life on the wand

I've been neglectful in exercising lately: since my trip back to the US in December, to be a bit more precise. I don't really know why. While I was back in Grand Rapids earlier this month I heard on the news that the government has declared the food guide pyramid dead and will be publishing a replacement this spring. They indicated that the replacement would include a recommendation for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day. Strange that such a minor thing would be just the impetus to get me to start exercising again, but it worked. I have been jogging and riding my bicycle to work again several days each week. I like it because it gives me time to listen to audio books. I finished listening to Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time a couple of months ago. I didn't think I would keep downloading books, but I forgot to cancel my account (it was free for a month because of a purchase I made) so I have more books to listen to now. I have been listening to God's Equation by Amir D. Aczel. I am only to the fourth chapter, but it has been extremely well written and easy to understand for a "lay" scientist.
0 comments

One of the benefits of living in England is the company provides a car for me to drive. Because I am a short term delegate, they get the cars from a company that provides 3 to 6 month leases. In fact, that is the name of the company, 3 to 6. For some reason, the leasing company decided they needed to swap out my car today. I guess it was getting a bit old -- I had it for five months. It only had 3400 miles on it, though. The new one is identical to the old one, except that it is gold instead of silver and had 109 miles when I picked it up.
0 comments

Joyce has a good post about the pantomime we assisted with yesterday. I was asked to be in it about 10 days ago, but with a short trip to the US in between I really didn't have a chance to practice. I was told I would be in the chorus, so I thought they just needed more bodies to fill up the stage for the two chorus numbers. I only found out later when I read the programme that I was supposed to be one of the townies that didn't have a speaking role. I managed one rehearsal at the church building on Monday night. Thursday night after choir practice was the next practice. This was the first one at the village hall. When we got there the director wanted some of the curtains (tabs) moved around. So, I called John at home and had him bring a "spanner" (wrench) to the village hall and we proceeded to move things around. A short time later Philip showed up having just come from kickboxing practice in the youth centre right next door to the village hall. With only two ladders and three places that needed a person, I asked Philip to get up in the ceiling trusses and we got things moved where the director wanted them. We finally got the rehearsal going about an hour after we arrived. It starts with an opening chorus number. I went out on the stage with the rest of them, but realised the stage really wasn't big enough for all of us. So, that was the last number I danced on stage. From then on I hid behind the side tabs and just sang as loud as I could. The first scene change was right after the opening chorus number, and it was a disaster. I made the decision at that point that they really did need some stage hands, and I volunteered myself and my two sons to help out. We scrounged a copy of the script and talked to the stage manager and figured out what needed to be done. It kept all four of us quite busy at some times to pull off various gags and stunts (magic carpet was the best!). We had another rehearsal Friday night, which was interrupted between the two acts with a surprise birthday cake and a fish and chips dinner. My boys were real (read "NOT") excited about that. Saturday afternoon was the dress rehearsal, and Saturday night the performance. For some reason, Joyce and I got it in our heads that we needed to clean the carpet in the Bridge that same day. We spent virtually the entire time between the dress rehearsal and the production in the Bridge on hands and knees scrubbing the spots out of the carpet and using the hired carpet cleaner/shampooer. Then, after the production that evening, the cast went to a small Italian restaurant in Datchet for the after-show party. All I can say is that I am completely worn out today, and that I barely had a voice for singing in church this morning. This afternoon I had a nap, and then this evening we all went to an ecumenical (local definition: when the Baptist, Anglican, and Catholic churches in the village do something together) service at the Baptist church on Christian unity. The St. Mary's choir sang a couple of songs for the service.
0 comments

There is a long story to go with this brief thought, but I don't want to tell the whole story. So, suffice it to say that I have had a temporary overlay on a bottom molar for about eight months. The temporary nature of this overlay is borne out in how often it falls off! It fell off on the plane between London and Chicago, so I went to the dentist yesterday and had him glue it back on. Thankfully, it looks like everything is now set to put on the permanent overlay, so I will be going back to Grand Rapids next month sometime to get impressions made. Another month after that and they will put the permanent overlay on. Yes!

I think I figured out the headache thing. I've had several other ones, recently, and it occurred to me that it may be related to sinuses. I started sleeping with my head elevated on a few pillows and headaches seem to have quit. Last night I thought I was over the cold/sinus thing, and slept without my head elevated. Headache this morning. The good thing is the headache does go away by itself as the day goes on, presumably because the sinus pressure reduces on its own after I am in a vertical position for a few hours.

This evening I ate dinner at a friend's house. He was in England without family for a long time, and we ate out with him, and maybe invited him over to the house for dinner, too. So, I guess this was payback! It is nice to have some place to go in the evenings when you are traveling. And, it is odd to be traveling while at your own house, but that is how it feels with the family in the UK and me in the US. Dave had seen a recipe in a magazine for some kind of chocolate cake mousse dessert thing. He had never made anything like it before, and had to go out and buy custard cups to bake the dessert in, but it was very good. Glad that my visit was a good enough excuse to do something different like that.
0 comments

I am very impressed with N. T. Wright's writings and teachings. Russ Holden, the preacher at the Church of Christ in Grandville, Michigan, recommended him to me as a good Anglican writer. The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is is the first N. T. Wright book I have read. Seeing Jesus in his historical context through the eyes of this author was very eye-opening for me. I have read and heard many lessons on the first century, but none of them were able to link Jesus' thoughts and sayings so well to the contemporary thinking and events.

How I got the book is an interesting story, too. Joyce checked the online catalogs of the local libraries in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and found only one book listed. She went to the Windsor library to pick it up, but it was neither checked out nor on the shelf. She asked the librarian for help. After some investigation and a query of "do you really want this book?", they informed Joyce that they would repurchase it - it appeared to be lost. They called Joyce two or three weeks later and said the book was in. I thought it was a new copy, but after carting it with me to Germany and then the US I finally realized that it had return dates of 2002 stamped in the front cover. So, they found it after all! I wonder where? My suspicion is the librarian knew where it was, but didn't want to admit she had taken it home without checking it out.
0 comments

I woke up yesterday morning with a horrid headache, which is never the best way to start your day. Finally gave up on going to work, except that I had to at least go in and get my laptop and some files to take back to Grand Rapids with me. Of course, I was spotted sneaking in and had to deal with a few issues while there, but thankfully I think I looked about as bad as I felt, so no one wanted to hang around me too long. I've found my favorite spot on the AA 777's that fly between London and Chicago. This time of year the planes aren't very full, so I had half of the five-seat row to myself. I managed a good nap and was feeling decent most of the way to Chicago. I read a lot of N. T. Wright's The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is, and also watched Mr. 3000 and sort of watched Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. There were some weather problems somewhere, and I ended up stuck in Chicago until pretty late. We got into Grand Rapids about 0130 this morning. The only good thing about the delay was that I managed to finish my book.
0 comments

Here are some pictures from the Germany visit. Looks like we didn't post any from Heidelberg. There, I just added one from our Heidelberg visit, and one of Sami that is too cute for words. And, this is a picture of our dinner out.

0 comments

Hair growth project did continue in January. Click on the image to the left to see the progress. We posted the picture while we were in Germany last week, but I didn't get around to posting about it until now.
0 comments

We had no trouble setting up the wireless router at the Wollin's house. And, just in time, too. The Brinleys arrived on Tuesday evening, and with wireless PDAs, laptops, and a couple of desktops... connection heaven! We had more good visits with family in Loerrach, and even found the same wireless router at the computer store there for €70. So, I guess it was a good deal, even if it was only an 11Mbps router. Martin drove us to the airport this morning and we flew back to Luton Airport. Our friends who were watching the rats for us were not home when we got in, so the kids had to wait a few hours before they were reunited. Much angst. It is good to be home.
0 comments

We borrowed the Wollins van today and drove up to Heidelberg to visit the McDowells. It was a pretty easy drive -- not too much traffic or bad weather. Some of the other people we met in Heidelberg had very different stories, but they had come from other directions. Moore Haus is very interesting. It is set high on the hill overlooking the town centre, and there are a few steps to get up and down the hell, I mean hill. We had a very nice visit and then walked downtown for some shopping and dinner. We stopped by a Media Markt and found a wireless router with four-port hub, and even better, it was on sale for only €35! What a deal! After a nice dinner in Heidelberg we hiked back up to Moore Haus and visited with the McDowells, Stumps, Beemans, and ... I think maybe that was all. It was very interesting listening to John Beeman talk about cooperating with a local Christian church near where he is preaching in Mission Viejo. How refreshing to hear about cooperation with other believers. There is good cooperation between three of the four churches in Datchet -- this is something I haven't seen much of in my previous church experiences.
0 comments

We are in Loerrach. Joyce found an inexpensive EasyJet flight for us after we found someone to watch our rats for us. We dropped Lynne off at the airport yesterday, so we are back down to three kids again for a while. The house here is pretty full, with all ten Wollins, Mom, Will Bibee, and two of Tina's friends. And us, of course. I think that adds up to 19, plus the dog. The only hard part is Internet access, since we have to share a single ethernet cable. (It really isn't much of a hardship, but it is important to future posts.)
0 comments