just a little pic of stan, stan10, myself, and one extra guy: guess who is whom in the comments:
home sweet home. believe it or not, i am sitting in my office in long pants and a long sleeve clerical shirt in complete comfort. it's 70 degrees in here - perfect.
just a thought on airline travel: how does someone smuggle a dog onto a plane? this little rat dog started yapping right after takeoff yesterday from miami. the stewardesses just looked at one another.
it's time to tackle the load of paperwork and mail that grew in my absence...
just a thought on airline travel: how does someone smuggle a dog onto a plane? this little rat dog started yapping right after takeoff yesterday from miami. the stewardesses just looked at one another.
it's time to tackle the load of paperwork and mail that grew in my absence...
yesterday during a conversation with dr irwin, who heads up the medical teams that come down, i was informed that i only needed to take 2 malaria pills per week, not two per day. that's correct, i took two per day for 5 weeks. so what, you might ask. well, let's just say that it wasn't the beans and rice adversely effecting my intestines for 5 weeks, it was a massive overdose of cloroquin...
did you see the thumping that the japanese team put on florida last night? pathetic. what a whipping - those kids got taken out to the woodshed. it would have been worse if not for a couple of calls that went our way early. the whole thing despressed me, but i'm over it cause i'm hanging with my buddy fr hamill for a couple of days.
4 days and counting...
4 days and counting...
tonight is the little league world series final - 6:30 - go usa!
i get to open a big old stack of mail tonight and watch the game, but only after celebrating Mass here at Our Lady of Angels. too bad fr v isn't here to mock my homelitic foibles and correct any inadvertant heresies. ahh, the good old days...
i get to open a big old stack of mail tonight and watch the game, but only after celebrating Mass here at Our Lady of Angels. too bad fr v isn't here to mock my homelitic foibles and correct any inadvertant heresies. ahh, the good old days...
bonus blog: the connecticut river produces in the evening:
i'm going to miss td nine. oh brother. however, it appears that the long distance troubleshooting has proven effective, because i just noticed that the weather station seems to be back up and running, so i will get a state's side view of what happens during a tropical wave...hopefully the storms currently pounding the hartford area will clear in the next hour so i can get a nice evening fish on the connecticut river.
one week from now i will be on the verge of landing in santo domingo -
one week from now i will be on the verge of landing in santo domingo -
i no longer have the neither the stamina nor the eardrums for rock and roll concerts - as many of you know, i received the gift of attending the counting crows / john mayer concert last night here in hartford. the interior cranial pounding is finally subsiding. a quick review: the counting crows played with a decent intensity for 1.5 hours - the simple fact of the matter is that they are a great band.
john mayer, a connecticut local boy, then came on and jammed for just an hour, but jam he did. that guy can flat-out play the guitar. i sat down in silent protest during "your body is a wonderland," but other than that the whole show was morally sound, for which i was grateful.
i ought to have an interesting fishing report in the morning if God Wills...
john mayer, a connecticut local boy, then came on and jammed for just an hour, but jam he did. that guy can flat-out play the guitar. i sat down in silent protest during "your body is a wonderland," but other than that the whole show was morally sound, for which i was grateful.
i ought to have an interesting fishing report in the morning if God Wills...
i missed a day blogging while connected to the internet - has my life become so tame and mundane that i have nothing blog-worthy? i guess so.
say a pray for stan as his wife is having number 6 as we speak.
the mission weather page has been down for at least 3 days; i'm hoping it's just a lapse of attention in the office and not something more sinister like a satellite dish problem...
pray that the connecticut river level drops as well so i can get back out to those smallmouths.
say a pray for stan as his wife is having number 6 as we speak.
the mission weather page has been down for at least 3 days; i'm hoping it's just a lapse of attention in the office and not something more sinister like a satellite dish problem...
pray that the connecticut river level drops as well so i can get back out to those smallmouths.
the smallmouth bass fishing in the connecticut river is splendid. my brother and i hit the water around 615 and as soon as he dropped the bow of the canoe i was hauling in smallmouth up to two pounds for the next hour and a half. these boys fight like the dickens in the current and they have the panache of an acrobat as they twist and turn after leaping out of the water. although the river was running unusually high due to the abundant rains, the water was clear and we nailed them - just so you know, we were fly fishing with 9 foot 9 weight rods using a topwater fly called a gurgler tied by my brother. nothing compares to seeing and hearing that explosion of water and fish...i'll take some pics in the next few days and post them.
i have also reached the halfway point of vacation - another 8 days and i will be back at the mission...
i have also reached the halfway point of vacation - another 8 days and i will be back at the mission...
minnesota rocks - the minn/st paul airport has high speed broadband wireless access. i got a more than a few odd stares as i video/audio-chatted with my friends.
the moquitos swarm too much at night - they are the size of small dragonflies, and they can bite through clothing - that's right, they burrow right through wool and polyester and cotton - you have to respect them for that...
i'm heading off to connecticut for a few days. congratulations to matt and jan akers who are now married. i'll post some pictures of the wedding in the next few days...
the moquitos swarm too much at night - they are the size of small dragonflies, and they can bite through clothing - that's right, they burrow right through wool and polyester and cotton - you have to respect them for that...
i'm heading off to connecticut for a few days. congratulations to matt and jan akers who are now married. i'll post some pictures of the wedding in the next few days...
today i had the pleasure and privilege of baptizing stan10's new baby, avila marie.
tomorrow i head out of here at 0600 for some super small town in north western minnesota to celebrate a wedding. then i'm off to hartford on sunday where i will be back online. can you believe that i will be in the great usa and not have internet access for two days? what's going on here?????
tomorrow i head out of here at 0600 for some super small town in north western minnesota to celebrate a wedding. then i'm off to hartford on sunday where i will be back online. can you believe that i will be in the great usa and not have internet access for two days? what's going on here?????
i struggle blogging from the states. what do i write about? the fraternal joy of golf, the intestinal regulation caused by the consumption of red meat, the frigid refreshment of cold drinks? i will say this, america rocks - there is nothing like potable tap water and reliable electricity, that's for sure.
i am sitting on stan10's deck drinking a michelob ultra light - stan10's pontification humbles me. what more needs or may be said.
the countdown has almost terminated: i depart for Mass and 12 baptisms and then head off to the capital. then it's a big jet plane to the states. i will do my best to keep you posted on my exploits while "overseas".
blog update: i will have done a baptism, Mass, confession, and anointing by 11 am - that's a rocking way to leave...sure
blog update: i will have done a baptism, Mass, confession, and anointing by 11 am - that's a rocking way to leave...sure
it's been 100 days exactly since my arrival. here is a brief statistical report of my tenure:
Masses celebrated: 148
Confessions heard: only about 20 (this will change)
days having eating chicken: 96
days having eaten rice: 99
kilometers logged on new motorcycle: 1448
total kilometers traveled on motorcycles: over 2000
pictures taken: 214
showers: approx. 200
different Mass sites: 31
teeth pulled: unknown
blog hits: 22,435
visits to haiti: 2
days knowing i was doing God's Will: 100
Masses celebrated: 148
Confessions heard: only about 20 (this will change)
days having eating chicken: 96
days having eaten rice: 99
kilometers logged on new motorcycle: 1448
total kilometers traveled on motorcycles: over 2000
pictures taken: 214
showers: approx. 200
different Mass sites: 31
teeth pulled: unknown
blog hits: 22,435
visits to haiti: 2
days knowing i was doing God's Will: 100
your old friend martyr makes another appearance in the blog - he met us unexpectedly at a house along the road to Mass this morning and informed us that the usual way to the chapel was blocked and we'd have to take an "alternate" route, which he said "isn't a problem for the motorcycles." when i told him to get on, he shrugged and said, "no, i can run." i said, "get on, it'll be faster." so down we plunged, down, and down and down over nasty loose rocks (really they were small boulders) until the hairs on both of our heads were standing straight up (well, i guess mine always are). the climax of this detour was a ghastly super steep embankment that abruptly terminated at the river which we had to cross. as we approached the final descent, the rear wheel glissaded down towards the river and we found ourselves cascading sideways towards a plunge into the rio tocino. luckily, i got the thing headed downhill after we smashed a rock and we made it without soaking ourselves. his response, "told you it wasn't a problem..."
guess who i saw today? go ahead? that's right - i saw the lady whose teeth i surgically removed. she was at Mass in las canitas. i asked her how she was doing and she smiled - there's still a few left...
during my third Mass today i noticed that this young lady refused to break out of a frown. so afterwards we spent 20 minutes trying to get her to smile for a picture. this is the best we could do. it was hot...
some cultural adjustments test my mettle: today when we arrived on two motorcycles at a school for Mass, we were informed that we needed to move the Mass site (i'll spare you the pain of that ten minute conversation). there were about 8 ladies and a few little girls who needed to be transferred, so we began carting them on the backs of the bikes. when i went back for the second time this little girl, about 8 years old, jumps up behind me and grabs ahold. then this women with her baby decides to climb on behind her. i turn around to make sure that they aren't falling off and are ready to depart, and she's undoing her shirt. i'm trying maintain an unstable equilibrium on a bike built for 2 laden with 4 humans and she's breast feeding her baby. i asked if she thought that was safe and she just looked at me like i was crazy. so there i am - carefully guarding our pace so as not to lose any of the passengers, passing right through the middle of town with this woman's shirt flapping in the breeze, with people waving and shouting greetings - they probably thought i was sunburned...
the great office clean and reorganization has commenced. i intend to have every cable off the deck and nothing on the desk when i depart. i have informed fr. jack that it will be equivalent to a "surgical clean room" by saturday night. he laughed. i think he's upstairs laughing still...if you were inclined to look up "bittersweet" in the dictionary you would find this definition: life in banica. for instance, in the process of prepping the office for my departure today i needed two nails to hang a power strip on the side of a table. the only nails i could find had enormous heads, which required that i take the leatherman and break them off until they would fit in the gaps in the back of the powerstrip - 15 minutes re-sizing nails...
by the way - i will be celebrating 14 Masses from now until sunday morning. let me know if you need any intentions, cause i have a few extra.
by the way - i will be celebrating 14 Masses from now until sunday morning. let me know if you need any intentions, cause i have a few extra.
i bet you wish you had this set up at your home. actually you don't need one because you have american power companies and co-operatives serving your electrical needs. this baby takes two 110v lines from the street and ensures that we get 110v to the outlets, because all too aften the supposed 110v comes in at 60v or 135v. it also automatically cranks up the generator when the power fails, which happens about 4 times a week for expended (3-12 hour) periods and sometimes for days at a time. no more surges to 150 volts! no more wires burning out! no more boosters blowing up! oh electrical bliss!!!
also, please cast your vote in the new poll. i will be monitoring this one closely, as i return to the states in 8 days...
also, please cast your vote in the new poll. i will be monitoring this one closely, as i return to the states in 8 days...
first off i want to wish everyone, and especially all those people in woodbridge, a blessed feast of Our Lady of Angels!
the big news is that i finally installed the weather station this morning - you can check the current conditions and historical data right here. i will have the data on this page soon too. those of you who are meteorologically inclined will love the graphs...i also added a search engine to the blog - over to your left. you can now search the archives, for what it worth...
the big news is that i finally installed the weather station this morning - you can check the current conditions and historical data right here. i will have the data on this page soon too. those of you who are meteorologically inclined will love the graphs...i also added a search engine to the blog - over to your left. you can now search the archives, for what it worth...
my lament of yesterday having ended and my verve having returned with a vengance, i began a rewiring of the church lights this morning after Mass. some einstein wired the spotlight which shines on the pulpit above a ceiling fan, so as the fan rotates this shadow passes over the lectionary - the thing makes me dizzy. anyway, i'm standing on a ladder with one arm draped around a rafter and the other holding a cordless drill when this kid says "hey jefe, the jefe is here." i look down and standing twenty feet below me is the bishop and the secretary to the apostolic nunciature. sure. so, clothed in a white clerical shirt and black pants, covered in dust and cobwebs, sweat pouring down my face, and a drill in one hand, i climb down and shake the bishop's hand and introduce myself to the secretary. at least i was in the church working and not playing dominoes...
