Taking Time To Smell The Flowers

Tulips At Amsterdam Flower Show 2008

Sometimes on the journey that is Nichevo, I have to stop and take time to smell the flowers. That is where I am this morning. I have had such a myriad of positive input in the last thirty days I have to stop and just say "Thank You Lord for bringing me to the place I am today". My little corner of the world today is so different (and so much better) than it was just a month ago. It is hard to believe that all that has happened has really happened to me. In the malaise that was my life the last few months in Dallas, I did not think that I would see the day when my life would take this turn for the better. I certainly never imagined myself living in Arkansas and loving it! Yet here I am and I am extremely grateful to be here. It is a wonderment to me how a chance meeting while substituting on the desk for the Scurrilous Rat would lead to my being in such a place as I find myself today. On such small events does the world turn, it is never the big things but the small details that make the difference. One small pebble in ocean of life grows to be the breakers on a foreign shore, I am really glad I caught the wave.

I met someone before services at Open Door during the "Coffee and Donut Meet and Greet" time who was formerly part of the ownership group that I work for. He readily agreed in my assessment of S R from his past experiences with him. We quickly skipped past the less than pleasant memory and went on to talk about other things. I am really liking the folks I am meeting there. It is a real joy to attend services in an upbeat atmosphere and the messages proclaimed from the pulpit are loving and inclusive rather than the condemnation and divisiveness espoused in a great many pulpits across America today. Speaking o f which, here is the local video news coverage of the Million Fag March that took place on Saturday in Topeka, KS home of the most famous homophobic congregation in America, Westboro Baptist Church. While not quite a million people showed there were 418 marchers which is more than 4 times the number of members of said "church". It is planned to be an annual event until they really do just dry up and blow away. When I think of word church, places like Westboro come to mind so I consider Open Door to be a spiritual center instead. I know they are really doing a lot to restore my confidence in people of faith. Maybe I am not to old to get over my long held skepticism on the whole subject religion.

At any rate, I am thoroughly enjoying the journey on the path to which I have been led. Stick around, come back often and I will keep you up to date on the journey that is Nichevo as we sail on through life in the company of those we have come to know and love. God grant you fair winds and following seas. Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Thank You For Your Concern, But I Am OK, Really!!

Harbor Sunrise, The Day Begins

I got a phone call from Gal Pal in Dallas this morning as I was standing under the eaves at Open Door offering up my burnt offering (their cutesy term for smoking)expressing her concern that all was going well for me. I do not blame her for worrying as in times past when I do not put words with my pictures it has been a sign of depression. However, such is not the case this time I have been just a little busy and have worked a somewhat different schedule this wee. The last two nights I have worked the Audit shift and without sleeping went on to Open Door for services this morning. Granted Thursday's post released a lot of anger and that left me somewhat deflated and not wanting to say much on Friday, but I just simply was tired and out of time on Saturday hence the title (So Many Men, So Little Time) and a post full of eye candy. So really I am all right, I am meeting more people, getting more comfortable with my new position and generally life has been very good. The weather has not been so good with lo9ts of rain, wind and fog. That is supposed to continue for another couple of days so the outdoor activities have pretty much screeched to a halt for right now. It is not like the historical sights and museums are going anywhere, so I will get to them all, just traveling around in the rain is not really my idea of fun, especially on foot. I did enjoy the services this morning. I t is a real joy to attend services where the environment is upbeat and the message is positive and inclusive instead of divisive and condemning as espoused in so many pulpits today.

I have another friend who just this week converted from the dark side (MS IE) to FireFox2 and I had the distinct pleasure of writing him a mini tutorial on the themes, plug-ins and extensions I use to make my FF2 uniquely my own. I have really got mine fine tuned to provide me with the surfing environment that works best for me and that is what I especially like about FF2, you can customize it to suit your own surfing environmental preferences. As I spend many hours at the keyboard I find this trait to be highly useful to me. One of the more recent innovations I have added is the Cooliris Previews which brings up a smaller window in the same tab you are in when you highlight a link. This is especially useful when uploading photos for eye candy. As you know I process most of my photos with Picasa2 which only allows me to upload four photos at a time and as most posts have 28-32 photos I have the requisite number of draft posts to combine into the post to be published. Cooliris allows me to open each draft without leaving the manage post page in my Blogger dashboard, select all the photos, copy them and then paste them into main post in the next tab over. It is so much quicker than having to enter the edit process for each draft to do the same thing, giving me more time in which to write the editorial commentary. If any of you would like to know exactly which themes, plug-ins and extensions I use to make FF2 my own, just drop me a line at the email in my profile and I will be happy to forward them to you.

This weeks schedule should have me hopping as I have two Audit shifts , an evening shift, a day shift and a split shift. I am off on Friday and Sunday and Saturday is payday!. So my body clock should be thoroughly confused by weeks end. But your intrepid Uncle is up to the task and look forward to the challenge. As is the tradition here at Nichevo I will close with more outstanding photos for your man fix for today. Until next time as always, Enjoy!