34 women in Texas were sent to the hospital after being overcome with their co-workers perfume. The women claimed that they couldn’t breath.

One time, I was in an elevator with a woman who smelled like bug spray. I had to wonder if it was her perfume or if she had bugs. I stayed far away just in case it was bugs.

The one Christmas song that I always wonder about is “I saw three ships”. I mean it is a nice little song but what does it have to do with Christmas? There were no ships carrying Mary and Joseph at the birth of Christ.

I suppose that if you were in a sailing community, the ships could have some metaphoric value but I still put it in the same category as Santa delivering the baby Jesus in his sleigh.

In keeping with the spirit of the holidays, one of our neighbors has wrapped the utility pole in front of their house with red lights. I don’t know if they are concerned that partiers might run into after having too much eggnog or if they plan to use it as a beacon on snowy nights.

I wonder if that constitutes a Yule Log?

For many years, the computer center at Calvin College was located in the main administration building. Since most of the computer center was used to house a very large computer, there were no windows in the computer center. And of course, the lack of windows made the computer center staff feel like they were in a dungeon.

But, as technology changed, so did the computer. What once required a large room, now fit into an area a tenth that size. So, the equipment area was turned into office space for the computer staff instead.

But alas, there were no windows for the staff so a great cry arose from the heart of the administration building. “Give us windows or we will surely die”!

The administration heard their pleas and after a few years, windows were installed in the computer center. The windows brought forth light and life to the computer center staff. Now they could see the beauty of God’s creation every moment of the day. And all was right in the world.

Ah, but what once was unwanted office space due to a lack of windows, suddenly became a prime location. Soon, other departments took notice of the area and started thinking of the possibilities. After all, the administration building should be “one stop shopping” for prospective students. So, the Admissions Department started encroaching into the area.

At first, it was just a room here and a room there. Then adjoining walls were removed. Then finally, the entire computer center was relocated into the basement of another building.

The basement was truly a space that nobody wanted. A space so far below ground that you had to go up two floors just to see daylight. A dungeon indeed.

But, while the computer center staff lost their windows, they could rest in the assurance that they would never have to move again.

Journal 05/08/00

Saw some strange objects while meditating. I am not sure what they were as I only glimpsed them. I saw the face of a man and he had something in his mouth. It was a disk of some sort.

According to Kelsey (The Other Side of Silence), having been through “the dark night of the soul” now makes me a Shaman.

An NFL team called off practice this week because of an out break of swine flu.  Of course, none of the team members were actually tested for the swine flu but they did display flu like conditions so therefore, it must be the swine flu.

After all, getting the regular flu is just so common and boring.  So, if you are going to get the flu, why not say that it is the swine flu so that you can grab the headlines.

I suppose that the Lions could use this as an excuse for the way that they play, but, unfortunately, the flu doesn’t last that long.

Well, it was only a few weeks ago that the Virginia socialites crashed a White House event. Now, another couple are talking about how they were accidentally admitted to a breakfast for veterans.

It seems that the couple were scheduled for a White House tour but mistakenly showed up a day early. After they cleared the standard security checks, they were ushered into a breakfast where they met the president.

When the couple pointed out to an aide that they were only there for a tour and not the breakfast, they aide told them to go ahead and eat anyway.

While I applaud the fact the everyday people can meet the president, I am concerned that security it a little too lax. I hope that stories of these incidents don’t start popping up like Tigers girlfriends.

When I was in Meijer’s (regional grocery chain) the other day, I happened to wander into the sporting goods section, specifically, the hunting section. I noticed that they were offering a kit for cutting up game.

The kit contained several knives, a cleaver and a sharping steel. And, all of it was packaged in a plastic camouflage case.

Set was very inexpensive and I am sure it was geared for the hunter who wants to process his own game. But I did have to wonder at the need for the case to be camouflaged.

Now, I can see having camouflaged clothing and camouflaged guns and bows. But a camouflaged game processing kit seems a little on the edge. I mean, most hunters are just going to gut their game in the field and process the rest back a camp.

But, I suppose there are those who literally live in the bush for days at a time. So, maintaining full camo is vital.

As for me, I pay to have my deer processed.

A few years ago, several of us here at the state, were in a meeting at another agency. In their meeting room, they had an electronic white board. With the push of a button, the contents of the white board were printed out on a built in printer.

Great idea! We should get one for our office. So, 30 days later, our electronic white board arrived. Eagerly, my co-workers removed it from the box and assembled it.

It was a free standing unit that was on wheels so that it could be move from one room to the next. It had a series of colored pockets for colored markers and a special pocket for the eraser.

It was slick except that there was no printer. There were connectors for something but a printer was never connected to it. And as far as I can tell, the thing never printed. It became just a very expensive white board that no one uses.

Zip head a few years and someone else gets the idea that we need a white board that prints. So, 30 days later, a new white board arrives. And, once again, my co-workers take it out of the box and assemble it. And, like its predecessor, it too was free standing with wheels for mobility. But, alas, no printer.

Ah, but it did have a connection for a PC. And, from the PC, the white board info could be printed on the network printer. Great!

An old laptop PC was attached and we were ready to start printing. But wait, how do you use the thing? There were no instructions. So, we played with the PC trying to get it to work. After a while, we just gave up. Eventually, the laptop disappeared. So, now we have two expensive white boards on wheels that don’t print.

I was in a meeting the other day with another state agency. They had a white board. When they got through using the white board, they pressed a button and the contents of the board were printed out at the bottom. I thought to my self that it would be handy to have a white board that printed…..

The other night, I was concerned that I might get snowed in while in Grand Rapids. So, I decided to look on the internet for a room just in case. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this one motel was located at the foot hills of some mountain in Grand Rapids.

I have long suspected that most of these motel chains use canned pictures and not actual photos of the hotel of interest. I imagine that the actual view from the hotel will be something less pristine.