to get there in time, I had to unplug the cable box and run it over.  In order to get at the box, I attempted to move the TV, a big plasma job, alone.  In hindsight, not a real bright idea.  But I only had to move it 2 feet, it wasn't like I was going to carry it to the truck to save the movers some grunting and groaning.  I did, however, have to lower it down one level to a coffee table.  The TV was just wide enough to get my arms around, but heavier that I remembered.  My left arm was fully extended on one side - the side bearing most of the load.  Again... not bright.

As I’m lowering the TV to the coffee table, I hear: “rip; rip; rrrrip.”  I could hear the tendon tear off the bone, as well as feel it shred.  Ugh.

( I didn’t drop the TV, though: sacrificed my body to complete the play…)

I'll spare you the gruesome pictures of the internal bleeding that is STILL working its way out of the forearm.  Most of the pain is gone now, and after 10 days in a sling, handfuls of anti-inflammatories and  more than a little Vicodin, I have pretty good range of movement, considering that in the first three days I couldn't tie my shoes, put on my pants, shampoo my hair, etc.  It's amazing what you need two hands for!

The next question, though, which I have to decide by Monday the 11th, when I go back to see the orthopedic surgeon again, is “do I want to have surgery to reattach the tendon?”

At our first visit the surgeon said that it could go either way, surgical repair or live with reduced functionality in the arm, but I only have 3 weeks to decide before the muscle is too atrophied to work with.  It is fully detached on one side of the bicep, still in place on the other.

Surgery has so many complications possible, and for this one in particular a long recovery time – 6 months.  But, I would get all the strength and functionality back.  Probably.  On the other hand, if I leave it as is, it will NOT reattach and will likely have 30-40% less capacity in all respects. The other muscles still in place will adapt and help out, but it will always be less than it was.  Thankfully, it’s not my dominant arm/hand, and already I see that my finger, hand & elbow function is fine.  I just can’t put much of a load on it.  But I can use it to steady a load I'm lifting with my right, can toss a tennis ball up for a serve, can execute an under-arm turn in the rhumba, etc.  So at this point, I’m leaning away from surgery.  Of course if I were 20 years younger there’d be no hesitation to have it repaired.  Same thing if I worked at something other than a desk job.  But the calculus is different now, and so the conclusion should be.

Guess this was my epiphany of the effects of encroaching age on my body… and my spirit!  I’ve been a bit bemused by the whole thing, reflecting now on what the years ahead will likely bring, sort of dividing them into trimesters of 9 years each (more or less):  the first 9 working full time, paying off debts; the second trimester enjoying a hard-won debt-free retirement in good health (God willing!), the last third dealing with a body running out of vigor and health, like an old car on a dry engine about to seize up.

But you know... if I die before I've gotten everything done... on the other side I'll have all that youthful vigor and good health back!  At least that's what the Book says.  :)

Travel Month(s), Part 3

From a big East Coast city and all its bustle and business, to a little hamlet in the Heartland at a backroads hermitage.  This was a week of contrasts and transitions.

Can you guess the city by these photos?  They were taken facing north from the 35th floor of a prominent hotel.  The broker who hosted nearly 20 meetings in 2 days had a suite high up, and the view was stunning.  A very nice break in between meetings...

Then, after only one day back in the office, it was off to a spiritual retreat center for another 3 1/2 days. And, boy, I needed it.  Definitely felt like a challenge to slow down from recent weeks, and to do more listening than talking.  :)

But the setting was conducive to silence.  Not only did they have "rules" around that, but the place was surrounded by farm fields, and almost "off the grid" entirely.

 The chapel was beautiful, in a forbidding kind of way.  As a guest, you only had limited access to the facility and the monks - and that only at a respectful distance.

Accommodations were sparse.

 So were the meals.  And definitely no football on TV; no TV at all.  Something needed to be done about that, and so a little exploring was in order to find some signs of civilization!

But, I came back a wiser man from the whole experience.  Well, maybe.  I certainly cultivated a grateful heart, and thankfulness for simple pleasures.

Next up:  Bermuda in November.

Travel Month(s), Part 2

This was the big one, I guess.  Hannover, Germany and London, England over the course of about 9 days.  Pictures galore attached as documentation.  First of Hannover:

Man, I could get used to "trinken an dem platz".  Gemutlicheit fur alles!  Sitting in the open air and having a (good) beer amongst the jovial masses sure helped with the jet lag (which was significant, by the way - slept for 13 hours the 2nd day there).  Oh, and, in addition to beer, the Germans are big on sausage.  See what they have in the subway?  Fast food meat.

Business meetings were punctuated by wine at lunch and a castle tour in the afternoon.  Very congenial.

Then, off to London, where more castles awaited.  Well, more like a fortress, not so much a castle.  The Tower of London was pretty cool to see, as was Tower Bridge.  Crazy to think, though, that the Tower of London was built in 1066 by William the Conqueror, who was... a Viking!   British history is so convoluted.  I never knew, for instance, that King George III who was King of England during the American Revolution ... was German!  From Hannover, where I was at the very beginning of the week.  I'm not really sure who English people are, exactly, ethnically speaking.  Seems like a melting pot, way before America became one.

More history:  The Globe Theatre and The George Inn, both frequented by Wm. Shakespeare, are still in operation.  The fish & chips at the George were especially good.

A cruise on the Thames produced some great views of Parliament and Whitehall.

All of this London sightseeing occurred after 4 days of business meetings, and was a well-deserved reward for hard work, I must say.  And it was nice of the Royal Guards to bid me farewell in Heathrow as I was boarding.

Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't include my contact with a long-lost relative in Germany, standing outside an ancient church.  Can you see the family resemblance?  There's a lot to be said for genetics.  :)

Next up, Boston in 2 weeks.  Stay tuned.

Travel Month(s), Part 1

Well, let's start with Las Vegas.   First, the casinos.

Rule #1:  decide beforehand at what loss amount you will tolerate and still feel good about yourself.
Rule #2:  stop when you get there - period.
Rule #3:  play games you understand.
Rule #4:  quit while you're ahead.  If you ever get ahead.

Worked for me... again.

Rule #1:  bet max of $60.
Rule #2:  not applicable this trip.
Rule #3:  slots, baccarat, roulette.
Rule #4:  left with $85.  :)

Nice hotel.  And talk about cheap!  Half of this room in Boston of NYC would be $500.  I paid $150.

The official reason for this travel was business.  And darned if I didn't actually do some!  It was an excellent conference, at which I learned a lot, and from which my company should benefit.  This, of course, soothes the conscience (to the extent there is still some left to soothe).  ;)

The other trip this month was just this last weekend, and the official reason was: pleasure.  Secondarily, family closeness.  Overnighting at my brother/sister in-laws' home on a lake,

the next day we hosted them at our club seats at Lambeau Field, and it was a great game - decisive win on a pleasant day.  We're in slightly different seats than in prior seasons... down one level closer to the field, and out of the direct sun, albeit further from the glass.

The recent expansion of the stadium into the South End Zone was pretty extensive.  And they have a cool roof deck where you can not only see the stadium from way up,

but the actual Bay (known as Green) itself in the distance.

So... nice.  Two trips down, several to go.  Next up:  Hanover, Germany & London, England.