No Jury Duty this week !

 

That’s right boys and girls !  I called the ‘Jury Machine’ (as the clerk called it) as we were instructed to do the evening before coming in . . . and the trial has been delayed to the week after this !  Meaning that the Christmas play will be OVER by the time I have to report again !

 

I wont mind being sequestered that week . . . though not everything will be put back from the Christmas play chaos yet . . . but it’s SOOO much better then being out this week !

 

Thanks to all the people who prayed for me !

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Jury duty !

 

Oh yes.  A few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail ordering me to show up Tuesday (yesterday) for Jury duty.  I, and about 75 to 100 other people, crammed into a small court room and proceeded to listen to the court clerk describe what we were going to be required to do.  We went up, one by one, to answer some questions (like where do you live, are you married, etc.) and were given a hand book explaining the law concerning Jury duty.  This took about an hour and a half. 

 

Then the Judge came in and talked to us for another 45 minutes about what we were expected to do.  That’s when we found out that it was a sequestered Jury trial . . . meaning that 14 lucky people were going to get locked up in a hotel for a week while the trial took place (to keep us from being influenced by the outside world).  The trial was going to take place the first week of December, they were just giving us a week to get our affairs in order and be ready to stay a week if we were selected. 

 

Meaning, the Judge said specifically, that when we show back up this coming Monday at 8:30 am . . . we are all to bring with us a weeks worth of cloths incase we are selected.  If we are selected, then we start the trial that day (if the Jury selection process is done) and go to the hotel that evening.  No chance to go home first. 

 

Now . . . to tell you the truth . . . I was a little excited about serving on a Jury (as stupid as that sounds).  I thought that it would be a unique experience, not to mention my civic duty.  Even a sequestered Jury didn’t sound that bad . . . but that week of ALL THE WEEKS this half of the YEAR is such a bad week.

 

Lets see what’s on the agenda for that week for me . . .

 

- Rehersal for Christmas Play

- Tech rehersal for Christmas Play

- Dress Rehearsal for Christmas Play

- and then the Christmas Play itself

 

- Outreach at Holland Park (set up sound system outdoors with 6 wireless mics and CD player to do scenes from the Christmas play)

 

- a Wednesday service (youth and adults)

 

- a Sunday service

 

- focusing lights for Christmas Play

 

- pick up rental spotlights for Christmas play

 

- set up (somewhat) complicated extra sound equipment for Christmas Play

 

 . . . see where this is going.  This is a bad week for me to not be at church.  And finding volunteers during such a busy holiday season . . . well that’s got me tizzed a little bit.

 

The Judge has already told us that he wont accept letters from work excusing us (or letters form Doctors unless there is a serious medical condition). 

 

Now, there’s like 75 or 100 of us . . . so the chances that I’ll be selected for the 14 are kinda’ low . . . but I have a sneaking suspicion, just this thought in the back of my mind, that I’m gonna be on that Jury. 

 

Dear God, please no . . . not this week. 

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Fun times ! 

 

Things are slowly returning to normal, just in time for the Christmas Play rehearsals to start up in full swing.

 

Budges for 2009 were due today.  I managed to ask for $2,000 less stuff this year then I did last year.  It’s amazing how much money it takes just to maintain the A-V equipment.  Lights, projector lamps, gells, blank media, new cables, CCLI copyright renewal, and all manner of things just to keep stuff going.

 

Not to mention all the things we need to upgrade or replace in the coming year to account for stuff breaking (hard drive failures, memory upgrades, etc).

 

And that doesn’t include stuff that we need to get (like a new video mixing board since this one doesn’t always like to work the first, second, or third time you turn it on). 

 

My LG phone finally broke today.  It’s been having trouble changing for a while now.  Last night when I unplugged the charging cable, part of the phone came out with it . . . that’s never a good sign.  I’ve had it for like 3 years, and I think Michael had it for a year before that.  So 4 years isn’t a bad run for a cell phone.  The bad part is, for some STUPID reason, I cant upgrade to a new phone until December.  Or rather, I could upgrade . . . but I’d have to pay the full cost of the phone plus a $20 upgrade fee.  If I wait until December, then I get a $100 credit.

 

So I’m going to try and borrow someone’s old phone and do a line transfer until then. 

 

Any sudgestions for a new phone ?

 

I like LG, it MUST have clear voice quality, I don’t need a touch screen (I’d break it), I don’t need a slide phone or a razor . . . I just want a decent clear phone with web surfing capabilities (what phones don’t have that now adays I suppose). 

My Gears of War 2 review comming soon.

Oh, and check out Pete Cullens review of the latest Bond film HERE !

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Oh yes, I’m just about caught up from vacation !  What a nice feeling that is.

 

Tomorrow is the CareNet Banquet at our church. 

 

CareNet is pro-life organization that tries to help expecting single mothers make the choice to not abort their babies.  CareNet provides a free ultrasound to expecting mothers (so they can see their unborn child) and, if the mothers go through a class and decided to no abort the baby, they also provide help with baby formula, bottles, cribs, diapers, and all the stuff you never knew you needed until you have a child.  They also are in contact with several adoption agencies if the mothers are unable to keep the baby themselves and provide counseling to help single mothers through a time in their life when everything they know is being turned upside down. 

 

It’s an awesome organization run by several women (and a whole slew of volunteers) who always plan out their banquet months in advance and to the tee.  They are always polite and always contact me months in advance to talk with me about what they want to do.  They are just about the polar opposite of the Communicators for Christ is what I’m trying to say. 

 

It’s a goodly bit of work to get stuff set up and moved around and cued up and such . . . but it includes free food (and they do have some nice food) and it’s for a good cause.  So who can complain ?

 

After that, it’s Gears of War 2 Friday.  And to the secret benefactor who purchased the game in advance and paid for it in full and put it in my name . . . thank you very much. 

 

So a lot of work tomorrow, a bit of stress tomorrow night (just making sure things go well) . . . and then a lot of fun Friday ! 

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Yes. 

It’s true. 

Nothing bad has happened.

 

I’ve been busy.

 

Let me ‘splain . . . no, there is too much, let me sum up . . .

 

FIRST: there was Vacation.

 

So I went on vacation last week and it was wonderful and so relaxing . . . at least the first part was.  Monday through Thursday I went to see Matt and Mel in Arkansas (about a 4 and a half or 5 and a half hour journey, depending on the traffic in Memphis).  We mostly just hung out and played board games (Nexus Ops and Ingenious for those of you wondering). 

 

We went to a P.F. Changs for dinner one evening, which is always a nice treat. For the three entrees and two appetizers with tea to drink, plus tax and a nice tip came out to be $73. 

 

Matt and I saw a matinee of Eagle Eye in an I-Max format one afternoon.  We were the only ones in huge new I-max the theatre !  The only reason we could figure it to be so empty is because it was so new, and it was a matinee on like a Tuesday, but it’s SOOO much fun to see a movie on such a HUGE screen and be able to shout at it and talk to each other about plot points and such.  I highly recommend trying to do this if you ever get the chance.

 

Matt and I played Fable II co-op while Melody made cookies (kind of a tradition for us). 

 

We went to the Big Dam Bridge over the Arkansas river.  It’s just funny to see signs pointing the way to Big Dam Bridge on the roads. 

 

Matt’s other job (his second part time one) is working as an ATM repair person.  Which, if you’re like me, sounds like such a cool job.  Well it is.  I went with him for a call and got to see inside the ATM (like the oldest one in the city) and it’s very cool inside.  It’s funny how, even with the vehicle parked in front of the ATM with the flashers on . . . even with the machine obviously pulled open and exposed . . . even with the guy in the company uniform obviously working on the machine . . . people still pull up behind you and ask if the machine is broken.  These are the same people that have their jobs replaced by robots and wonder why.

 

It was a good time of just hanging out and having fun and relaxing.  Only had to spend about 4 hours total on the phone fixing or dealing with problems too . . . which is good !

 

Thanks to Matt and Mel for housing me and putting up with me for 4 entire days !

 

SECOND: C.F.C.

 

I explained in an earlier post how a group called Communicators For Christ came to use our buildings last week for a conference.  Let me just say the attitude of the people in charge (not all the people, just the ones in charge) was atrocious. 

 

Ya know what, lets look at this for a moment, just so I can express my displeasure . . .

 

- They were using our facility for free for 4 days

- our church people were housing them in the evenings and feeding them for free

- our volunteers were helping run the event for free

- they decided to plug their own wireless hub into our network (without asking anyone) and managed to crash our network.  It’s amazing how having two things try to manage the same network (but two different ways) can cause it to crash.

- they provided a tech list 6 days before the conference, which required more volunteers to come in on their own time to run the event (at the last minute)

- and they were still charging $200 per child for 4 days of teaching and training . . . which means they made all that as pure profit.

 

But when they got here, and demanded to be given access to more tech and wanted to change the way some of it was hooked up.  Why would you go into a church and ask to unplug their A-V equipment hours before a mid week service ?  

 

Well when the volunteers told them that they couldn’t hook anything up differently and that they were getting only what they asked for . .   they went off, talked down to this one lady, made fun of her in public, and just about had her in tears.  After she had taken time off to come serve them at the last minute.

 

Does anyone see the ‘Christ’ in the Communicators for Christ here ?  Because I don’t. 

If the way they act is representative of Christianity, I quit. 

 

To be given so much for free, their attitude is totally unprofessional NOT TO MENTION unchristian like.  How in the world could a reasonable person act that way ?  I just don’t understand.

 

Every time I asked to speak to Mrs. Moon (the lady in charge), she was strangely unavailable.  Hopefully she’ll get the nice e-mail I wrote.

 

THIRD: Harvest Party (a.k.a. Trunk-or-Treat inside)

Upon getting back from vacation, things were in full swing getting ready for the Harvest Party . . . which went very well.  Nothing broke or malfunctioned (except one computer rebooted on its own, but it was a non critical one) and the kids seamed to have a great time.  No word yet on how many came through, but it was a steady line for hours.

 

FOURTH: Sound was bad the Sunday I was gone.

It wasn’t just the volunteers needing more training (they do and I have to fix that) but that wasn’t the cause of the trouble . . .

 

The A-V people did a sound check before band practice and found all mics to be working.  But when Pastor got up to start the service, his mic didn’t work, the Hand Held Mic didn’t work, and the Praise Team mic he grabbed didn’t work.

 

When I came back, it took me a couple of days to figure out why.  ONE, there was a short in a cable that stopped Pastors Mic from working.  This took me like 20 minutes to figure out, it would have happened to me too if I were running sound that day.

 

TWO, the Hand Held mic didn’t work because some of the youth volunteers decided to break into another sound booth and unpack (and set up) another wireless mic (clearly labeled DO NOT USE).  This other hand held mic was on the same frequency as the Hand Held mic in the main sanctuary (which is why it was packed up, we only use it with the portable sound system).  So when they unpacked it and set it up for Kids Church and turned it on (just as the main service was beginning in the sanctuary) . . . it interfered with the Hand Held mic and that didn’t work.

 

THREE, in trying to fix the first two mics, the A-V guys didn’t see that Pastor had grabbed a Praise Team mic and so just didn’t have them turned up.

 

It was one of those days that just didn’t go well for the A-V department because of so many different factors coming together in just the right way. 

 

But now I just have Sunday to get ready for. 

 

So life is beginning to calm back down.

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