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2011 District Convention "Let God's Kingdom Come!"

THREE seems to be the key number these past weeks.  A 3 day convention with 3 dramas and 3 new releases on a 3 day weekend, accompanied by 3 visitors, with whom we took a 3 mile walk on Sunday. I also had 3 assignments during the convention.  Isn't that creepy?

The 3 day weekend is due to the boss being away.  The 3 day convention of course is the "Let God's Kingdom Come" District program at the tennis stadium, the 3 visitors are Willy and Gladis (a.k.a. "Alohita") and Aurelio, my 3 assignments are Friday morning chairman, a Saturday morning demonstation and stage assistant.   The 3 dramas and the 3 new releases I'll keep quiet about since there are some of you who haven't had your convention yet, but suffice to say that you will be blown away.  I am pretty certain you will even be moved to tears.  (Especially Saturday's drama)

 Adela, Shareenie, Gladis, Willy, Aurelio and me during the lunch break

click HERE for the rest of this photo set

some of which were taken by Bob Lamb, Luke Eclipse-Ujano, Sandy Silva and Aurelio Felix  

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After my last post, I figured I was pretty much done complaining about the neighborhood's wild chickens.  Yes, their clucking and squawking ARE highly irritating, but besides the fact that there's really not a whole lot anyone can do, I was actually  starting to get used to them.  However, there's now another reason for me to frown heavily upon the little crowing suckers:

Double-oh-eight point four-three.

This, my friends, is the diagnostic medical code for Campylobacter jejuni enteritis and we've already seen a few cases this past month at work.   It causes stomach cramps, fever and bloody diarrhea for a week.  It is commonly spread by chickens.  

Did I mention the bloody diarrhea?  Oh yeah.  I guess I did.

 
A friendly Campylobacter jejuni bacterium under a microscope

Thankfully, I've managed to steer clear of the CJ Enteritis nasties so far.  Funny thing is that we've had a ton of guests over this past week and we served chicken each time.  Slow cooked Chicken Thighs in Salsa on Saturday and Spicy Chicken-Sausage and Meatball Spaghetti on Sunday.  If you are reading this and also happen to have been one of our Saturday or Sunday guests, it is quite possible that  you are feeling a completely imaginary twinge in your intestines right about now. 

Well, pay no attention to it, because I can assure you that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Chicken Bits you consumed at my home this past weekend.  And I also assure you that I dropped the meatballs on the floor and accidently stepped on them with unwashed feet only once.  I'm kidding of course. 

I actually dropped them twice.

Matt and Wendi, Steve and Diane, Merlenna and Brian- post chicken ingestion and happily CJ Enteritis free.

I Need Sleep

3:45am each morning is when L.I.C.O.L.N. (Live-In Companion of Loud Neighbor) begins the sacred ritual of waking up the entire neighborhood.  Yes, every morning at 3:45am (well, sometimes at 3:51am, and once in awhile at 4:05am), after a series of trunk and door slamming, conversation and giggling,  L.I.C.O.L.N. tries unsucessfully to start his car.  After a few tries, the loud engine usually revs up with a squeal of worn belts.  This in turn causes L.I.C.O.L.N. to floor the accelerator 2 two or three times in an attempt to get rid of the squealing.  The squealing stops long enough for him to reverse out of the driveway, then in a blaze of high-decibel screeching, he races down the street in the darkness. 

Again. 

The noise of course, usually sets off the W.N.R.W.A.E.M.A. (Wild Neighborhood Roosters Which Are Even More Annoying). 

I am sure you all probably don't realize the extent of suffering and heartache L.I.C.O.L.N.  and W.N.R.W.A.E.M.A.  bring me every morning at 3:45am.  Which is why in a sudden burst of sleep-deprived, anger-induced genius, I decided to film the whole thing for your viewing/listening pleasure.  Thing is, on reviewing the evidence this morning, I had the volume and zoom controls set all wrong.  I suppose that's what futzing with technological apparati while half asleep gets you.  So no, no video today.  Maybe another time.

Summer Afternoon

It's still 15 days till the official begining of summer, but who's waiting?  Today, we have clear blue skies over town, cool breezes and oddly enough, a fresh blanket of snow on Mauna Kea! ¹  Yes, in June! 

What made it nice was that it was all crisp, clear sunshine... hardly any humidity!  It was one of those days that makes you want to go and hang laundry!  Or take a nap in a hammock under a tree!  I did neither, although I did have a chance to snap a few outdoorsy shots against the sky before heading off to service this evening! ²

 

 Dendrobium spectabile growing on a tree stump!

   Citrus limon variegated Eureka!

 

 Brugmansia tree with white blooms!

 

 Pelargonium peltatum Angeleyes Picotee hybrid blooming at our front door!
 

1  No snow pics unfortunately since by mid afternoon, a cloud bank had covered the upper slopes.   

2  You'll have to excuse all the exclamation points!  We east-enders don't always get to see such blue skies overhead!
 

Happily Sick

You know how the famous scripture goes: "He that is walking with wise persons will become wise, but he that is having dealing with the stupid ones will fare badly." ¹ Well, it's also painfully obvious that "he that is walking with coughing, puking, fever-ridden patients all day, will become infected."  Which brings me to today.

I am definitely coming down with something or other.  Not quite a full-blown sickness yet; just some general achiness and tiredness with a scratchy throat.  The usual sequence of events for me then, is a post-nasal drip, then a fever, then a nagging cough, although I'm hoping to avert those nastier symptoms with some vitamin C, some much needed rest, and oh I dunno, maybe a few plants.  But  I've had a great past couple of days, so despite my less than pristine nasal passages at the moment, I feel relatively happy and upbeat.

The awesomeness started on Thursday when we got to leave work after only half a day due to an empty schedule.  Next, came a quick-moving 10 hour day in service on Friday including a great study with Fernando, a wet but productive Saturday morning in service where we found someone we hadn't seen in years,  and a nice Sunday meeting with a visiting speaker followed by lunch. 

Marcos, Hugo, Alberto, me, Alfonso and Medardo Sunday after the meeting  having lunch at the Gonzalez'.  Part of this past weekend's fantabulousness. 

Added to all of this loveliness was the fact that I had forgotten it was a three day weekend, and had made plans to replace the bark mulch on the pathways of the casita.  As it turned out, the registers at Home Depot were insistent on ringing up $7 bags of the stuff for only $2.50.  Went back twice with the van to stock up and the pathways of the casita now look mighty fine.  See? 

 One of the newly resurfaced paths with various anthuriums.  A black-leaved begonia on the left and a lacy Davallia fejeensis fern on the right really pop against the red colored ground

Then, after work on Tueday, Catanny and I headed out to Pahoa where his  study Teofilo whipped up some delicious albondigas² for a post-study meal which left us very, very content... but not as content as seeing some of our studies come to the meeting last night!  Three each, for a total of six!  Oscar was back and smiling after a 3 week absence.  I had gone to pick up Moises and possibly Pedro, when Teofilo and Jesús suddenly decided to come along too.  And when Güicho called and found out they were all going to the meeting, he said he'd come if we'd meet him in town so he could follow us in his car. 

So as the fever sets in and the mucous thickens, I shall reminisce on all the wonderfulness... and maybe have some chicken soup.

1  Proverbs 13:20- but then again, you already knew that.

2 "albóndigas" are meatballs... in this case, prepared in a hearty soup