Council Olympics

I was talking with a teammate of mine after a ball game who had just been elected as an elder in his church. We were discussing the shortcomings of the system; that it is still much of a "popularity" contest. He felt that one of the reasons he was elected was that he was better known in the church then some of the other nominees. There is no question that this is a bit of an issue, as some of the quieter people in the church who display excellent leadership qualities do not get the opportunity to serve because they are not as well known.
Many ideas were bandied about, such as the casting of lots for council elections. I understand the theory behind it; the Lord is in command of the entire world, and He would display his will for the council elections through the results of the lots.
I wasn't satisfied with that idea however. Although it had been used in the biblical era, it still seems a bit hokey to me. However, that means I need to come up with something better.
With the spirit of the '08 Olympics in mind, I propose a performance based system; one in which nominees must complete a number of competitions to see who is most worthy of the position.
In order to determine the nominees, the candidate should go through an evaluation. Attendance, volume of singing, participation in litanies and whether or not the candidate follows along in his Bible during readings should be taken into account. Marks should be lost for dancing while singing (in my opinion). If these practices are followed, they can be nominated for office.
Election should take place after a series of grueling competitions which display the qualities needed for office bearers. For example, the candidates would have a week to bring as many non-believers to church as possible. Extra points would be given for people who come back. Deacons would be given a week to fundraise as much as possible. An exam could be written, with case studies provided on what would be done in situations needing leadership. Nominees would also be required to go on a number of house visitations, and those being visited could be interviewed for evaluation of knowledge, compassion and leadership.
The panel of judges would be compromised of the minister, clergy and other respectable members of the congregation, but not only the senior members.
The idea of council olympics may be new and non-traditional, which is not usually my style, but using this system would cancel out the issue of popularity in the voting process of council members.

Shit

I like words. I really like the word shit. It makes me laugh just about every time I hear it. Is it a bad word? Probably. Is it a funny word? Definitely! Makes you wonder where a word like that comes from. I read something on the internet about the origin of the word shit. I realize that alot of times the people who post these things are full of shit, but whatever, it's interesting anyways.

Ever wonder where the word SHIT comes from?

Well, here it is:

Certain types of manure used to be transported (as everything was years ago) by ship.

In dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it not only

became heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by-product is

methane gas. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could

(and did) happen. Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone

came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM! Several ships were destroyed in this

manner before it was discovered what was happening. After that, the bundles of manure

were always stamped with the term "S.H.I.T" on them which meant to the sailors to

"Ship High In Transit."

In other words, high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the

hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.

Bet you didn't know the history of that word.

Hope it was enlightening!

I'm back

Well, it's been a while...I haven't posted since February or something but now that school is just around the corner I have to get my brain into action once more. I think a quick update on life is a good idea.

- I am starting my last full week of work before school starts. I will be working part time while studying, but no more full weeks till may.

- I just saw David Wells, a 44 year old fat pitcher beat out a bunt against the Mets. Unbelievable.

- I was told that I am one of the quickest learning apprentices at my company. Still to be determined is if that's good for me or bad for the rest of the company.

- My road to recovery is pretty much over, as I was able to play baseball pain free for the first time since surgery.

- The expansion pack for Civilization 4 called "Beyond the Sword" is amazing. They even have the Dutch. I took over the whole world as the dutch.

- Too bad my laptop isn't really powerful enough for that game. Its so slow.

- I wonder if anyone even bothers to check my blog anymore. I'm not expecting comments.

- I need a haircut. I'm starting to look homeless.

- What's with facebook applications? Do not invite me. I will not join. Unless it's a really cool one. They usually aren't though.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. I used to not be able to shut up. I wonder what happened to me.

a shout out

This post is dedicated to Ray White, my 5 foot 0 redneck co-worker from Turnay. For those who do not know Ray, he likes snowmobiles, nipper tips and country music. For fun he looks for chicks online and goes mudding in his bad-ass Bronco. If I could sum up Ray in 3 part words, it would be "Git'r done". Ray has a life basically straight out of Jerry Springer, yet he has an outlook like Oprah. If you want to see some pics of Ray's life, just look at the previous post.

you might be a redneck if...

This post is not to disparage my country roots by any means, but you've gotta be kidding me. I realize Hagersville is not the cultural center of the world, but it definately isn't Texas! Check out these pics...

Zap!

So I have a new job. I've actually had it for over a month now, but I now feel safe enough that I won't get fired so I can announce it. What, you ask, can be so thrilling that it would cause me to abandon the life of doing nothing and getting paid nothing for doing that nothing? I am now and electrician. "How did you get such a job?" you may ask. "Don't people go to trade school for that sort of thing?" Well, it ends up that my boss was under the impression (I had no part of such fraudulent doings) that I was 2 years into my apprenticeship. Oh well, no biggie, I still have the job. I am working for a company called Turnay Electric, based out of London. My jobsite, however, is in Brantford, so that's not too bad of a drive at all. I found out that the work I am doing is what I would have learned in trade school, so it seems I have skipped that step. In case any of you was worried that I loved the work and was awesome at it and I wasn't going back for my B.Ed and the OACS was going to lose the most wicked awesome teacher in the '09 draft, do not fret. I don't mind the work, and I haven't screwed up yet, but it's not a career calling for me. It's just something to pass the time until I get into teacher's college. And to answer seemingly everyone's question, No, I have not been shocked yet. I did trip over an extension cord and fell on my face and hurt myself that way, but not from electricity. Oh yeah, and that was a joke...no injuries yet!

facebook

This is hilarious...and so true...