Church as a High Priest

It was inevitable. I became to old to stay an Elder and was moved into the High Priest group. It was lovely to be ordained by my father. One of those special experiences in life.

Then I went and met with the high priests. We had a discussion. Well, actually it wasn;t much of a discussion as a bunch of crotchety old men waiting for thier turn to "tell it like it is" to the rest of us. The poor instructor gets out the initial thought and then I watched as 16 men raised their hands to tell it like it really was. It was both hilarious and sad. I used to enjoy the discussions we had in Elders Quorum. This is like scriptural ambush each Sunday. It is lots of fun.

Matt is off to Rexburg on Wednesday. Faye is flying up to SLC with him so I will be alone at home for 2 nights. So I will need to get a few boxes of Cap'n Crunch and I'll be good. My inner bachelor comes out and I am ready to eat sugary ceral and fart at will. In fact, that second thing happens regularly(rim shot) at our house. So think of Matt and I'll light a match.

OK already - I'll blog some more

Well, It turns out I may be an auditing manager after all. I went to the interview on Monday and came away thinking these guys must think I'm a complete botard given the responses they had to my interview questions. However, the grapevine (it is extensive here at Farmers) seems to indicate I am going to be offered the job in a matter of days, as soon as the paperwork is cleared. So I will still get to work in Portland or at home or wherever, but will have to do a little more travel around the country. So I will start gathering frequent flier miles and see if I can cash in on some free trips in the future.

Matt finally got a job his last week in town. That is the good news. The rest of the story is that he gets to clean a bakery from 5:30 PM to 2:00 AM each night until Saturday. At least it is work and he is a trooper for putting up with it and working hard each evening. He willl now go into the Fall and Winter terms with a little more spending money and we sleep easier each night (without any kids in our house) knowing he has a few extra dollars to spend to keep the thriving Rexberg economy vibrant.

College football season is starting Saturday and, if all goes well, BYU will soundly trounce Northern Iowa Technical College of Secretarial Skills and Fruit Stand by a combined score of 1,301 to 4. I presume they will got both safeties in the 4th quarter. If, perchance, they lose, my life will be over and I will start rooting for some otherwise lame-ass team like Oregon or Utah. This is my favorite time of year. I love watching the rankings and the rivalries and the gret matchups. I used to think it was a purer game than the pros but that is rapidly fading. I still like it a lot. I like the fact that there are 117 division 1A schools and there are a zillion games each week.

So there - I blogged.
I will try to be more consistent in the future. This is kind of likemy journal. I start one and write consistently for a week. Then there is a two week gap and I wrote twice more. Then a year and one more entry. Then it sits in a box in the garage(car hole) with the other failed attempts to keep a valid journal. oh well.

My Kingdon for a temp job

Hello there. Long time no blog, eh?

I am frustrated. I have a child. He is a very large child and he eats a lot and still sleeps in my house. I would like him to work until he goes to college. He would like to work until he goes to college. No one out there in the real wage-paying world would like to hire him for the next few weeks to work and get money. He is frustrated. I am frustrated. Don't even get me started about how his mother is frustrated.

I mention the fact that he is essentially a hobo to everyone who will listen. I usually get then backed into some type of corner so they can't escape and I keep on talking about it. Well, I cornered Jim Muir ( in a corner) at a wedding reception (pasta/salad/mints/chocolate fountain) and he actually is going to have Matt do some sort ot beastly labor at his home for a few days. At least that is what he said. He actually called again this evening and said it again. So if he doesn't follow up I will be forced to say "Pants on fire" to him. I will keep you posted. I have a blog.

I have a garden at my house. I planted it. It is a very smll garden. It is actually two gardens since I have two very small parcels of dirt in my back yard that receive sunlight. The rest is hidden under the dense overgrowth of lodgepole pines in my yard. So I have tomatos, squash and pumkin plants in my two little plots. Lots of leaves and flowers on the squash and pumkins but no fruit/vegetables yet. I had one very small pumkin that was the size of an underachieving cherry tomato but it gave up and fell off the vine. "Oh little pumkin, don't leave your mother" I said to no avail. Stupid little pumkin. I will keep you updated on the veg froont as well.

I am a high priest. How did that happen? So anyway, I was in HP group this week for the very first time. In the Elders Quorum the lesson is a numbing experience with a teacher talking and very little interaction. The HP group is very different in our ward. With each topic, multiple hands shoot up to comment on the issue at hand. And each of them tells you what the real answer is. Topic - The Lord communicates with the church through his Prophets. Discussion - You know what the real issue is - Faith and fast offerings! I just sat back and wondered what I got myself into. It was clear these old guys had long ago been taught these concepts and they weren't about to be told that the Lord communicates to his prophets. They were going to take over the lesson at any cost. It should be fun. They should sell tickets.

Must run.
No diggety.

New Loan - bad bank

We completed the refinance of the house today. Lovely people and a good rate and all the things you expect from financial people. It was very quick as well. Just the week before vacation and we closed today. I hear it is a good thing but I'm never quite sure.

One small glitch - I needed to get a specific amount of money so I could buyu into the cabin. When we closed the specific amount I needed was a little short. In fact I was $127 short. It's like - Hey, I need $20,000 and you are giving me $19, 873. Is it just me or did you fall short of my expectations here pal. I know it is a little thing but, what the hell, I needed $20,000 and I am a bit short. Oh, well.

Now the bank. Diane wrote is a check for $150 and our bank only coded it as $50 and send us a snarky letter saying, in essence, "How dare you" and you need to come in and rectify this. So Faye went in and confirmed and convinced them that it was indeed $150. This is when the bank, US Bank for those of you keeping score at home, failed big time. Even though it was their fault they essentially said, deal with it - get your daughter to send another check for $100 and it will all be fine. Now, Faye had not had the best day ever. In fact, it was bordering on a relatively crappy day and this was one of the camel straw things and she was not taking any shit from this penciil-neck at the bank. So she told him she wanted something for her time. SHe wanted $5 for her time and trouble. I wish I was there to watch. She eventually shamed him into giving her $5 for ehr time and trouble. I an pondering whether or not I am going to pull a Colonel Orme and march in there and make this guy cry. I think it is time to change banks - any ideas out there?

So there. I have blogged again.
Work is fun. I have been recommended to become an auditor. How exciting it will be to be shunned at all company events. It moight not be that bad. I still have to interview for it so nothing is set.

Must go and watch the Olympics and see if Michael Phelps can get hsi 18th gold medal.

Jury Duty

It has finally happened. After 8 years of voter registration, I have been picked as juror 297 to dole our some justice Orme style to the good citizens and ne'er do wells of Washington county. I can hardly wait. I will report for my civil duty September 10 and plan on being there for a few hours. When they find out I work for Farmers I will be one of the first dismissed and I will be back to work by Noon. That is my guess anyway.

Lovely weather here in Oregon. It didn't even break 80 this weekend. How can I complain. And yet I did. Hard to believe the whiner I am.

I am actually typing this at work. It is 8:42 AM and I have a business review at 9:00 AM. I just think this is more important. I just wish I had more to say. I have been sleepy this past few days because, damn NBC, they show the Olympics until midnight and I have to watch. Even if I knew Michael Phelps was going to win that 2nd gold I still had to watch. I'm like that and I suppose much of America is also.

Must go and work now. Damn the man!

Back Home - A very long drive

Note to self - Even though I am a guy, it is totally awsome to have someone else drive while I sleep in the back seat. Second note to self - make sure there are only three people on the car trip so you can have the entire back seat to yourself/myself.

I loved it when I drove to Tremonten, then woke up in Twin Falls. I drove to Mountain Home and woke up near Baker City. Drove to LeGrand and woke up in nearly home. All in all a huge amount of napping and minimal amount of drive time. Choice!!

So there you have it. I got home and I was only awake for about 5 hours.

So I got back to work and all my work and mail and e-mails were all taken care of. It was the greatest. I only had to work about 5 hours and got home early. Not really.
I have 107 e-mails and 900 fires to put out. And I get to fill in for my boss for the next three weeks. I love the opportunity I have to work. This sweat of my brow stuff is fabulous.
I know being filthy rich is a sure fire way to ruin your life but I would like an opportunity to get filthy - even if only fro a few days or decades.

So we are back in Portland.
The A/C still works - which is good because it is hot here - like Utah hot.

More to come.