Wednesday Oh Wednesday

WOW!

817 posts on here and 20,072 hits. Incredible. I am awestruck.

First some humor from my friend Judy

To all my friends who in 2007 sent me best 'wishes', chain letters, 'angel' letters or other promises of good luck if I forwarded something,

NONE OF THAT SHIT WORKED!.

For 2008, could you please just send money, BEER, chocolate, movie tickets or gasoline vouchers and airline tickets instead?

She knew I would like it and she was right. In the past few days I have gotten several threatening e-mails from supposed friends promising me bad luck if I did not forward it on to at least 5 people. One even threatened death. Well kids, I am still here and if I shoot off (nobody dies in my family) you can blame them.

I have known Judy since I was in college (eons ago) We hung out together there and then we lost track of each other and eventually re-connected. We were both elementary teachers and always had something to talk about. We were both active in the Association and so we always had that in common also. Judy eventually went on to become a principal and eventually won a place on the Waterloo School Board. She is one of my favorite people and I miss seeing her but I do enjoy getting e-mails from her and we keep up that way.

I went to Des Moines for York Rite tonight and really enjoyed myself. Kurt and I got into a discussion of the relative merits of the York and Scottish Rites. I belong to both and I enjoy both of them but if I had to give one up I would have to say that it would be the Scottish Rite.

To me the York Rite has always had a place for me to participate. I have always said that if Jay Simser could work his way to be Grand High Priest that anybody could. I never set out to be Grand High Priest and I am sure that I was not the best Grand High Priest that I could have been but I tried and I was able to participate and I did enjoy it. And I only had the few years in authority so I couldn't really do much damage.

In the Scottish Rite the authority is vested in a hierarchy that seldom changes. There is one person in charge of the entire state and while he relies on a lot of others to help him (personal representatives, advisory conference) the actual authority is his. A person who has received honors is honored and should be proud of that honor but it is really not a person in authority. In actuality he is expected to work harder and perform many tasks. Officers can take up to 21 years to go through the "line" to become the Master of Kadosh. That involves a lot of work and meetings. Then you have one year to be the spokesperson for the Rite in that Valley. But you can still be overruled by a small unchanging group.

So if I were going to recommend to someone which Rite to get involved with I would say both if you can afford to and have the time. But if you are interested in actually having authority to do something for the Rite you will have a better chance in the York Rite. Now my friend Brent Morris would not agree with me on that. He has risen high in the Scottish Rite and is one of those in authority and does not feel that the York Rite was the place for him. I won't argue with him about that because one of the reasons we have two rites is that they appeal to different people. I like them both. There is lots to do in both of them and both are worthy of my time and effort.

I finished reading The Appeal by John Grisham. It was a good read. I have enjoyed his other books. It didn't take me nearly as long to read as the last book I read. So now I am ready to start another. As long as I can read....

I got this joke in an e-mail the other day. I love it and I hope you do also. ARTYAL jcs

New supermarket

A new supermarket opened near my house. It has an automatic water misting system to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the sound of distant thunder and the smell of fresh rain.

When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh mowed hay.

In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks with onions.

When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle, and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.

The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread and cookies.

I don't buy toilet paper there any more.