And the beat goes on.
Monday, 20 April 2009 08:35 | Written by David Jennings | 
Yes, it does and never seems to stop! I had a decent, if not great, week.
Probably the most interesting thing was the candidate forum for those of us running for city council in Shoreacres. It was my first time to do anything like that and I must say that it is a lot harder than it looks. The forum was sponsored by the LaPorte-Bayshore Chamber of Commerce and was sort of a round-table affair held in the LaPorte City Council chamber.
Of the six candidates running, four of us participated. One person was not there but sent a letter that the moderator read (she is an incumbent, being appointed after one guy retired because of storm damage to his home). The other two incumbents were there, plus me and one candidate, Sarah, that is running against the incumbents. She seems really bitter about them which is very odd to me.
We started with an opening statement. Everyone else had a prepared script, I just winged it as usual. I praised the current council and told everyone in the audience (50 or so) that I thought they had done a great job after the storm and that I wasn't running against anyone. My entire platform is simple: the city is going to face very difficult financial times in the future and I think that I can help.
All in all, it was an interesting evening and I had a bit of fun. The meeting demonstrated how much of an outsider I am even though I have been living in the city far longer than the other candidates. I used the meeting as a barometer of my interest: if I didn't have fun, I wasn't going to go any further. Well, I had fun, and after listening to the other candidates, I know that I can contribute. So, I'm going to continue the campaign even though I fully expect to lose. Thing is, you can't win if you don't try, so, that's that!
Joe Frasure of Frasure Home Improvements continues to do a superb remodeling job. If only everyone in business focused on the customer like he does! We now have wood floors in the new study and the dining room. He'll install the floors in the rest of the house near the end of the week or the first part of next week. They look great!
After I fired the first landscaper, we went through the process and picked another one. He got started right away and made some progress before the heavy rains on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully it will be dry enough by the end of the week that he can finish.
Terri is starting to get panicked about the wedding. It is now only four weeks away! It does seem like it snuck up on us. We've have a few more things to finish, plus wrap up commitments, etc. We'll get it done.
Class was pretty good yesterday. The group of guys that we have coming aren't afraid to state their opinions or to offer up suggestions, so that makes it flow. I think that our experiment going to the early service is going to end. I just get nothing out of it. The girl that leads it can sing really well but it is more like going and listening to someone sing three songs than it is worship. She doesn't interact with the congregation and frankly, the songs she picks are meant to glorify her. No one sings because it isn't designed for that, it is designed for her to sing. Which might work for her but in looking around the congregation, no one is worshipping, they are just standing there looking confused as to why they are standing there! So we'll probably go back to the late service, at least we get to sing in that one.
I haven't stuck to the diet as well as I should have but I still lost a bit these past two weeks. Not more than a grain of sand on the beach but still, I didn't gain!
Probably the most interesting thing was the candidate forum for those of us running for city council in Shoreacres. It was my first time to do anything like that and I must say that it is a lot harder than it looks. The forum was sponsored by the LaPorte-Bayshore Chamber of Commerce and was sort of a round-table affair held in the LaPorte City Council chamber.
Of the six candidates running, four of us participated. One person was not there but sent a letter that the moderator read (she is an incumbent, being appointed after one guy retired because of storm damage to his home). The other two incumbents were there, plus me and one candidate, Sarah, that is running against the incumbents. She seems really bitter about them which is very odd to me.
We started with an opening statement. Everyone else had a prepared script, I just winged it as usual. I praised the current council and told everyone in the audience (50 or so) that I thought they had done a great job after the storm and that I wasn't running against anyone. My entire platform is simple: the city is going to face very difficult financial times in the future and I think that I can help.
All in all, it was an interesting evening and I had a bit of fun. The meeting demonstrated how much of an outsider I am even though I have been living in the city far longer than the other candidates. I used the meeting as a barometer of my interest: if I didn't have fun, I wasn't going to go any further. Well, I had fun, and after listening to the other candidates, I know that I can contribute. So, I'm going to continue the campaign even though I fully expect to lose. Thing is, you can't win if you don't try, so, that's that!
Joe Frasure of Frasure Home Improvements continues to do a superb remodeling job. If only everyone in business focused on the customer like he does! We now have wood floors in the new study and the dining room. He'll install the floors in the rest of the house near the end of the week or the first part of next week. They look great!
After I fired the first landscaper, we went through the process and picked another one. He got started right away and made some progress before the heavy rains on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully it will be dry enough by the end of the week that he can finish.
Terri is starting to get panicked about the wedding. It is now only four weeks away! It does seem like it snuck up on us. We've have a few more things to finish, plus wrap up commitments, etc. We'll get it done.
Class was pretty good yesterday. The group of guys that we have coming aren't afraid to state their opinions or to offer up suggestions, so that makes it flow. I think that our experiment going to the early service is going to end. I just get nothing out of it. The girl that leads it can sing really well but it is more like going and listening to someone sing three songs than it is worship. She doesn't interact with the congregation and frankly, the songs she picks are meant to glorify her. No one sings because it isn't designed for that, it is designed for her to sing. Which might work for her but in looking around the congregation, no one is worshipping, they are just standing there looking confused as to why they are standing there! So we'll probably go back to the late service, at least we get to sing in that one.
I haven't stuck to the diet as well as I should have but I still lost a bit these past two weeks. Not more than a grain of sand on the beach but still, I didn't gain!