Session Interview

I met with the Session of my church tonight about my application to become an Inquirer. After fielding a handful of questions from the Elders and Pastors I was asked to leave the room so that they could discuss my request and vote on whether or not to recommend me to the Presbytery's Committee on Preparation for Ministry (CPM).

When I was asked to rejoin the meeting I was greeted by a standing ovation and told that they had voted to support my application.

I have had this sense of call brewing inside of me for quite some time and it is a long process, so there are many steps still ahead of me, but I must say it is a wonderful feeling to have the community that I live and worship with say "yes, we think we sense that call for you too."

I have been invited to meet with the CPM next Tuesday night at the Presbytery Office in Baltimore. It will be a general interview to discuss my sense of call and the process that I intend to begin. If all goes well at that interview then I will enter into a covenant with the committee. They will work with me as I journey towards being ordained. Together we will set goals, monitor my progress spiritually, academically and otherwise to prepare me for a career in ministry.

Worker's Comp Update

With all the crazy MVA and police issues I forgot to post about a major event on my disability situation. The insurance company assigned a vocational counselor to my case. So even though Dr. Brumback hasn't officially declared me to be at Maximum Medical Improvement they have decided that I am close enough to start working towards get me back to work. He is employed by the same company that my Nurse Case Manager works for, so like her he is not directly employed by the insurance company. That way he can be objective and represent their interests and mine. We had a 90 minute interview last week, he took a resume and we discussed my future career plans. He doesn't make the ultimate decision, but helps facilitate my job search, arranges training if need be and reports to the insurance company. He gave me a 370 question "test" that I filled out this week to determine what type of career I might be suited for. It was a list of activities, jobs and academic subjects that I had to bubble in whether-

• I would really like the topic
• somewhat like the topic
• if I was indifferent/undecided
• somewhat dislike the topic or
• if I really dislike the topic.

It gets mailed off to some testing company and he'll set up another meeting when he has the results.

On a similar topic, I will be attending the session meeting at church next Tuesday night so that they can ask me questions about my Inquirer Application and vote on whether or not to support it and refer me to the Presbytery's Committee.

The end of the vehicle saga

I went to Princeton for traffic court yesterday and all is well. I got a very early start and arrived in plenty of time before it was supposed to start. It was long and boring and took several hours until I got to speak to the prosecutor. Once I talked to him and explained the circumstances, it was only about 10 - 15 more minutes before the judge called me. They reduced the charge and I plead guilty to "not being able to produce my registration card." I paid a $33 fine and I was on my way shortly before noon.

I had a really nice lunch with my friend Sara that I met at the Youth Ministry Forum. If you are ever in the Princeton area check out Chambers Walk Cafe. Great food and a nice staff that let me charge my phone battery for the ride home.

I was home by 4:45pm and fell asleep on the couch shortly after (sorry Doug, I sat down to ice my knee and that was all she wrote...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND DAD!

Mom's is today and Dad's was Thursday, so a big Happy Birthday to both of them!!!!

The Ministry of Silly Walks

My new T-Shirt arrived today. That Monty Python clip I posted the other day got me thinking of this sketch which now has entirely new meaning for me. Credit must go to my USNA buddy Mike Siepert who first suggested that the problems with my leg and my occupation made me uniquely qualified for a government grant to develop my silly walk.

I can't wait to wear it to physical therapy. One of the exercises we do actually looks a lot like the picture on the shirt. Except I have to hold my arm straight out parallel to the ground and kick it while I'm walking.
(FB readers click through to my blog for video)

Torture

Everyone loves to bring up the scenario of the "ticking bomb" when discussing torture. Kevin Drum says what I have said for a long time--

OK, here's my view on ticking time bombs. It's not original:

Torture should always be illegal. But if you're really, truly convinced that a nuke is about to go off in downtown Atlanta and the human filth in your possession can tell you where it is, then do your worst. I'll cheer you on, the president will pardon you, and the nation will be grateful. OK?

I wish everyone could just agree on this. It's not as if it's ever going to happen, after all, and if it does, well, the guy who saved Atlanta really would get a presidential pardon, wouldn't he?

Everyone talks about the TV show 24, but while using that type of scenario to justify that torture actually works folks forget the fact that when Jack Bauer uses those techniques HE KNOWS HE IS BREAKING THE LAW and chooses to do it anyway. That's the true test of your convictions -- If you are willing to be punished and face the consequences if you are wrong.

The Bush administration wanted to have legal opinions clearing them of wrong doing before they handed down guidelines on "enhanced interrogation techniques." So bring this to the light of day and justify the crap that was done in our name for the last eight years.

The Republicans think that by throwing some of the muck onto Nancy Pelosi Democrats will back off. It sounds to me like she and the Dems are calling their bluff. All the more reason to hold investigations and put this horrible chapter of our history behind us once and for all.

I am bothered by the knowledge that if this investigation really gets going it will turn into a three ring circus and momentum will be taken away from all of the highly important things this new administration is trying to do to fix all of the problems we face right now. But if we demonstrate to the world that we actually believe the things that we say, and as a society can admit our mistakes and punish those that do wrong regardless of their position then we truly are a great country.

If we don't do the right thing because it is too hard or may cause problems then what kind of message are we sending?

The Ongoing Vehicle Saga

As I mentioned in an earlier post I had the paperwork to clear up the insurance violation on Danielle's car, but they wouldn't take it from me so I needed to get the police to fax the papers directly to the MVA. Sounded easy enough.

I spoke to the officer that handled D's totaled car on Tuesday. He didn't think faxing the papers to the MVA was a good idea (despite the MVA telling me that's what I should have done). He injected a few additional complications that I won't bore you with, but which led to me having to involve Danielle in the process.

On Wednesday she spoke to him and got an earful about ignoring his letters and not properly following through to avoid all of this in the first place. He told her that he was doing this merely to help me. They overcame the complications that he had brought up on Tuesday and he decided that he would write a letter on police letterhead with a live signature for us to hand carry to the MVA. Danielle agreed to get the letter. She called me Wednesday night to say that he had left a message for her that it was ready, but that she had been out and didn't get his message. So she would get it Thursday morning and bring it to me so I could deal with the MVA since she had to work at 12:30.

While expecting a call from Danielle to say that she was on her way with the letter I got a call from the police officer. "Why haven't you picked this letter up that I did for you yesterday?" He was ticked off. Had I known it was there, I could have gotten it myself Wednesday. So I told him that I would be right over to get it. It was sealed in an envelope so I didn't know exactly what was in it, but headed straight to the MVA to take care of this once and for all, or so I thought.

The lady in the MVA takes the letter, opens it and starts working away on her PC to change dates, get over ride codes and tells me I owe $1100! I asked to see the letter that he had written and no where did he put the date of the accident when the car was off the road, only the date the car was scrapped. So I show her the other papers, the ones he wouldn't fax and she says, "Oh, just have him fax those and I'll fix it" AAAAGGGHHHHHH!!

(Side note - I'm sure this is exactly how all those borrowers felt during the loan process on the files that I underwrote, processed or originated back in my mortgage days. I'm so glad I'm no longer in an occupation that inflicts this kind of torture on people. I understand its purpose, but getting things from person A to satisfy person C when you are person B is a royal pain when A and C have their own ideas about what the other should do and why.)

So he and I played phone tag for the rest of the day and by late afternoon he had faxed something, to somewhere, but I'm not exactly sure what he had sent or to which number. He was obviously annoyed that this was dragging on and so was I, so I decided to follow up with the MVA this morning before I bothered him any further.

It took several phone calls, but I am happy to report that the automated system now lists this case as closed and with NO fines. YIPPEE!

I left a grateful message on the officer's voice mail and hope to not have to deal with the MVA or the local police for a long long time.

Although I do have to be in court in New Jersey at 9:15 on Monday morning to face the music up there. I had an idea that I'm hoping will pan out though. I've called and emailed the officer that pulled me over who said that I wouldn't have to return and am hoping that he may be able to pull some strings to avoid the trip. I'm ready to go though and will get to have lunch with Sara (who I met at the Youth Forum) if I do end up going, so there is a silver lining.