Living and laughing with a disability - cerebral palsy; ordinary life, extraordinary circumstances.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Our Big Ass van!

Yes, I said the "A" word.  We sang the word in a hymn this morning, "What Child is This"...so it is a churchy word...

Pastor Roger gave a fine sermon today.  Questioning and listening...talking about the only episode in Scripture that is recorded about Jesus between the time He was an infant to when He began His three year ministry.

Roger turns 66 today.  We sang "Happy Birthday" to him.  Roger is a radical follower of Jesus, very much a modern day prophet.  I am sure, back in the day, he would say to never trust anyone over 30.  I wonder, now is it over 70...or 75?  ;)  I'm sure Roger will let me know.

The early service at our church is usually the contemporary service.  We have two praise teams that switch off and sing the songs you hear on the contemporary Christian radio stations.

Today we had no praise teams.  We had Katie, our wonderful pianist from the second service, and classic hymns on the overhead screen.

Yours truly ran the slides from the computer today.  Sitting in the back, I like to watch the people.  It's fun to see who is engaged...and who is not...during the service.

Today, I found the hymns to be a refreshing change.  I am 48...almost...never mind.  Some of the people and families younger than me did not seem to be enjoying the hymns, whereas the people older than me thought they were great.

My two cents - why not mix the music to give the young some of what they want, and the older set some of what they want.  We are family...give and take for the good of all...but what do I know?

On my way out of the church, I overheard a couple ladies talking.  They were saying "Now that was a good service...that is how they should all be!"

"Okay..." I thought.

Then, the one lady saw our Sprinter van and started to freak out.  "What's that van doing parked there!"

I was kind of amused.  We have had the van over five years now...and driving it to church every Sunday.  Most people have seen me load and unload Jodie.  Evidently this lady has not.  I couldn't figure out why this lady was freaking out over it.

So our van is blessed with a large behind.  How does that affect this lady?

I love our big ass van...;)



"Race is the stupidest idea in history"

Leonard Pitts is my favorite columnist.  He never shies away from difficult topics.  He smashes into them, head on, and brings forth commonsense and clarity.


"Race is the stupidest idea in history. It is also, arguably, the most powerful. It determines who goes to jail and who goes to college, who gets loans and who gets rejections, who gets the job and who gets the unemployment check. It determines the life you live and the assumptions that are made about you."
- Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/29/v-fullstory/3159373/leonard-pitts-race-is-the-stupidest.html#storylink=cpy

There is no difference between the races, except for the the junk in our heads...and there is a lot of junk in our heads!

I have often thought of racism and disablism as being very similar.  We start categorizing people the moment we meet them.

The color of my skin or your skin...yes, there is junk in my head, and in your head, that goes with that.  The way I, or you, walk and talk, there is junk in my head and yours that goes with that as well.

Leonard does a great job analyzing some of this junk.


Sunday, December 09, 2012

A Very Special Christmas

Tonight I watched the special on GMC:

gmc TV – Gospel Music Channel News – 25 Years of Bringing Joy to the World: Ten Outstanding Musical Moments from A Very Special Christmas

I have been listening the "A Very Special Christmas" 25th anniversary station on IHeart Radio.  Rock stars and artists from other genes singing Christmas songs.  Very cool.

Okay, I have not grown up yet, in case you have not noticed.  ;)

I did not realize that this is a fundraiser for Special Olympics.  Stars, singing outside their zone, for a great cause.

My Favorites:

Blue Christmas by Heart



and Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis:



If you can spare a five, a ten or whatever, please consider joining my Polar Plunge team, "Team Witticisms" benefiting the Oregon Special Olympics.

Click here to join

Thanks!

;)


Saturday, December 08, 2012

Comcast, Xfinity...please have mercy on us!

We had a rude wake-up call as to what kind of company Comcast is back in October when they yanked $777 from our checking account.

Jodie called.  Because of their computer error, they had not taken the automatic deduction from our account.  The billing emails had come...I just figured the money was going out as usual with our flurry of early month bills.

The Comcast lady understood what had happened and said they would reimburse   the money to our account, but that we would need to call and set up a payment plan, because we did owe the money.  Fair enough we thought.

A week later, when the money was still not in our account, Jodie called Comcast back.  They said the accounting department decided that Comcast had rights to the money, that we should have been properly deducting the money from our account and balancing our checkbook.

Point taken.  After 22 years as keeper of our checking account, the responsibility has transferred from yours truly to Jodie.

In October Jodie requested that Comcast stop automatically withdrawing money from our checking account and we asked that they begin mailing us a bill.

It has been 2 months and they still have not sent us a bill.

When we looked up our account in November, it said we owed over $200.  Jodie called and they said we did not owe, but that we had a credit.  Jodie spoke to a guy named Joe who was really helpful.  He gave Jodie his phone number and his extension to call if we had any more trouble.

We downgraded our cable package to save some money.

December, still no bill.  Online still show the over $200 amount that we owe.  Jodie tried to call Joe.  Whoever answered thee extension that Joe gave Jodie kind of laughed at her and said "We can't let you talk to Joe!"

Jodie was told again to ignore the $200+ bill that is posted online.

Jodie was told there was a charge for downgrading our service.  Of course there is!  It's Comcast Xfinity...why would we expect otherwise!`

Jodie was told what we owe now. We are not sure where to send it now without a bill.  It has been a long time since we have scheduled a bill to go out.  From past experience I know that addresses and account numbers change...we really want to see a bill.

We are ready to try another company.  We have been with Comcast for so many years now.

I don't know how much we would need to pay to leave our contract with Comcast.

It feels like an abusive relationship...and we are the abused!