The 4th Weekend

I woke up early today to do some preparation work for a “sysmod” (system modification) that a co-worker in California and I were supposed to do at 10a. No sleeping in for me. I got all my prep work done just in time for the sysmod to commence at 10am. I then sat and waited for my co-worker to call. Around 10:45a , I vaguely remembered a discussion we’d had very late in the day Friday. The conversation occurred while I was very, very busy pushing out the latest development build to the Q/A and staging servers. In the conversation, we agreed to reschedule this weekend’s work until next weekend. D’oh!

The obvious next chore was to get some laundry done. I’m leaving town on Monday, headed to California on business for a couple days. I need some clean clothes for the trip. I’ll be at the corporate offices, so I need to make sure my dress shirts and ties are ready to go. Nothing says “I’m a professional” more than a pressed dress shirt, slacks and tie, right? Personally, I’d rather be judged for the 16 years of dedicated, kick-ass service I have provided the company.

Speaking of 16 years of service, some obscure company policy at work was recently changed. The good news is that because of this change (oh yeah, and the 16 years of dedicated service) I now get to park in the “Reserved” lot. The bad news is that the email announcing this to me also mentioned that access to the reserved lot doesn’t guarantee me a parking spot, just access to the lot. Huh? Anyway, I guess I shouldn’t be too sore that the new parking privileges begin the week I’m out of town.

Starting the laundry really gave me a kick in the rear. I washed, dried and put away my dishes, cleaned both of my kitchen counters, scrubbed my kitchen sink, organized the papers I had on the bar (kinda, but too long a story to tell), vacuumed my living room and computer room, re-arranged my couch, cleaned my daughter’s bathroom, washed the windows, picked up my room. It seemed nothing could stop me. Well, except for the fact that I had to be at church at 2:30p.

This is my weekend at church. I spend the 4th weekend of every month serving in the technical ministry operating the teleprompter. Serving in the ministry is always fulfilling but there’s really nothing noteworthy or glamorous about the teleprompter. Usually, it’s not very difficult. Sometimes it’s very frustrating. And with the exception of the satisfaction you get from knowing that you are serving in the ministry, it’s a very unrewarding task. If you do your job correctly, no one notices you, no one thanks you, no one really seems to notice you're there. But screw up once? Oh man.

All the work I’d been doing at the house came to a halt when I looked at the clock and noticed it was already 2pm. Ummmm… It takes 20 minutes to get to church and I definitely need to shower. So I’m heading to church and text my friend Jim. I don’t know what Jim’s exact title is but he sure seems to be the glue that holds our productions together. If you have a question, you ask Jim. I text Jim and let him know I’m running 10 – 15 minutes late. He texts me back while I’m flying down I-45. “Rehearsal doesn’t start until 3. Will you be here by then?”. Uh, YEAH. I mean, seriously. I now have time to stop for lunch.

So as I pull into the Burger King near church, my friend Anne starts texting me. Seems she’s sitting in her van with her kids waiting for her husband to get out of a meeting. It seems they were waiting outside until it started raining. Poor Anne. I had to break it to her that we were having beautiful weather. I even snapped the pictures below. The first looks out my windshield at the beautiful sky above while I’m parked in the church’s back lot, eating my lunch, getting ready to go into rehearsals.

This second picture shows our baptistery (right) and the pond on the south side of the church. To get an aerial view via Google Maps, click here.

After church, I brought my daughter some stuff she’d left at my house Thursday night. I figure she’ll need her hair straightener, shampoo and conditioner before I get back from California… whether she likes it or not :-)

I’m spending the rest of my night watching stuff so I can delete it from my DVR. There’s nothing worse than missing your favorite shows while you’re out of town, is there? Oh right, there is: missing your favorite shows while you’re out of town when you HAVE a DVR but can’t record on the DVR because it’s FULL and you just THINK you’re recording your shows while you’re away.