Visually challenged churches

Usually I reserve my complaints, sighs and weeping over visually cluttered church spaces for my own church (4,000 members). It has 3 campuses in a variety of architectural styles spaning 70 years, with landscaping, parking lots, narthexes, restrooms and halls loaded with clutter, to say nothing of sanctuaries and fellowship halls with peculiar concessions to ministries, pop culture, worship styles, lighting and HVAC. Walls, restroom mirrors, doors and yards are used like bulletin boards by careless people although there is a bulletin board "ministry." In 1993 when my daughter was married at Lytham Rd., I had to throw a "mother of the bride" hissy fit to get the dangling movie screen and huge Peavey speakers removed from the sanctuary for the wedding ceremony. Mission posters have been hanging for years at Mill Run and have become wall paper instead of a vibrant call to action for members. There's a trash container in the front yard. Oh well, apparently very few people see this. But they will travel to Europe to see beautiful cathedrals.

Today I passed Advent Lutheran on Kenny Road. It really is a lovely small church (300 members). It began with a modest multipurpose space as many congregations do, and then added a few years back a beautiful sanctuary. There are few churches in Columbus with a more pleasant and restful appearing worship space. Unfortunately, someone has decided to advertise the enrollment period for their preschool by hanging a banner on the outside wall of the sanctuary facing Kenny Road. Back in the not too distant past the congregation of Advent Lutheran (ELCA) voted to commit funds, time and effort to expanding and beautifying--to putting on a lovely face for the thousands of cars that pass their way each week. And they succeeded. I thank them everyday for their sacrifice. And when Hurricane Ike went through in the fall of 2008 and ripped off their roof, it was repaired immediately. They didn't leave it a blue tarp eyesore. They don't put their "save the environment" trash container in plain view the way UALC does--they keep it as far from sight as possible. They landscape their drive way and parking lot. They are good neighbors in Upper Arlington.

And then someone spoiled it by hanging a banner on the outside of a very attractive wall. And by the way, if I didn't know what it was advertising, the sign is probably not readable at 35 mph.

Adam McInnis, Christian Singer

Clicking through the Facebook “friends” list (does anyone really have 5,000 friends?) of Noel McInnis (we played trombone together in high school), I noticed Adam McInnis, so I clicked to his bio to see if they were related. They aren’t (unless there’s a whole other part of Noel I didn’t know), but I was really blown away by some of Adam's delightful, passionate music. Enjoy!

Adam McInnis "Since I Spoke Your Name" from Adam McInnis on Vimeo.

More housing loans and guarantees

This certainly isn't new to this administration Release No. 0090.10 Probably some form goes back to the Depression, but I've never understood why the USDA is in the housing business. Rural Development has an existing portfolio of more than $130 billion in loans and loan guarantees. So when you're looking at government housing problems you need to poke around, because it isn't all where you think it might be. In Fiscal Year 2009 USDA guaranteed loans to buy, build, or renovate more than 4,200 affordable rural rental housing units. 2010 will be $129 billion more. (That's not ARRA money, which is many billions more.) And this isn't for farmers, or even small towns. It's any area outside a major city. Could be the 'burbs. According to this site, you can get 100% financing with no need for mortgage insurance, no money down, and no loan limits. Sweet! Isn't that how we got into our current mess? USDA employs over 6,000 gov't workers in its housing programs. And that's not counting all the bank employees it keeps afloat.

Award for doing not much

Yesterday we received a Certificate of Merit. For doing not much of anything! Who do they think we are? The President of the United States?

Here's what it says on good quality card stock with fancy script and type font:

"Be it known to all who bear witness that this highest honor which
may be bestowed by RNC Victory 2012 has been awarded to
(US)
A recognized leader in
Ohio
on this 19th day of February
in the year 2010 for
DEDICATION, SACRIFICE and COMMITMENT
To the Republican Party and our efforts to elect the next
Republican President of the United States in 2012

Then there are two signatures and a little gold embossed elephant at the bottom. Really!? The voters elected an attractive, glib candidate no one knew or vetted in 2008, and now we're supposed to do it with the other party? Contributing $25 during the last campaign, to elect a man we really didn't like and was the better of the bad salvagable only because of his running mate, means we're dedicated and committed? Well, it was a bit of a sacrifice. Didn't like McCain as a candidate or Senator (he's a RINO plus), although I admire his personal service to the country.

I think this is the millennial generation hover award. Isn't that the group that has to get an award for showing up? Someone slipped up on our age.

New t-shirts from Haiti

Everything's back to normal here. My husband's working on a video of this trip--adorable classroom scenes of the younger children. One was Pam Mann's English class and the children recited numbers up to 20 and the days of the week. He has about a thousand mosquito bites, or perhaps "no-seeums." He got those when he went down to film the Massacre River. Smaller than ours. His arms look like he's got the measles. Always interesting experiences to tell about Haiti when he gets home. He loves his students--it's an excellent school with highly motivated kids. Here we are wearing matching t-shirts to exercise class. I think this says, "We're advancing," (front) "together, together, for another Haiti" (back) in Creole.

Upcoming shows from talented friends

Jeanie's show is at Ursus, 2814 Fishinger Rd. Upper Arlington, OH 43221, March 1-April 30, 2010; and Sharon's benefit concert is Sunday, March 14 at 5 p.m. with Synchronicity Trio is at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 35 E. Stanton Ave, Columbus, OH 43214, just a bit north of Morse Rd. A freewill donation will go to Faith Mission Homeless Shelters.

Reading Hemingway

There was a dad sitting in a lounge chair at Panera's this morning reading Hemingway to his son. The son was about 9 months old and teething. Seemed to work. He took his daddy's finger out of his mouth long enough to give me a big smile.

Killer whales and wailing kitties

It surprised me to learn that the whale trainer Dawn Brancheau at Sea World who was killed had a loose pony tail which might have looked like a toy/food to the Orca Tillikum which just did what whales do. People who live and work and care for animals should understand animal behavior and never let down their guard, or forget that animals have instincts. Whether they are 11,000 lb whales, or 11 lb dogs. For instance, my 11 year old cat will still attack my shoe strings. I don't know what she thinks they are, but they send a signal. Another cat we had never figured out the tail thing (this one's never noticed her tail). And what cat or dog owner doesn't know not to stare their pet in the eye--even to tease--and if they do, should know not to put their face up to the pet's nose. Yes, maybe 99 times she just licks your nose, but the 100th time she bites, draws blood, sees your reaction, and from then on, you're in trouble.

The dog bite statistics for males is telling. Young male children are bitten by young male dogs, owned by young adult males. See a pattern? Dawn was not a male; Tillikum wasn't a dog. But I'm sure there are patterns that whales follow. I don't blame the whale, and I don't blame captivity. The whale has probably lived longer and had a better life than in the wild. Better than many human beings. Whale trainers are probably safer in a tank with a whale than on a California freeway. But long, loose hair? No, not ever.

Condescension

John Podhoretz: "My sense of this summit is that President Obama is exactly as he always is — extremely intelligent, knowledgeable about policy details, so certain of the rightness of his views that he has no compunction about declaring the views of his antagonists to be merely politically convenient rather than substantive, startlingly condescending at moments, and even more startlingly long-winded when he gets going. As a result, he both looks good and bad in these settings — good because he's serious and doesn't appear to be a fanatic, and bad because of the condescension." From Taranto's Best of the Web, Feb. 26.

Liberals, of course, don't see Obama this way. They see a guy who is so much smarter, more virtuous and better than everyone else so of course he should appear this way and hog the TV time rather than listening. So why would that be condescending? I mean, are you paranoid if everyone really is out to get you? And if he stammers badly while groping for words, well, he's just waiting for the rest of us peons to catch up with his brilliance.

Although I'd have to disagree that he looks good, in any circumstance.

Just ask Google--applesauce to oil

We're having a few couples from church in tomorrow evening, and for dessert I'm serving warmed fresh blueberries over lemon cake with a dollop of real whipped cream. I'd thought some of mixing the blueberries in little blobs into the unbaked cake and swirling, but fortunately remembered the disaster of a few years back when I decided to mix cooked blueberries into a vanilla pudding mix for a pie. Because these mixes all have a little yellow food coloring (called yellow 5 or yellow 6) to make them look yummy and inviting, if you mix in blueberries, you get something that looks like pea soup--gray green. The taste doesn't change at all, but a lot of what we taste is really done with our eyes (which is why I always clean and take down the cobwebs before I invite people over for dinner). So, that disaster was avoided.

The Betty Crocker Super Moist Lemon cake mix (I never make a cake from scratch) called for 1/3 cup of oil. Now, that's not awful, but everyone I know is watching the calories, so I decided to substitute applesauce for oil. I know you can do it in baking, I just didn't know the proportions. That's where Google comes in.

Google answers millions of questions a day--I know because some of them end up on my blog since I write on 50 bazillion topics. Here's what I learned. In baking it's about a 1:1 swap, but don't do it with cookies or snacky things that need a bit of crispness or you get "frankensnack." Even with this cake, I used a little less than 1/3 cup of applesauce, and added about a tablespoon of oil. If the cake tastes a little less than perfect, the blueberries will cover for me; I've tasted them and they are fabulous. 2 Tbsp. flour, 3/4 c. Splenda, a few shakes of cinnamon, and a Tbsp. of butter; heat just to the point they start to burst. Then I'll reheat them before serving, but they won't be mushy.

My little Sunbeam mixer was a wedding gift, so it's 50 years old. I think I've blogged about it before. The cord is stiff, it falls out of its connection, it trips the outlet switch, and the beaters fall out about every 45 seconds. But how many more years will I be making cakes, so I don't replace it. Besides, at this stage, it would be like kicking out a member of the family.

Well, it's about time to take the lemon cake out of the oven. Smells heavenly. I'll let you know . . .

Richmond Oval Skating Complex in Vancouver

A lovely building. With some interesting features.

"Each ribbed panel is clad in standard 2x4 plywood, milled from trees reclaimed from the forest floor—victims of the insidious pine beetle that decimated much of the local tree stock. There are nearly 1 million board feet of this wood—tinged slightly blue as a result of the infestation—in the roof structure. The 2x4s are staggered, and the resulting openings (which look like linear perforations) expose acoustical material to help dampen sound in the arena."

The site I'm checking says the USA has 32 medals, gold 8, silver 12, bronze 12. After the Olympics this building will be used as a community center with room for basketball, badminton, and iceskating. The architectural firm, Cannon Design, will begin the retrofit process after the Olympic crowds leave.

Blue Shoes returns to Mill Run

Today the Visual Arts Ministry of UALC is hanging a new show by the men and women of Blue Shoe Arts, which helps artists with disabilities create original art - outsider and folk art, found object sculpture, painting and drawing, fabric art and cartoons. They are supported by the sales of their own art and the MMRD sheltered workshop in an old shoe factory in Lancaster, OH. We purchased one of Joseph Greene's paintings of Noah and the Ark two years ago when they had their first show at Mill Run. Everyone who sees it, loves it. I'm no longer a member of the ministry, but so many people are out of town, I agreed to help.

The Mill Run campus of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church is open Sunday through Thursday, so be sure to make a special effort to see it if you are in the building, or looking for something interesting to enjoy or purchase. The above photos are from the previous show.

Glenn Beck reads poetry and recommends books

If you watch Glenn Beck, your TBR list will get a bit long. Not only does he write books, he recommends them. And interviews the authors. Today he had three authors on his show (this might have been a repeat because of the health care summit taking most of his show time), The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us And What We Can Do About It, by Joshua Cooper Ramo (Little Brown & Company 2009); The survivors Club by Ben Sherwood (Grand Central Pub., 2009); and America's Prophet by Bruce Feiler (William Morrow, 2009). Recently he's also been really pushing A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror by Larry Schweikart. You can take the Survivor's Club test answering questions about winning the lottery and finding a grizzly in your path. I came out as a "thinker," like Hillary Clinton, Steve Jobs, and Chesley Sullenberger (after providing a score they list celebrities with those characteristics. From Feiler's book, Glenn really became enamored with the Statue of Liberty and Emma Lazarus' poem. His complete reading list.

Petulent, rude, whiny, dismissive and sneering

And that was just their leader. Who cares about the color of his skin, it sure is thin. He shouldn't have skipped so many sessions when he was a Senator. Would've learned the rules. As Democrats droned on and on and on with stories of teeth, cousins and phone messages, McCain was rudely told to stop campaigning. Really, I was shocked. I'll take a cowboy's manners and presidential decorum any day over this stumbling grand stander. Clown in chief Reid claimed no one considered reconciliation! And Dick Durbin. Did he really say we should all just have the health care plan that federal employees have. Has he noticed how they get to pick and choose their "Cadillac" coverage from private insurers? The ones other Dems are calling rapacious crooks and want to destroy? Has he noticed their club is already a select group in wealth, education, race, and gender? There was really no reason for Republicans to show up. . . except they showed up the President and his party. And that they did.

Scrap the bill. Start over.

The story of the housing meltdown from an economist

Nobody caught on--not Greenspan, Bush, or Frank. And Barney Frank is still pushing more home ownership--without standards. But Bush will continue to be blamed because it happened on his watch. Video interview June 29, 2009



Sowell asserts in his book, "The Housing Boom and Bust," that politicians in Washington were trying to solve a problem that didn't exist.

"The problem that didn't exist was a national problem of unaffordable housing," Sowell explained. [And he's quite correct--housing was quite affordable in central Ohio.]

"The housing in particular areas, particularly coastal California and some other areas around the country, were just astronomically high. It was not uncommon for people to have to pay half of their family income just to put a roof over their head. So that was a very serious problem where it existed.

"But it existed in various coastal communities primarily and a couple of other places. Unfortunately, the elites whose strongholds are on the East and West Coasts don't seem to understand that there's a whole country in between, and in most of that country housing was quite affordable by all historical standards.

"So they set out to solve the problem by setting up a federal program to bring down the mortgage requirements, the 20 percent down payment and that sort of thing, and by forcing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up those mortgages from the people who no longer had to meet the same requirements.

"The banks had no choice but to go along because the regulators controlled their fate. So the banks would simply sign up people, sell the mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It now became Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's problem. And that meant it became the taxpayers' problem." [quotes from Newsmax interview]

Repairs and improvements

If you own rental property: "A repair keeps your property in good operating condition. It does not materially add to the value of your property or substantially prolong its life."

I wonder if the the genius who wrote this ever tried to sell or rent a house with mold, discolored wall board, or sagging ceilings because the plumbing, gutters, or leaks weren't fixed. It might not add value, but if you neglect repairs, you can certain subtract value.

"You can deduct the cost of repairs to your rental property. You cannot deduct the cost of improvements." Improvements you depreciate. And if you understand depreciation, you should be a CPA, not a landlord.

Skills you need to find a job

One of my temp jobs I had in 1976 (see below) was with JTPA (successor to CETA)--Ohio Senior Training and Employment Program (STEPS). I worked with a wonderful group of women in an efficiently run state agency. I wrote publications, planned workshops, travelled throughout the state, and wrote speeches for the head of another government agency. I learned so much on that job, not the least of which was job hunting skills (because I had to write about them and teach them in workshops not because I used them). However, I got the job in aerobics class overhearing my instructor talking about it--and that's how most jobs are found, "networking." Still, there are other important points I learned, and have updated to account for new technology.

1) If you're unemployed, your job is to find a job. Spend 40 hours a week researching, interviewing, networking, updating skills, writing thank you notes, and knocking on doors. If you do internet social networking about job hunting, be careful what you say. Never, never bad mouth your previous employer or boss.

2) Dress appropriately for the interview (this might take some research if you are 18-25). If you love that big hair look from the 80s, you might want to reconsider what it says about you. Cut the gray pony tail if you're a guy.

3) Develop a fabulous resume, brief is best. Use a professional or have someone proof it for you. Anything you have on the internet may speak louder than your resume, so better check that out. Read requirements carefully! Some companies don't want paper; some don't want attachments.

4) All jobs need good oral and written communication skills. If you've been text messaging for 4 years, you might need a brush up on how to spell "you" and "are."

5) Eye contact, body language, posture, good grammar--they say more about you than you know. Video tape yourself--watch for all those unneccesary uhs, now, hmmm, etc. It's a form of stuttering and doesn't make a good impression. Just don't put anything on YouTube.

6) If they take you to lunch (this is customary at the university), it's not because you look hungry. Your table manners will be observed. How you behave in a social setting will be important to your colleagues.

7) Do I need to remind you to be on time? No excuse will be accepted--they've heard them all--babysitter didn't show, mother in law is ill, snow plow covered the drive, etc. etc.

8) Also, do your homework on the company! At least know what they produce, service, loan or build.

9) Be prepared for really dumb or tricky questions. Maybe they can't ask your age, but they can chit chat about other things that will trip you up if you're lying.

10) One last thing--although they can't ask about your kids, they can spot baby spit up on your clothes.

I won't even go into drug testing, but there are now companies that won't hire smokers, and they test for it. If you need to worry, you're probably not right for the job anyway.

Should you take a temp job?

We joined our church, UALC, on Palm Sunday 1976 and the next day my husband lost his job. The economy was a mess--he was already on a 4 day week and had changed firms about a year before, so it was "last hired, first fired." I have no recollection what we did about insurance--probably didn't have any, and if unemployment benefits were available, we didn't know about it. He found another job in 3 weeks where he quickly became a partner and owner, and which he left in 1994 to start his own sole proprietorship. But the shock of being unemployed with a wife, kids, mortgage, car payments, etc. affected his health and confidence for years.

Before he found a job, I signed on for temp work. I doubt that we had any savings to speak of. I was a stay at home Mom and the kids were in 3rd and 4th grade. I had dabbled in job-sharing, a big idea in the early years of the Woman's Movement of the 70s, but the baby sitting arrangements were appalling. After signing with a temp agency who located the jobs for me (taking a percentage of my salary), I did some interesting office work at various local firms like Ashland Chemical, Battelle, plus a medical office at Ohio State University. I distinctly remember it was my first experience socializing with women who had live-in boyfriends, and as the older woman (36) in the staff room on coffee break, I got an earful on why this is always a bad idea. Especially for the kids. No sharing of bed and utility bills is worth that. It was a bit like second hand smoke. Stinks as conversation.

In early 1978 through 1983 I began taking part-time, contract jobs. Yes, I was on the "government dole," as my dad liked to point out. All these jobs, mostly library or clerical, were from federal government grants, massaged and funnelled through state or university offices with a long red line of employees above me taking their cuts. Sometimes my benefactor was the USAID (Agency for International Development, State Department), sometimes FIPSE (U.S. Dept. of Education) or some other library funding group, and once Dept. of Labor, JTPA. But one stint was with a private company--a chain bookstore. Wow, what an eye opener. State workers have cushy jobs compared to private industry, and believe me, I couldn't wait to get back! Running an electronic cash register is not as easy as a library computer. Someone always had to rescue me with the gift card/discount stuff. Now, as a retiree whose pension depends on investments in the private sector, I see things a bit differently.

If you do take a temp job to tide you over, remember they are great learning experiences, and may actually lead you to your next best job. Just keep your mouth shut on coffee breaks.

Thursday thirteen--13 tips from waiters

This is from the Reader’s Digest, August 2008, and supposedly, real wait staff offered “tips.” I think #12 is important. Don’t take so much time that you hurt the waiter and the owner both! And #5 is good in any business. Treat people as you want to be treated. #4 is funny and suggests a touch of hostility, don't you think?

1. Avoid eating out on holidays and Saturday nights. The sheer volume of customers guarantees that most kitchens will be pushed beyond their ability to produce a high-quality dish.

2. There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100 because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.

3. When customers' dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convenient way for servers to exact covert vengeance. Waiters can and do spit in people's food.

4. Never say "I'm friends with the owner." Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.

5. Treat others as you want to be treated. (Yes, people need to be reminded of this.)

6. Don't snap your fingers to get our attention. Remember, we have shears that cut through bone in the kitchen.

7. Don't order meals that aren't on the menu. You're forcing the chef to cook something he doesn't make on a regular basis. If he makes the same entrée 10,000 times a month, the odds are good that the dish will be a home run every time.

8. Splitting entrées is okay, but don't ask for water, lemon, and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. What's next, grapes so you can press your own wine?

9. If you find a waiter you like, always ask to be seated in his or her section. Tell all your friends so they'll start asking for that server as well. You've just made that waiter look indispensable to the owner. The server will be grateful and take good care of you.

10. If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maître d', or hostess.

11. Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters "facilitate" this error. It's dishonest, it's wrong-and I did it all the time.

12. If you want to hang out, that's fine. But increase the tip to make up for money the server would have made if he or she had had another seating at that table.

13. Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while you're chitchatting over salads, your entrées will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial-strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.

Link to Reader's Digest
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My Hot Wheels went to Haiti

It's not that I had a large collection--eight still in their wraps. I never joined a club. My nephew Ron gave me two dups from his large collection some years ago, and I still have those. But really, I was never going to do anything with these. So we packed them carefully in my husband's bag, and I hope he's found some boys in Haiti that would like them.

I've been amazed at the creative collectors I've found on the internet. Ugly sock puppets; pillowcases for soldiers; fruit labels; fountain pens; old musical records about prisons; tons of stuff our mothers threw away, and then there's that whole social networking thing where you collect friends.