Ring ring. (Me) “Hello”.

(caller) “Hi. Did you get the appointment I sent you yesterday?”

(Me) “No.”

(Caller) “Well, I sent you an appointment yesterday and you didn’t accept it.”

(Me) “That because I didn’t get it.”

(Caller) “Oh, well let me resend it. Did you get it yet?”

(Me) “No.”

(Caller) “Well, you should have gotten it by now. It was an appointment for a conference call for this afternoon.”

(Me) “Well, I haven’t gotten it yet. Why don’t you just give me the conference call number and pass code.”

(Caller) “Tell you what, I will try to attach the information to an email and send it that way. Did you get it yet?”

(Me) “No.”

(Caller) “I know, I’ll just put all of the information in an email instead of attaching it. Did you get it yet?

(Me) “Yes.”

(Caller) “Great. Thanks! Goodbye.”

……..And they call this technology.

I play bace in one of the bands at church. I started out doing the 4th and 5th grade classes. But, due to the holidays and their special music, I got moved to the Chapel venue.

Sunday was to be my first appearance in the Chapel, but when I got to the Thursday night practice, Andy, the full time head music dude, told me that I was going into the main stage for Sunday.

This was a total surprise! Instead of playing 2 services in a venue of 200, I played 2 services in a venue of 1000. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any music in advance. Fortunately, they were playing Christmas Carols which I knew.

The main stage is different than the 3 venues. First of all, it is big. Oh sure, it’s not Leeds but it is huge compared to the other venues.  Next, they only have a couple of floor monitors. Instead, they opt for wireless ear buds. Fortunately, I had a floor monitor in front of me. I had enough to put me on overload without adding ear buds.

All and all, it went well. The sound guy told us that we sounded good and added that he doesn’t say that unless he means it. He also said that if someone is playing crappy, they don’t make it into the main mix. Since I could hear myself in the main mix, I guess that I was playing OK.

After the first of the year, I will go into the Chapel. It should be a little more relaxed.

We had a snow storm this weekend. All and all, we got about 6 inches of snow. I had to get the snow blower out and clean the drive way. It has been a long time since we have had this much snow before Christmas. It’s that global warming.

I was reading an article about problems at Giant Stadium. It seems that during halftime when the Jets are playing at home, men lineup on the ramp at gate D and holler for women to expose their breasts.

If a woman does, the men hoop and holler. If she doesn’t, the men throw stuff at her.

Apparently this has become a halftime tradition over the years. And, more importantly, security does nothing about it.

It would seem to me that if these guys are so intent on seeing womens breasts, there are a lot cheaper options than a Jets game. Don’t they have strip club or topless bars in the area? And if all else fails, they can always join a nudest colony.

I suspect that it is only a matter of time before this behavior escalates into something more violent.  After all, alcohol is involved.

The Department of Human Services, aka DHS, provides welfare to the citizens of the State of Michigan. And from what I have seen, it is not just another job, it is a personal commitment.

I had the privilege of visiting a DHS office a few years back. It was Friday and I noted that everyone was wearing blue jeans. They told me that every Friday is blue jean day. Then they asked me if I wanted to buy a ticket for their 50/50 drawing. Since it was only a buck, I thought “why not”.

When I asked them what they did with the money, they said that they use it to buy supplies. When I asked what kind of supplies, they said it was emergency supplies like food and clothing.

This surprised me as I thought that the State would provide food and clothing. They said that the State does provide these but sometimes people walk into the office for the first time and have absolute nothing. So, the office lets them go shopping, so to speak, in their storage area.

OK, but again I asked why the State doesn’t provide these emergency supplies. They said that the bureaucracy doesn’t allow them to do that because there is no way to account for the food. So, rather than take the chance that someone would steal a can of beans, the bureaucracy will not fund such food banks.

But, the faithful and dedicate staff at these offices contribute their own money to help the poor. As I said, it is not just a job, it is a commitment.

I was in Meijer’s (regional grocery chain) shopping the other weekend when I noticed a fifth grader smiling and waving at me. He looked familiar but I could not place from where. So I smiled and waved back. His face glowed at the recognition.

He was at the opposite end of the isle so we were not in talking distance. When I glanced over at him again, I sudden remembered where I knew him from. He was one of the 90 plus kids that I play for on Sunday mornings. He recognized me even though I wasn’t playing the bace.

Apparently, I am making an impression on the kids that I play for. How cool!

Evel Knievel passed away the other day. Unfortunately, he didn’t die while performing some fantastic stunt on a motorcycle. It was lung disease that took his life at the age of 69.

Interesting enough, Robert Schuller performed the funeral service. Apparently, Evel was a member of Schullers’ church even though he lived in Montana. I guess when you can watch church on TV, you can be anywhere.

Some how, I always pictured him as being a perfect member for Dr. Gene Scotts’ church. Oh well.

Recently, Neil Diamond announced who Caroline was from his famous song “Sweet Caroline”. It was Caroline Kennedy. She was 11 at the time.

Now, while I liked the song at the time, it now gives me the willies to think that Neil writing a love song about an 11 year old girl who caught his attention. It was bad enough that we had to put up with Michael Jackson and his little boy friends. Now we have Neil Diamond admitting that he had a “thing” for an 11 year old.

Hey Neil, just remember that Roman Polanski got run out of this country for having a “thing” with a 13 year old girl.

Well, we got our letter in the mail saying that we need to convert to Comcast Internet service by December 31 or we will be cut off. Bah Humbug! But, they did provide a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week service number to call, so that will make calling easier.

Since I did not want to be the first to call, I decided to wait a few days and avoid the rush. So, I decided to on call Saturday night. I figured that Saturday night would be a slow time at the call center and therefore, I would get right through. Wrong.

On my first attempt to call Comcast, I sat in queue for 40 minutes before I gave up. Maybe this wasn’t such a good time. Maybe the call center folks were all watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” instead of answering the phones. Bah Humbug!

I tried again on Sunday afternoon and got through on the first try.  Must be everyone was watching football.

McDonalds does a pretty good job with their Southwestern Ranch Salad. It has a very good flavor, is cheaper that Arby’s salad and definately a step up from Wendy’s which thinks that dumping chile on lettuce is the thing to do.

Anyway, today I got a craving for Southwestern Salad so I headed for Micky Ds. When I got their and placed my order at the drive through I was told that they no longer make that salad. I quickly scanned that menu for another selection.

Since I was feeling guilty for all of the crap that I ate over that holiday, I decided that I wanted a salad. The first item on the salad menu was an Asian salad so I ordered that.

Now, not having ever tasted this salad, I didn’t know what to expect. But knowing that Wendy’s does a fantastic Asian salad, I expected the same from Micky Ds.

When I pulled the package from the bag the first thing that I noticed was the light Neuman dressing and a package of sliced almonds. Great! When I popped the lid on the salad bowl, it had lettuce, chicken and mandarin oranges. Yes! But then I noticed that it had snap peas and Ming beans. OK I guess.

I put on the sesame ginger dress and stirred it up. So far so good. But, then I took my first bite.

Since I was expecting something similar to Wendy’s Asian salad, I was a little disappointed. At best, the salad was OK but it certainly will not be on my ‘gotta have’ list of salads.

Maybe it will grow on me with time but I think I will try some of the other salad offerings at Micky Ds.