Fliday

 It's Fliday and Tlump is in China. I watched the celemony on Trademe last evening. The soldiers were all taller than Tlump and Xi. They must have had to scour the country for that many tall Chinese. I felt sorry for the children who had to jump up and down. Tlump stopped and applauded them several times.  Maybe he should have had the guts to indicate to them to just stand still; that would have sent a better message to the world!  The message he sent was that America is weak and grovelling . 

I'm off to Feilding after work to pick up my darling L. Tomorrow we will go shopping for last minute items we might need. 

In the first reading Jesus appears to Paul again in Corinth. "Don't be afraid to speak out. Nor allow yourself to be silenced. I am with you".

In the Gospel Jesus promises his disciples that they will see him again and be full of joy, and no one will take that from them.

In this world it is hard to maintain peace, let alone joy. We fret over so many things. When was the last time you felt joy? Joy is up there at the top of all elations. "A feeling of great pleasure, happiness and delight, often stemming from success, good fortune, or a deep sense of well-being..spiritually it is a deeper, resilient sense of satisfaction that is independent of circumstances". I like the last bit. It is one one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. "Love, joy, peace....". I think joy stems from a knowledge of being right with God. The opposite of joy is misery. It suggests that joy is something we can attain by living rightly. Misery therefore comes from living wrongly. 

Better move, have to pick up T then help clean the Creche. In the creche they have a little effigy of a Hindu goddess. It looks like a woman dancing. It's "a spiritual practice that helps devotees connect with divine energy". Does it? I wonder if parents really want their toddlers being familiarized with eastern spiritual entities? They'd be safe with a statue of the BVM; not so sure with spirits bordering on the demonic.

Have fun and get a hair cut if you need to.

Thursday

 'The Man who was Thursday" is a book by G K Chesterton I am listening to. It's about a group of seven anarchists who are named after each day of the week.  So far three of the seven have turned out to be policeman who have infiltrated the ring. I'm picking they all turn out to be detectives! I'll let you know.

Just paid the accountant for my tax return. No I don't owe the IRD! Actually they owe me. Would be nice if the Tax department paid me fortnightly. A plot for a parody Chesterton might have dreamed up.

Better run, have to pick T up from over the hill.

Have fun and pay your taxes. 

Wednesday 13

 Time is flying! In less than two weeks I'll be flying to Hong Kong!

I watched a Netflex documentary about two Boeing 737 MAX 8s that crashed in 2018/19 because of a faulty control system (MCAS). Boeing went to great lengths to cover it up. President Trump grounded them all for 20 months.

Better fly, have to get over to Wainui to pick up T.

Have fun, flying is safe unless you crash.

An evening in Moera

A tune that Dizzy wrote on a dustbin lid. 

I think Haydn would have done better.

 

Cello Practice

 

My older and sometimes wiser brother has been posting videos of his practice sessions. 

Here's my attempt at the Haydn D Major Cello concerto I'm working on.

Day 4

 "..God has raised him up to be a leader and savior, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins..." Act 5:27

"Anyone who believes in the son has eternal life, but anyone who refuses to believe in the son will never see life". John 3:31

Jesus gives life because he gives joy, passion and direction. With Jesus we can face life's challenges. He gives us a reason to live. Jesus has also said that unless we receive him in the Eucharist we will not have life in us. It reads like that without Jesus we will not have the fullness of life. I suppose that living without him is like being divorced from loved ones. It's a miserable way to exist.

A big improvement in my foot today. I'm walking without pain with the "boot". I think its important to keep active but not 'overdo it'.

I'll have to get in touch with the After Hours Med Centre today to get a new assessment as the nurse there put me in the "boot" for the 'chip' after the doctor gave me just a week off. The "boot' means I can't go to work until I get a medical clearance which could be a month or more. I can also go back to ACC and hopefully reclaim some of my money I paid them when I ran a business as my leave will probably not cover a month off. So it goes.

Have fun; Jesus wants you too.

Day 3 after the fall.

On Monday (day 1) I needed to replace my security camera after charging it. As the ladder started to topple I leapt off landing on my left foot squarely on a concrete garden surround. There was ankle swelling and a very sore heel bottom. An xray revealed a possible very small splinter at the back of the heel bone. The nurse seemed to think it significant and so I'm in a moon boot for a few  weeks. Personally I think I'll be fine once the sole of my heel recovers from the impact.

Today is the first day of walking again; if you call hobbling around in a moon boot with a walking stick that!

TC just dropped off some nice shoes. He quipped I wouldn't need both! Thanks TC, they are very good shoes.

Off to Mass at noon.

Have fun and don't sin. Especially not big ones!