to serve

Sometimes I look at the new Christianity and I can only think WTF?!

I grew up in a church that served the community around it. There were morning and evening services to accommodate everyone's schedule. There were community dinners mid-week. The church van went to nearby retirement homes to bring elderly people who could not drive to services, if they wanted to go. They had a FREE daycare during worship services and other events. They had a small library that had all sorts of books in it. It was still a fairly small church by today's standards.

Today, it seems like everyone goes to giant mega-churches where the ministers make 6-figure salaries and there are no community services at all. Daycare is not free. Membership is not free. I can only wonder why anyone bothers be be involved in groups like that. I suppose it's still cheaper than joining a country club is you're only there to network, but the romantic in me still thinks that is not the purpose of a church or the definition of community.

sometimes, it rains.

Tomorrow, I have to go with MonsterMustDie (in my car) to Alabama in the morning to handle some family business.
His mother's diagnosis has been changed from "dementia" to full-blown Alzheimers and now he and his cousin are going with his mom to handle whatever paperwork is necessary for power of attorney with her bank, house, etc. She is already to the stage where someone must check in on her daily to see she's eating, taking medications, and that the house and fridge are clean.

All this and she's still driving a car...

Camera Service Update

It has been nearly two months since I sent my Nikon DSLR in for what I thought would be routine cleaning and maintenance. At last, yesterday, I got an email from the Nikon Service Department:

Subject Check Status SO# XXXXX
10/29/2010 03:08 PM

Hello,

We apologize for the delay on the repair of your equipment

Your equipment is currently going thorugh the Quality Assurance department, to make sure we return the equipment to you within manufacturer standards.

We will get back to you with the tracking information as soon as it becomes available.

Kind regards,
R. M.

Reference #: XXXXX

Thanks for using Nikon products!
Nikon Inc. (USA) Support / Service

UPDATE: I got my camera back November 23, just in time for Thanksgiving. That means I had no camera for two months. In that time, two photography jobs came up that I lost - even after making arrangements with friends to use their equipment if mine was not back in time. A photographer without a camera is no photographer and "analog" film cameras are commercially useless in this day and age.

leftovers, or lack thereof

Update: Monstermustdie has pulled the sandwich makings out of the freezer and looks like we're eating a week of sandwiches.

A Good Weekend Gathering

Finally, the rain has come. Lots of lightning and thunder shaking the house this morning.

This brilliant idea from Neil Gaiman's blog:
... I propose that, on Hallowe'en or during the week of Hallowe'en, we give each other scary books. Give children scary books they'll like and can handle. Give adults scary books they'll enjoy. ... new books or old or second-hand, beloved books or unknown. Give someone a scary book for Hallowe'en. Make their flesh creep...

We had a great time at the Pumpkin Carving yesterday. I only wish I'd had the additional lights set up already on the back porch like I'd planned to. Of course, not having my camera back from Nikon yet is still killing me. I have a few possible photography jobs lined up that friends have, quite thankfully, agreed to help me with until I can get my own equipment back. Also, I never got around to putting out the sandwich fixin's, still in the fridge, that MonsterMustDie had bought for the gathering. I'm putting the cold cuts, cheese, and bread in the freezer for next week unless we both decide to have sandwich lunches all week. The chili that the GothFather brought was great - so good, in fact, that there was none left at the end of the night for MonsterMustDie to try.

Fortunately there were friends making photos and videos to share of the night.

work again

Got in another nearly full day of work. Six hours. Tomorrow, I have nothing to do so I hope I can get a start on cleaning and decorating before the gatherings this weekend and next. Tomorrow night is an opening at the Signature Shop that MonsterMustDie want's to go to. There is a borrowed chainsaw in the dining room that really needs to go home by Saturday. There is grocery shopping to do.

condo, work, dreams

Met Marty the Plumber at the condo to repair the toilet. Some day, I do plan to replace it with a nice low-water toilet. Thankfully, he gave me a very good price on the work, even with him having a helper with him as well.

Worked yesterday nearly 8 hours. Found out the pressman's wife works in network communications. She was off work for a couple of days and stopped in to bring him lunch and sodas, which he shared with me. The drink was a life saver that day because there are no more clean or disposable cups at work, despite having a water cooler there. I had somehow managed to remember to bring a snack but nothing to drink.

Uneven sleep last night, ending with a long dream that included 1. working at an office being punked by John Stewart and the Daily Show, 2, Springtime, living in a luxury high rise apartment with a window overlooking a swimming pool and dogwoods blooming outside and trying to take a polaroid photo of myself in front of the window, 3. A weekend AJC with a large (quarter page?) ad for Iggy Pop concert in to Atlanta, making it look like he was headlining at an arena, 4. Me looking fabulous with a good haircut.

sounds of silence

The most active part of today has been a visit from an appraiser to measure the house so our landlord can try to get a new cheaper mortgage payment.

Online, I'm getting a serious stress-induced headache reading emails from the latest battle taking place among unit owners at my condo. This time the war is over parking lot space and even my tenant, who does not own a car or drive, has been dragged into it.

No work today. I submitted some letters and resumes to a few more companies I found this morning. I had an appointment to attend two seminars today and tomorrow for a potential sales job with AT&T, but had a very bad gut feeling about it. Sales jobs have historically cost me money and/or not made any income for me in the past. An intervention by two people very close to me convinced me that NOT following that job lead was the right thing to do (or not to do) today. I can do a lot of things but I have no personality or social skills for sales. *sigh*

What to do? The house is clean. Nothing to maintain or repair (except the camera off in the oblivion of the service center in New York).

Maybe this is a good day to bake. The cooler weather always make the kitchen more inviting. I bought a skull-shaped cake pan that I haven't yet removed from the box. I was holding onto it as a potential gift for someone else, in the proverbial "gift closet" but maybe I'd feel better if I made some skull shaped pumpkin bread with it.

update

I can't sleep tonight, so here is an update.
This is the email I got from Nikon in reference to my phone calls yesterday.


Hello Ms. Perry,

Thank you for contacting Nikon Technical Support.

We are currently waiting for a part we need in order to finish the repair of your equipment.

This part is expected to arrive on October 12th, 2010.

Any other information you might need, don't hesitate on contacting us via your account at our website, or at our toll free number 1-800-NIKON-UX (1-800-645-6689).

Regards,
Nikon Team.

Thanks for using Nikon products!

Frustration

No work today. The phone is quiet and no one I phone is available to speak with about work or interviews today.

Still no camera. I phoned the service facility to give them what for and it looks like my camera is still at Nikon repair in Melville NY, on hold for parts. This the camera they received on September 9. They can't give me any estimate on when the parts will arrive from Japan or how long it will take for the work to be done after that.

Meanwhile, paying bills and checking my credit card charges, I found out I've been having two monthly service charges at $12 each that are from FTD florist for something I NEVER signed up for. My credit card provider has said they have contacted FTD to put an end to this business service account and refund my money for the last four months, so that's one thing fixed. The charges were under the title of "rewards" and "shopper discounts" so I had assumed they were monthly fees for using my credit card.

Still waiting

I thought it would be routine maintenance.
Nikon Service has had my camera since Sept. 2 and I still can't find out when I'm getting it back. Nearly three weeks now without a camera and every time I phone Nikon, I get a different story from everyone I speak to.

The Photography Gods do not love me this month.

Drivin n Cryin still looking for their stolen gear

Andy Browne WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP! We recovered 3 items in an Atlanta pawn shop this afternoon, but nothing else since. PLEASE fwd this stolen equipment list (link below) to all your local pawn shops, music stores, friends in bands, rehearsal spaces - anyone you can think of in a 200 mile radius of Macon, GA that might come across musical instruments. Yes, the police have the identification of the guy who pawned these 3 items. But there is nothing to indicate he is operating alone. The DNC trailer is a black Quicksilver Racing 5x10, tag #TL9H396.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5912085821&topic=15178

Attention Macon GA!

from Drivin' n' Cryin'

PLEASE READ!! ATTENTION MACON, GA!! We had our trailer, with all the gear, stolen last night from the La Quinta motel at X-169 in Macon, GA. Please contact Ken Green at 404-309-3057 with ANY information. And PLEASE repost this message!!

in the still of the night

Some times I miss having the freedom of movement, on restless nights, to engage in noisy activities or projects (but not loud enough to disturb the neighbors) or turning on lights where I need them, or taking off in the car for errands, observations, etc.

The lack of sleep is much less of a bother when I can be doing other things with myself.