***************Newsflash!***************
Seismic activity threatens to interrupt driving!
Yes, there was an earthquake here this afternoon, and everything is fine. i watched the news a little tonight just to see how the rest of japan is, and it is fine as well. somewhere in excess of 18 people experienced bodily harm in some fashion, but the other 29,999,982 people who live in tokyo were, it seems, unharmed. i did, however, have a slight experience of panic, which was relieved as soon as i realized that it was only an earthquake. allow me to expound.
I had just gotten in my car in search of the true meaning and purpose of life (and by meaning and purpose of life i mean whole wheat flour), and had proceeded on my way for all of maybe 30 seconds when my car begins to shake. now, my car is not now, nor was it probably ever, a world-class means of locomotion. it is, by nearest estimates, about 15 years old, which is a lot for this country, and has developed some eccentricities that come with age. typically when i stop at a light, i'll shift it from drive to neutral, as it has a tendency to jitter if i leave it in gear. so, i'm stopped, and it jitters, and i shift it to neutral, and...everything gets worse. the jittering has escalated quickly to a shaking, engine-blowing-apart type motion. i was on a fairly busy road (pipeline, for you fraction that knows it) at a fairly busy time, and the thought of causing a major traffic catastrophe was not appealing to me. i shifted to park. no change. i looked nervously ahead at the light. no change. i reach to turn my car off, but don't, thinking that maybe it won't start again. the light turns green, i proceed in the gentlest haste to the nearest side street, where i stop and wait for my car to repeat whatever it was doing. which of course, it doesn't. in the end, i got a clue from the power lines, which were swinging haphazardly, that there had been an earthquake, and was relieved that my car had not been in the throes of death. apparently it was the biggest quake here in 20 years, or something.
So that's that. tomorrow is church day, and for the first time in like 3 months i'm not on the worship team, which is a pleasant change. sometimes it's nice to be able to be led in worship. immediately after church i'm going out to my car, loading up my frame pack, and going hiking for 5 days. i've been working on this trip for a while, and the prep has gotten tiresome, so i'm excited to finally get out on the trail. there will be 2 high school guys coming with, and hopefully we'll get through the week with a minimum of whining or injuries. i've never led anything like this before- the planning and logistics were far more difficult (and expensive!) than i expected them to be. i think that's the new challenge for me as a youth pastor- planning. the hike that i've got planned won't really be that hard at all- we've got about 14 hours a day to hike 11 kilometers a day. on my own i can do about double that. the event itself should be fine. it's the planning that kills me. i have spent literally all day getting ready for this, and that's after i've been working on and off all week to get ready for this. but, the payoff is that by this time tomorrow, i'll be sleeping in the woods after a long day of hiking and hanging out. so that'll be cool. as long as those pesky typhoons leave us alone....
In closing, allow me to say that it's very difficult to type earthquake instead of earthquack, which is how i originally typed the word earthquake every single time, including 4 words ago. earthquackearthquackearthquack.
I had just gotten in my car in search of the true meaning and purpose of life (and by meaning and purpose of life i mean whole wheat flour), and had proceeded on my way for all of maybe 30 seconds when my car begins to shake. now, my car is not now, nor was it probably ever, a world-class means of locomotion. it is, by nearest estimates, about 15 years old, which is a lot for this country, and has developed some eccentricities that come with age. typically when i stop at a light, i'll shift it from drive to neutral, as it has a tendency to jitter if i leave it in gear. so, i'm stopped, and it jitters, and i shift it to neutral, and...everything gets worse. the jittering has escalated quickly to a shaking, engine-blowing-apart type motion. i was on a fairly busy road (pipeline, for you fraction that knows it) at a fairly busy time, and the thought of causing a major traffic catastrophe was not appealing to me. i shifted to park. no change. i looked nervously ahead at the light. no change. i reach to turn my car off, but don't, thinking that maybe it won't start again. the light turns green, i proceed in the gentlest haste to the nearest side street, where i stop and wait for my car to repeat whatever it was doing. which of course, it doesn't. in the end, i got a clue from the power lines, which were swinging haphazardly, that there had been an earthquake, and was relieved that my car had not been in the throes of death. apparently it was the biggest quake here in 20 years, or something.
So that's that. tomorrow is church day, and for the first time in like 3 months i'm not on the worship team, which is a pleasant change. sometimes it's nice to be able to be led in worship. immediately after church i'm going out to my car, loading up my frame pack, and going hiking for 5 days. i've been working on this trip for a while, and the prep has gotten tiresome, so i'm excited to finally get out on the trail. there will be 2 high school guys coming with, and hopefully we'll get through the week with a minimum of whining or injuries. i've never led anything like this before- the planning and logistics were far more difficult (and expensive!) than i expected them to be. i think that's the new challenge for me as a youth pastor- planning. the hike that i've got planned won't really be that hard at all- we've got about 14 hours a day to hike 11 kilometers a day. on my own i can do about double that. the event itself should be fine. it's the planning that kills me. i have spent literally all day getting ready for this, and that's after i've been working on and off all week to get ready for this. but, the payoff is that by this time tomorrow, i'll be sleeping in the woods after a long day of hiking and hanging out. so that'll be cool. as long as those pesky typhoons leave us alone....
In closing, allow me to say that it's very difficult to type earthquake instead of earthquack, which is how i originally typed the word earthquake every single time, including 4 words ago. earthquackearthquackearthquack.
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