What time is it?

I thought some of you might like to see my new clock. I know I have mentioned it to a few of you and most of you think I am stupid. So here it is you can't tell me that it isn't a cheap and easy of of filling up a whole wall. Not to mention the fact that I don't have to listen to it tick all day long like the one in my office that I want to rip off the wall everyday.

Also note that this was taken in the AM. I was up and leaving for work at 8:34. Not bad.

Keep up the fight

First Frost

This morning we got our first frost. To many of you this might not be any big deal. In fact it might of been weeks ago for some of you. I know a friend of mine is expecting snow in the next few weeks even. For me it was a big deal because it was the first time I had to scrap my windshield in a long time. I might of had to do it once last winter, and I can't help but feel more at home now that I have to do it. I am sure it is only a matter of time before I resent getting up 5 minuets earlier, but for now, I derive a certain pleasure from it.

I need to thank my buddy Carl for a fun time on Saturday afternoon this past weekend. Carl and I were run-down-shack-mates in Texas last year. He is now in seminary at St. Minrads in SW IN so we meet up in Louisville for the afternoon on Saturday. We found a Geo-Cache next to the worlds largest White Castle. No I did not eat there. I am proud to say I have never eaten at a White Castle and wish to say that on the day that I die. We went to mass at a local church and also ate at a really good BBQ place. I forget the name, but if you are ever in Louisville you should eat there.

There is one lady at morning prayer that always call me Ed. Now I can understand why one might get my father and I confused for one another, afterall we are both dashingly hansome. What I found so funny is that she met dad once or twice and every week since then I have to tell her my name is Andy and that my father is Ed. So, dad, when you come back we can have some fun with the old church ladies.

I am happy to report that there is not much else to report right now. Things are starting to slow down here at camp, and this is my favorite time of the year. I am playing a game to see how long I can go without turning on the heater in my appt. So if you are planing on comming for a visit I might suggest layers.

Keep up the fight

Made you wait

This morning I went to morning prayer at St. Agnes. Sr. looked at me and said, "Andy, you know it's Tuesday, not Wednesday?" I usually go Mon, Wed, Fri and sleep Tue and Thur. I realized I did the same thing to all of you without posting an update on Monday like i normally do.

Last weekend was a great weekend here at CYO. We had our fall weekend. Campers are invited to come back to camp for a long weekend and we run a mini camp. It was nice to meet a lot of summer staff that I had heard about before. I can't say I matched names to faces, because I could not tell you who was who by the end of the weekend, but I did get about 8 of them matched up, so that is progress.

It was nice to learn the things that you never get taught but are most important. By this I mean the social norms of a camp. When to sign what song, how to stand at morning flag, who leads what at a campfire, and most importantly what make a good joke of the day.

Geo-caching was a lot of great fun with the campers. We also met a couple out caching who had hide one of the caches we were after. From that I think I might of gotten invited to a Geo-cacher's singles mixer and a men's cacher group, but I am not sure. Angi asked me if I would go and I think I would. Why not.

Just a review for you Eurcre fans out there. The off Jack in a round is determined by the non-trump Jack of the same colour. For example: if hearts were trump, the the Jack of diamonds would be off Jack.

My car went into the shop yesterday for the transmission repair. That stinks.

Keep up the fight

Voteing Issue

I am having trouble deciding how to vote this election. The main reason is because of the Pro-life issues.

I am a pro-life supporter all the way. By this I mean all the way to Death Penalty, War, Stem Cell, Abortion, and Youth in Asia (I know, but it was kinda funny). Both McCain and Obama support and oppose different sides of this one issue. This is the simple part of my problem.

The hard part is which issues do I vote on. Certainly it would be a crime not to do all we can to help end abortions, with millions of babies being killed each year. Of course I want to support a candidate who opposes abortion. I then ask myself, "Have I even heard the word Abortion in the debates or campaigning?" I can' think of a time I had, so is it really a point that either candidate will fight for or against?

I look at War and both candidates want to leave Iraq, but go back to Afghanistan. I don't want to argue over who has a better plan to do what, but I think we can all agree they want to leave Iraq and go back to Afghanistan. Both of these plans mean a loss of live so for me it comes out as a warsh (because I am from SW Iowa) on this issue. That was an easy way to get rid of a big issue.

Both men have favored Stem Cell research in some way, so again this one comes out as a warsh. I also question if we should abandon this research all together. There are new technologies coming out that do not kill a life with the collection of samples. And I don't think providing a child a cure for their cancer is playing God.

One part of me understands that it is about the pro-life message, and that the next Pres will potentially nominate several Supreme Court Judges. The bench already has 5 Catholics on it, and R vs W has not changed. It is also about influence, but they both are ignoring the issue so why would I think they are going to start fighting for it after November?

With confusion on the pro-life issue I look to other issues. My biggest concern is Energy. Nuclear has a lot of bad sides, and renewable are expensive and not as efficient as we would like yet. I do however look at the bigger side of this and see the millions of people who have been killed, are dieing, and whose lives have been destroyed fighting for oil, and I wonder if Energy issues are not becoming pro-life issue in a way that is greater then just clean air and quality of life. Not to mention the potential loss of life due to global climate change across the world.

I think similar arguments could be made of the front of Health Care, Immigration, Entitlements, and other major issues.

When looking to the church for guidance on voting, the only issue I see is abortion. I questions weather the church has a more narrow definition of pro-life then some of the candidates. This question causes me great pain.

Keep up the fight

Thanks Harold

The last part of my trip to Colorado was just as enjoyable as the first part. We toured around
Estes and the YMCA of the Rockies on Saturday. There are a lot of cabins on that property. I think Seth said around 210.

I also got the privilege of walking in the footsteps of John Paul II. When he visited CO in 1993 he stayed at a retreat center outside of Estes and he walked a trail on the grounds. They have since named the trail after him and it is open for people to walk on. When we were visiting there was also a group of teens in the parking lot doing what looked like a confirmation retreat. It is funny how even on vacation I seem to run into my ministry. Unfortunately there was no Saturday Mass at the center so we went back into town to go to another church.

On Saturday night Sarah (Seth's sister) came over and Tonia taught her and Seth how to play Eurcre. Tonia is a great teacher and in the end Sarah and Tonia beat Seth and I 2-1. I had the problem for some reason of forgetting which Jack went where. I should of know better, but it must of been the alpine air that kept throwing me off.

On Sunday we packed up the cabin and headed down to the airport to return back to my home. We were running a bit late, but I managed to make it to my gate with some time to spare. My flight home was uneventful, just the way I like them. The Indy airport is a really nice airport tp get around in and I was surprised at how easy I got out. Of course I was used to DFW which can be a pain and take a long time.

When I got home I was all messed up. The clock said 9:30, but I was on Mountain time for the last few days so my body said more like 7:30, but travel can really take it out of you so I could not tell if I was tired or not. I took a shower and relaxed for a bit and then crashed.

Overall it was a great trip. The Aspen trees are so beatuitiful at this time, and clash in such a pretty way against the Pines. The Elk where such a strong animal, and it was great to learn more about them. Of course seing Seth was wonderful because it had been awile since we got to see each other also.

Thanks for a great vacation Harold (We called Seth Harold because it takes him forever to get ready in the morning and Tonia said he was like an old man).

Keep up the fight,

HELLO, HELLO, HELLO

So if you are in the Rockies and cannot get a cell phone signal, just keep yelling hello into your phone. That's how Tonia does it anyways.

I am typing this blog entry from the Pika cabin at YMCA of the Rockies. The trip so far has been great. We got snowed on yesterday as we were above the Alpine line. Today is supposed to be the first major storm so it was a good thing we went up when we did. We also saw a lot of Elk and went to a presentation on Elk that was very interesting. We went to a few of the visitor centers, those people in the National Parks sure do know how to put together an exibite. We also went out Geo Caching. Tonia found both of the two we went for.

Well it looks like we are ready to go for another days adventure.

Keep up the fight.

Post Script

PS. I do not care if you parties, would actually like to join one since I do not have really fun parties anymore. However, I heard from one of the tenants that there were bodily fluids in the laundry area on the first level. If you do have a party please try to control the behavior of the guests. Thanks Dale.

For those of you who don't know Dale, he is my landlord. Should I:

A) Thank him for letting me know
B) Tell him I have not had any parties, but will keep this in mind
C) Say that I am sorry, I thought I got it all cleaned up