Perhaps You've Noticed...

...that I've been on hiatus for the past six months. During this time I've realized that I have outgrown Xanga. Thank you for these past (five!) years.

Fear not! My blog is being resurrected at http://sethnaser.blogspot.com/. Please join me there.

Well, I've Really Done it Now

I went and got a Facebook. Who knew?

The Pope is Coming!

Not here to Estes, of course. That was a different pope.

Benedict will be arriving in Washington, DC this afternoon. He'll celebrate his 81st birthday tomorrow (he sure doesn't seem that old to me). He'll be meeting with the president, addressing the UN and praying Mass, among other important things.

You'll hear the same tired drivel from the lazy media: Benedict is out of touch, he's a hardliner, he's not as likeable as his predecessor...blah, blah, blah.

The only people with whom the Pope is out of touch are those to whom Catholicism doesn't matter. To those of us--particularly those of use who are young--to whom Christ's Church is the very basis of our lives, Benedict is our great spiritual father and hero. The Holy Spirit has sent us another extraordinary man in the footsteps of Peter; an intellectual giant, yet a gentle, humble servant in the Lord's vineyard. But how could most people know this? They're constantly told the opposite by the media.

George Wiegel, JPII's biographer, has a great Newsweek piece on Benedict's importance to the Church and the world; it's a far more Catholic view, in the sense that it attempts to see the entire picture. And Peggy Noonan has a bit more sentimental opinion.

I also suggest that you watch Benedict's trip for yourself. Tim Drake's blog pope2008.com is a good place to start, and check out EWTN for wall-to-wall coverage of every public appearance. And a podcast I regularly listen to, catholic underground, is doing live video from DC.

This is gonna be great.

Let's Apply the First of Life's Certainties to the Second

I filed my taxes the other day. I can't think of a greater waste of my time. Granted, it only took about an hour, and I was able to do it myself rather than send it off to a tax preparer. Still, this is not something I should have to do, because the government shouldn't be taking money from my paycheck.

I'm not against taxes. I'll pay them. But I want it on my own terms, not the governments. There might have been a few people who had the same idea a couple hundred years ago.

I recommend you check out the FairTax. This is a tax system I can get behind Also see if your library has The FairTax Book on its shelves. It's a real easy introduction to the whole concept. I'm planning on getting the newest book FairTax: The Truth from interlibrary loan soon.

Even Now, Return to Me

Yeah, I'm still around. Just working and shoveling snow. Please allow me to highlight various happenings using bullet points:

• The trip to Iowa was great, though not so much the driving. A couple days in DSM wasn't enough to see those friends, and I wish there was even more time with the family at Christmas. Would have been nice to see the northern Iowa crowd. Will be back in the great state in May for the baby sister's graduation from the college.
• What happened to January? Just this morning, I realized I needed to change the calendar in the kitchen.
  
• I do in fact support Mike Huckabee for president. I hope this will not cause people to hate me. But I like underdogs. Also I agree with his issues.
  
• Much chaos and destruction at the Y. The Master Plan has finally been put into effect...muh-ha-ha-ha! Many buildings have met with the wrecking ball: B&G and the woodshop, most of the cabins in Staff Circle, Fairchild (thus goes a great piece of Y history, a section of the original Wind River Lodge. Alas, but it is all in the name of Progress!), even the inside of the first floor of the Longhouse. That's where Housekeeping will be relocated. And if construction moves along, we may be there before summer.
• Speaking of which, it's time for all you crazy cats to fill out your online application to work in Estes this summer!
• David was on the website the other day and found this promo video:
  
  You can search YouTube and find a couple other employee-made videos, too.
• Tina had hernia surgery last Friday. She'd put it off for about seven years, and when the doctors got in there, they found that it was horribly infected. This may be the cause of the past couple years' health problems. She's doing fine now, though I heard that she popped a stitch the other day doing something (stupid, no doubt) in the kitchen. I will chastise her on Friday when I see her, where I'm also afraid I'll be forced to see the scar and the gross bruise.

Anyway, gotta get home and wash my face. I've got this black smug on my forehead....

FYI

In case anyone is interested, I will be in Iowa for a week and a half starting Monday. It will be mostly spent in Red Oak, though I will be in Des Moines from Monday through Wednesday. before a quick jaunt to Iowa City to get Sarah.

Looking forward to time with the family for Christmas. Not looking forward to the drive.

What the Huck?!

I voted for Ralph Nader in the 2000 presidential election. In fact, I even gave the campaign a little bit of money and promotion in the form of a t-shirt that read "Bush and Gore make me want to Ralph."

I like a little bit of irreverent humor, especially in politics, so when I saw this new TV ad that is to begin running in Iowa tomorrow, I about died:

Now, this will probably resonate with voters my age and younger more than the senior citizens. Perhaps it will spark interest in Huckabee's campaign, and draw people to his website to learn more about him.

I'm very interested in Mike Huckabee. I find his stance on issues--abortion, immigration, education, big government, and especially the fair tax--appealing. And he's talking about vertical politics ("Will this candidate lift us up or bring us down?"), rather than horizontal politics ("Is this candidate's views left or right?"). It would be interesting if Huckabee and Obama were the major parties' nominees.

Iowans, remember if you're interested in participating in the January caucuses and you're an independent like myself, you'll have to change your party affiliation to Republican or Democrat for the respective caucuses. You can always change back afterward.

Did I Miss Thanksgiving?

Toward the end of the Depression, FDR attempted to extend the Christmas shopping season by declaring that Thanksgiving be moved forward a week from the last Thursday of November. This action was met with outrage--only half the states accepted the declaration in 1939--and it turned out that the extra week didn't make much difference in sales.

I don't know why FDR thought capitalism would be confined by the late date of Thanksgiving. We're been deep into Christmas for two weeks now. Santa's on TV commercials already; carols are pumped through ceiling speakers in ornament-lined store aisles.

Now, I love Christmas. But I love it in late December, where the joy spills over into January. And it has nothing to do with buying anything.

So, let's give Thanksgiving its due. After all, what American doesn't love a great feast?

No, I Am Not Dead

But I can only imagine what a glorious blessing it would be.

In short:

• Work is worse than horrible
• I'm still fat
• I'm growing out my hair again
• I have zero social life
• It's cold outside

That's really all there is to say. Perhaps I'll expound upon these topics at a later date.

Coming Off My Man-Period

Whew--it was a particularly bad one, too, which I think was brought on by Tina's vicious PMS this last weekend. Mine's not very regular, but our cycles happened to coincide. Last Friday I could do no right by her, and by the afternoon, I'd become irritable from her constant snapping, nagging and yelling. And the stress from late work days kept me pissy through Saturday and Sunday.

So today I devised "Tina's Flow Chart" to help David and me keep track of the future torment. She informed me that she'd started yesterday, so I counted 28 days from then (since she says that's her normal time frame) and marked September 24 as "Tentative Visit from Flo" and the preceding five days "Hell Week."

Anyway, I'm feeling better. Taking a day off tomorrow to get some neglected errands done, including getting new glasses. I'll need the time away from work.

No, I Have Not Yet Met My Imminent Demise

It's something I'm sure my friend Andy Miller is wondering.

Um, so I almost forgot about this thing. I don't have a wireless signal at home, haven't gotten to the library much, and I don't play online at work.

Mostly been entertaining this summer. The Parents and Brother were here last week and had a great time (even if, for some reason, it appeared that I didn't. Dad kept making comments as such). They even dragged my fat ass up a few mountains. Actually, I was surprised that I felt as good as I did; maybe I'm not as out of shape as I look and feel....

I am, however, nowhere near capable of climbing Long's, as Sarah hopes. She and a friend will be arriving in a couple days. Have been stocking up on beer; perhaps I should go to the store in order to have something to feed my guests.

I do get a couple weeks break before Mom and Dad return with Schmids in September. And a few days ago, plans were finalized for Tonia and Mother Mary's Mountain Getaway Weekend at the end of September.

When are you coming to Estes?

I Should Be in Bed

At the moment I'm in that state between being tired and unable to sleep. Part of the problem is that I've been working too much recently and my brain doesn't shut off easily.

I was wiped out this last Thursday after a exciting day with Luke, Corey and Carrie. I met them in Boulder on Wednesday morning and then came up to Estes that afternoon. Thursday we went into the Park, then downtown Estes, Fun City, and after dinner we hit up The Wheel. Good times, good times.

Hopefully they'll send me the pictures (hint, hint).

There's Another Airport I Could Have Flown Into

Here I am on Tonia's leather couch. My host/travel agent has disappeared. What a way to treat someone who drove 11 hours to Iowa today.

It's a quick trip. Off to the Quad Cities tomorrow evening for Patrick and W's wedding (What will I call Erin on Saturday night? "O"?), back to DM after the reception, and then to the Oak for a few hours to see most of the family and Grandma Sunday morning before I continue back to the mountains.

And I can't wait to get back. It's too damn humid here.

Well, time to turn in. I'll be staying in Lacy's bed tonight. She won't be there.

Summer's Arrived

It snowed this evening, wet and heavy, mixed with rain and mist rising from the pavement to dance in headlight beams. And here it is, the day that our huge group of summer staff has arrived.

Missed the ice cream social because of overtime. Been at work a lot this week. We'll be ready for Friday, but it'll be close.

Not much else at the moment, except time for bed.

Miscellanea

I just logged in to see that the Google banner has ads for American Standard and Delta Faucets. I wonder why that is. Perhaps housekeeping leaves an indelible mark on the soul.

It snowed Friday afternoon and night. Woke up on Saturday to about an inch of wet snow on the ground and car. Same business that evening, though no thing lasted the night. Frost on the windshield even this morning.

David's had back surgery. Haven't heard from him personally in a week; Tina talked to him Saturday. I was lucky to talk to him before his medication had taken affect; Tina wasn't. All he does is babble. He should be back at home tomorrow, and he's said that he'll be back to work next Monday. Hopefully that's the medicine talking.

Two weeks until the American staff arrives. About time. A few are beginning to trickle in. I hope you alumni can come out to celebrate the Y's 100th anniversary during the staff reunion.

The Power of Christ Compels You

There was an exorcism in one of our lodge rooms last week. Not a Catholic one, but one of a Christian church of some Korean affiliation. It was my day off, so I have no firsthand experience of the situation, but according to our crewleader Julie, there was clapping and chanting and screaming, and the room was stiflingly hot afterward.

I've read through the Catholic rite of exorcism from a book in the St. Malo library. What beautiful, majestic, biblical language it is.

On a slightly unrelated note, this morning our Laundry Supervisor asked me what one would do to join the Church. Yesterday she'd been particularly moved by the televised Mass from Notre Dame on the Hallmark Channel. She's a Messianic Jew who's being drawn to closer communion with Christ, not unaffected by her incarcerated daughter's decision to convert after visits from a nun. And now the grandson of which she has custody wants to follow his mother's footsteps.

God is good.

And now is good a time as any to make public that fact that my trip to Des Moines in March was to meet with now-retired Bishop Charron and interview with the seminary application board. I'll be back in a couple weeks for my psychological assessment, where it will be discovered that I am mostly sane.

Springtime at 8000 Feet

Still snow in the mountains, but the weather's been beautiful here the last few days. Spring is here; I can smell the pine in the air. The world is opening up again after this miserable winter.

I took a walk around the lake yesterday after work. Lots of people out. I'm going to get a bike and use it to get to work a few days a week. I need to start doing some exercise again. This is mostly due to the fact that I feel like a beached whale. I can barely get past my gut in order to tie my shoes. I look five month pregnant; if i didn't have a beard, I'd probably be mistaken for a future mother. Not to mention all the grief I get from Tina, who is "losing weight" and "will be looking good for summer."

I'll be in Iowa for a few days next week. Flying again, this time into Omaha on Wednesday, where some family member will pick me up. Then off to Des Moines for interviews.

Perhaps I'll write about it in sooner that a month.

Out of His Faucets Shall Flow Rivers of Living Water

Yes, I have water. In fact, it was working when I went home that seventh day. There's a bleeder hose outside that's been running ever since in order to keep things from freezing again. Wasteful? Absolutely, but then I also don't have to pay for it.

Other things that have happened:

• I realize that I'ven't mentioned that we finally remodeled the Housekeeping office. My lost and found room is a reality. Things are working out great.
• Other work-related news that I've neglected: Tony and Jess have moved to Boulder; now Mary Lou is leaving again, going back to Harmony to be the baker. David took over Cowboy Brad's position, and Robbin is the new Laundry supervisor. The Y's making major departmental overhauls, including merging the Conference and Family Reservations offices, and Housekeeping, Conference and Food Service are all now under the umbrella of Guest Services and a new director.
• I'm able to get home without the use of chains by going the long way around the "neighborhood."
• Went to Ft. Collins for the first time in weeks. It was fantastic to finally get out of Estes for a bit.
• I'm gearing up for another trip to Denver the second weekend of March. It's the Archdiocese's Living the Catholic Faith Conference, and I'm excited to go again this year.

Ooo. 24's on.

Seven Days

That's how long my apartment has been without water.

Friday: Low water pressure in the morning. Left the water running while at work. No water pressure when I got home. Called property manager (PM) at 6:30pm, who said "I'm not going to do anything about it tonight." Spent the night at the apartment.

Saturday: Water dribbling only from tub faucet. Met PM at 3:30pm at house, who said "You should have water about 7 or 8 tonight. No water at 7:00. Spent the night in a Y cabin.

Sunday: PM left message at 3:45pm "You've got water in the kitchen, but not the bathroom. It's a matter of time." Spent the night in a Y cabin with Johnnie and Alvin.

Monday: Spoke to PM at 2:45pm, who said, "You have water now. The reason there was no water in the bathroom is because I forgot to turn on the valve." No apology. Normal water pressure when I got home. At bedtime water dribbling only from bathroom sink faucet. Spent the night at the apartment.

Tuesday: Spoke to PM at 10:15am, who said, "I'll send the plumber over." Spoke to PM's secretary at 3:15pm who said, "The plumber couldn't get up your road, so he'll try again tomorrow." Spent the night at Dennis' house.

Wednesday: Spoke to PM's secretary at 3:45pm, who said, "The city installed a bleed valve. Everything should be fine now." Got car stuck on side of road. Pulled out by neighbor. No water from any faucet when I got home. Checked that all valves were on. Still no water. Left message for PM at home, saying, "There is still no water at the apartment. I hope you have a good night." Spent the night at Dennis' house

Thursday: Day off. Went to Public Works and Zoning departments at town hall. No record of home owner's association for my neighborhood. No one knows who owns road or is responsible for plowing. Have yet to return to apartment to check water. Have yet to hear from PM.

It's been warm the past couple days, so now the road's more slush than ice, but still impassable without chains or four-wheel drive. If I could just get the road plowed, it would solve the lesser of my two problems.

Anyway, it shouldn't be this hard to get the water running at my apartment. And there's not a chance in hell that the PM would let this happen at her own house. I would move in a heartbeat if there was somewhere to go.

Better put the chains on and go check on the apartment. Then it's off to see the PM.

Free at Last, Free at Last

Thank God Almighty. Today I drove my car for the first time in six weeks.

The chains worked, and I was able to get up the road without much trouble. And what did I do to celebrate this momentous occasion? Paid my rent, registered the car, and bought cat litter for emergency traction.

Maybe I should open a bottle of wine.