thoughts on the news of the day: ice

hmmm…..

                  It is late December, but its shorts and t-shirts weather in Austin, TX where I am visiting my daughter.  I am loving the warm weather and the sunshine which is a delightful departure from the chilly temperatures we left in the Arkansas Ozarks. 

                  In spite of the cold outdoors, my home, and the homes of my friends in the Ozarks are cozy warm.  Heating units, fireplaces and potbellied stoves keep our abodes well above the freezing mark.  And since it isn’t sooo cold, and the gas prices aren’t sooo high, we can stay well within our comfort zone.

                  But what if you chose to vacation in frigid settings.  And I am not talking outside, I mean inside as well.  The Balea Lac Hotel of Ice northwest of Bucharest, Romania is entirely made of ice.  It offers ten rooms with king size beds at the price of about $50 per person.  The temperature at the hotel hovers around 36 degrees to keep the ice from melting.  You can dine there and relax.  I am not sure how they cook, doesn’t most food preparation require heat?  And how do you relax when you are shivering.  I am sure they have figured all of that out though …

                  There’s an old saying “cold hands, warm heart.”  It would probably really fit the tourists at the Balea Lac who are probably bundling up and snuggling up to a loved one.  And that can’t be all bad in any climate.

                  hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: samoa

hmmm…..

                  I have lost a few days of blogs.  Computer problems have plagued me; dismally slow speeds on my ancient computer; frantic efforts to prepare worship services for the Christmas season; and last minute shopping have made it pretty much impossible to stay on top of my blog writing.  Like I say, I lost a few days.

                  We all know what it is like to “lose a day”.  It happens when we are sick and can’t go to work.  We feel like we have lost a day of getting things done.  Traveling can feel that way; it might take a whole day to travel from one place to the next and so it seems like we didn’t have that day to work, play or just relax. 

                  Now Samoa is another story. They are literally losing a whole day at the end of this week.  This Pacific island is changing its time zone.  The country wants to be in sync with the Asian side of time zones instead of the United States side, since they feel they do more business there.  So, in order to change the zone, they have to lose a day and go from Thursday to Saturday which means no TGIF for them.

                  Wonder what will happen to all the people who get paychecks each week?  Will they be docked for a day’s pay?  Will Samoans be charged for a whole month’s rent?  How about utility bills?  Do they receive a discount of one day? 

                  I am not sure how all that will work, but I do know this: cherish today, don’t waste it, don’t lose it because you will never get it back again.

                  hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: i believe

hmmm…..

            It’s Santa tracking time.  NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) has been tracking Santa for 56 years with its sophisticated satellite system and this year the tradition will continue. 

            Probably we all have our stories about magically discovering that Santa is real.  My favorite is the one about my daughter when she was about three years old.  We had gone to my sister’s house for Christmas Eve dinner.  It was a simple, but traditional one for us, a meal of homemade chicken soup and peppermint pie.  The pie was my nephew’s favorite, and he assisted in the assembling of it that year.  Afterwards, we opened only a few gifts because Santa really came on Christmas morning at our house.

            All was well when we ventured out into the cool night air in our scarves and mittens.  But we looked up to discover a red light dancing in the sky.  Surely it was Rudolph, we exclaimed to the children.  My daughter bought it; and rushed to the car to head home. After all Santa didn’t come until everyone was snuggled in their beds.

            The grownups knew that coincidently my sister’s house was right in the flight pattern of the landing strip for the airport and so red lights were normal at all times of the year.  But the awe and wonder of that moment was magical. And I will never forget it.

            Who says that Santa isn’t real?  Santa exists in the bright eyes of a small child who still believes.  And I believe, too.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: re-gifting

hmmm….            

            Let’s talk about re-gifting.  Is it good or is it bad?  Some think that it is the cheapskates way out.  I mean, it a way to get out of paying actual money for a gift, isn’t it?  Teachers have done it for years.  They get little Avon gifts and Christmas knickknacks as well as all of the items that parents bought in the fund raiser sales and never wanted in the first place.  So they pass them along to family and friends who usually don’t want them either.  On a teacher’s salary, its not a bad way to save money.  My Dad used to buy used items at the Goodwill and tried to pass them on as new and we never bought into that one either.

            But then there is another way of looking at it.  There is a new ecology word going around these days.  It is “re-purpose-ing”.  And I think that is a good thing.  Sometimes we receive a present that is not so good for us, but perfect for someone else.  There is still thought put into the gift, its just that the giver took care and also moved toward sustainability.

            Back to my Dad, he used to take my daughter and her cousin to resale shops in town and they loved it!  All it took was a quarter or two and they had a week’s worth of gently used toys.  My daughter got tons of costume jewelry to play dress up with – it was grand!

            So the jury is still out on re-gifting.  I say, whatever you give, give it with thoughtfulness and love and it will be just fine.

            hmmm….

thoughts on the news of the day: doctor's devices

hmmm…..

            I have wondered for years why the medical profession didn’t make better use of technology in keeping patients records.  It seemed to me that logging a patient’s history on a laptop disk made lots more sense than keeping a room full of files crammed with papers.  As the years have gone by, doctors and nurses have more and more come to use electronic devices to keep track of patient’s status, medications, etc.

            But there is a troubling trend becoming the norm in medicine.  Apparently more and more doctors and nurses are using smart phones, iPads and other computers to surf the web; checking emails, texting and even shopping on ebay.  So, lets see, a doctor is performing surgery while making phone calls to his family and friends using a bluetooth audio device.  A nurse is checking airline reservations during a heart procedure.  And, while examining a patient, the physician also checks his twitter account. 

            It’s not good.  Medical personnel can easily be distracted by these devices and mistakes are made – costly mistakes.  In one instance, a patient was partially paralyzed because of just such behavior by a doctor.

            I know of a therapist who uses a laptop to keep notes on clients while they are talking about their problems.  H usually explains to his patients what he is doing.  But still, I think tapping away at a computer would be rather disconcerting, even though it actually is in the patients best interest.

            Maybe the best thing to do is to tell the medical professional when we think the behavior is inappropriate.  Of course that is a little difficult to do when you are under anesthetic, but in other cases, it is always OK to safeguard our health.  More and more today, the advice is being given to pay attention to our own medical care. Maybe this is a good place to start.

            hmmm…... 

thoughts on the news of the day: protesters

hmmm…..

            Interestingly enough, Time magazine’s person of the year for 2011 is The Protester.  When the  choice was announced,  I imagine several folks were disappointed that it wasn’t one name instead of many  – it wasn’t them.  Steve Jobs could have been named or Kate Middleton.  Then there’s Gabriel Giffords and Rep. Paul Ryan.

            But after a year of thought, Time chose ”the protester”.  This obviously includes lots of folks, folks who are unnamed, but nevertheless have had a huge impact on the events of 2011.  For the most part, the protesters have been righteous.  Take for example, those who protested the governments of Libya and Egypt, and Syria.  They won the freedom of many people in the middle east and will not be forgotten.  Then there are the protesters who Occupy Wall Street.  Some might say those who protested big business, big banks and their greed were misguided and well, wrong.  But, they persisted and a movement was born.

            Then, there are the individual protesters named.  People like Molly Katchpole who began the protest against debit card fees. She started her protest online and was able to collect over 306,000 signatures.  And also, Loukanikos, a stray dog, who followed along Athens protesters and made a name for himself.

            It is probably good that people stand up for themselves and fight for what is right.  After all, that is what our forefathers did to make our country, the United States, a place where all people can be free and have the right to assemble peacefully to plead their cause.  But I think that what happens after the protest is even more important than the protest itself.  If nothings changes, nothing changes. 

            Maybe Time is right about the protesters.  .  Maybe this time things will change and in the end we will find peace and harmony once again.  It could happen.

            hmmm..,.,.,.,

thoughts on the news of the day: dreidels and dragons

hmmm…..

            It’s Christmas School Pageants time.  I guess it is more politically correct to say Holiday programs.  Ambivalent parents all over the country have marked off an evening to proudly video their children and patiently endure the remainder of the program.  I have to say for myself, I showed up for many an elementary school program when my daughter was young and I suspect that grandchildren will take over that tradition someday. 

            Those programs aren’t all bad, though.  When we lived in Austin while I was in seminary, my daughter attended the best elementary school ever.  It was nestled in a neighborhood close to the University of Texas campus, so many of the professor’s and graduate student’s children attended there,  It was a mini United Nations.  Physically the campus was small.  It could hold only about 300 or so children, while the average population of an Austin school was about 600 students at the time.  But, the proud and loyal, not mention long-time school principal fiercely held on to the goal of maintaining the school despite objections by AISD school administration.

            At any rate, they also had the best Christmas program ever.  It commemorated  the holidays of Kwanza, Hanukah,  the Chinese New Year, and Christmas.  The spinning of the Jewish Dreidel was highlighted, as well as the parade of the Chinese dragon.  There was also an interesting twist on the Christmas story.  Being in central Texas, the children enacted the Mexican tradition of Posada which is the story of Joseph and Mary going from inn to inn looking for a place to stay.  No matter what religion, it is an endearing story of a poor family needing a place to lay their head one night.

            I think it is important to teach our kids that there are many ways to celebrate this time of year.  Let’s support our diversity but also honor the generosity and goodwill of the season.  We owe that to our children.

            hmmm…..