04 July 2020 - Plague Journal Day 114

Micah 6:8

Hebrews 10:15-16

Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Independence Day here in these United States of America.
Why not celebrate by watching the musical 1776? It even gives us a glimpse into the debate over abolishing slavery as they adopted our Declaration of Independence. While I'm pretty sure it's not 100% historically accurate (I don't think they actually had a song-and-dance-off to determine which one was going to write the Declaration.), it is a fun way to look at what actually was going on there in Philadelphia back in 1776.

Apparently Tony Blair once said: "A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in . . . and how many want to get out." Hmm. Maybe we're not such a terrible place after all? Thanks for the tip, Tony.

So now let's celebrate these United States making up the greatest nation this world has seen.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

03 July 2020 - Plague Journal Day 113

Micah 6:8

Deuteronomy 4:19

Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Stay Out Of The Sun Day - pretty much my whole Summer compressed into one day.

I remember two sunburns very distinctly.

The first one was when I was a kid, probably ten or eleven, and we were up at my grandparents' cottage on Rifle Lake. I was out in the sun all day, in and out of the water, and ended up with a terrible burn on my back that was exacerbated by the application of Solarcaine. This eventually led to a visit to the local ER for medical relief.

The second was not quite as intense, but in its own way it was equally disturbing. This one was not quite as long ago as the first, but long enough that we were holding a paper drive as a fundraiser for the church youth group. (Yes, people not only used to actually subscribe to printed newspapers, but that paper was worth enough to recyclers that groups could make money by collecting truckloads of old papers and selling it to them.) Anyway, that sunny early Summer Saturday was the day I discovered my hair was thinning - a discovery made by scratching my head as I experienced my first major scalp sunburn. It was then that I became a big fan of hats.

Please, use sunscreen.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

02 July 2020 - Plague Journal Day 112

Micah 6:8
John 10:15-17
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is World UFO Day! I have seen plenty of flying objects which I couldn't identify, so clearly there are UFOs out there. Of course, today is also Made In The USA Day, so maybe they really are just weather balloons and marsh gas after all?

By the way, this kid is my marketing hero:

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

01 July 2020 - Plague Journal Day 111

Micah 6:8
John 4:7-15
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Canada Day (those of us of a certain age still think of it as Dominion Day, but I suppose calling it that is like saying I'm taking a trip to Constantinople or Peking or Bombay, it just isn't done). At any rate, I'm going to celebrate by drinking some Kakabeka Crystal water from Kakabeka Falls, just so I can say I'm having Eau Canada.

On a totally unrelated topic, it seems that study after study after study, we're told over and over that we all want voice-enabled tech as a way to interact with businesses. Am I the only one left who really hates talking to those voice recognition systems? I can't believe I am - I even see commercials where folks are hitting the 0 on the phone trying to get to a human. Why not just have people? Regular intelligence rather than artificial intelligence?
grr.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

30 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 110

Micah 6:8
Job 28:1-6
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is International Asteroid Day. It's nice that we're celebrating by testing ways to steer asteroids away from collisions with the Earth. In addition to trying to ameliorate the dangers they pose, I think it's also time to commit to mining the asteroid belt. Let's authorize the private sector to get out there and get us started on the way to actually gaining benefits from them.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

29 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 109

Micah 6:8

Ecclesiastes 1:8-9

Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

You probably remember cameras. They're like a bulky phone that doesn't text or have apps or make phone calls (if you remember those). Well celebrate those devices, because today is National Camera Day!

I actually still have a bunch of them - mostly film cameras, and two digital cameras. I used to develop and print my own photographs, way back when (I only ever did black and white - color sounded too complicated for me back then).

As to my digital cameras, one is pretty nice - high pixel count, nice lens, large capacity storage, etc. - and the other has a great lens, but it's too early to actually have a good sensor and reasonable storage.

You know, that's an amazing thing about film cameras - even photos from the US Civil War are amazingly detailed (that's from back in the 1860s for the historically-challenged reader). Yes, lenses and film got better and better: faster with finer grain, accurate color, less abberation, all that, but from the beginning was as good as the digital stuff we have now. The biggest difference is that it's easier to fake things now than it was with real film.

Progress? If you're a filmmaker doing special effects, then yes. If you're trying to document something that really happened, probably not.

Just check out these non-existent people if you're not sure things are beyond what a "reasonable person" could determine in the course of everyday life, let alone as a member of a jury in a court of law. (refresh the page for a new "photograph")

Yikes, as they say.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

28 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 108

Micah 6:8

Matthew 18:18-20

Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Back to church again! (Here's a link to today's worship service. Here's a link to our channel. You'll need to look for livestreams, but you can also see our past Worship-In-Place services there in the playlist.)

We've decided to celebrate communion weekly for a while. Although we're not using the full liturgy in the service, I'd like to share this prayer of confession (I've shared it before - it's really good.)

Merciful God,
we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have not done your will,
we have broken your law,
we have rebelled against your love,
we have not loved our neighbors,
and we have not heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.