At least I don't own it

A couple of months ago, Mrs. Ref got up to get ready for work and discovered the mat in front of the shower completely soaked with water. There was no water anywhere on the floor and no signs of leakage from the ceiling. So I cleaned up and wondered where all that water came from.

The next day, it happened again.

And then it didn't happen for a few months, when it happened yesterday. This time, though, we actually saw where the water was coming from. It was seeping out from under the wall next to the shower, and it was happening while The Kid was taking a shower upstairs. Now we know.

But wait . . . there's more.

Instead of just leaking out from under the wall, it also backed up into the shower stall itself, filling it with water. It also affected the toilet; not overflowing, but sucking and blurbing the water down.

Okay . . . no more showers upstairs until we get it fixed.

But wait, there's more!

Because of the water on the floor, we needed to clean it up, which meant lots of towels. The towels went from the bathroom floor into the wash. When the washing machine drained, it drained into the downstairs bathroom and shower stall. I stopped the washing machine.

So now I have an incomplete load of towels sitting in the washing machine, several other loads scattered around the downstairs waiting to be washed, a house fix-it guy working with a plumber guy trying to figure out what's going on, and the inability to shower.

Luckily we have a membership at the local health club. We took our exchange daughter there this morning for her shower (since I won't let anyone use our facilities), and I may have to go there later today as well. The good news is that I don't own this house and I have a very good landlord.

The ruling on the field is not good

At the lower levels, a lot of officials work multiple sports. I have worked, and do work, with guys who officiate not only football but basketball (the most common), baseball and softball. A few of them have also worked wrestling.

As you move up the ladder, you tend to become more focused on the one sport you really love and work well. This is mainly because the higher you go, the more time it takes.

Gene Steratore, however, is a different breed. He works for the N.F.L. as well as carrying a slate of Division I basketball games.

Here's his story as it ran in the NY Times.

I found it interesting and something I am not the least bit interested in doing.

Home

I'm back from my C.E. trip to San Francisco. The conference was great and seeing a bunch of old seminary friends was just as great.

Now it's back to the real world wherein I get laundry done, pay some bills, hopefully talk with The Kid's college of choice, wade through e-mails, and work on two sermons (one for Saturday's funeral and one for Sunday).

Bestill my heart.

Conference Championships

I'm not a big basketball fan, but I will confess that I do follow the Gonzaga men and women.

The women just won their semi-final game today and move on to the championship game.
The men play their semi-final game tonight.

Both programs have become two of the best in the country, and that's very cool for a small Jesuit school out of Spokane, WA.

So here's hoping that BOTH the men and women from Gonzaga win their championship games and get invited to the Big Dance.

Stuck

I'm not sure what's worse . . . having no idea for a sermon, or having too many that they start jumbling into each other so that you can't get a clear picture.

I'm currently dealing with ideas about journeys, rebukes, discipleship, self-sacrifice and self-preservation.

And whereas they will all preach, I'd rather not preach them all on the same Sunday.

Eugene and back

Drove up to Eugene today, which was an adventure in and of itself.

Apparently ODOT doesn't think anyone from outside of Eugene needs to know that certain exits are closed and that there are detours. Either that, or I was totally oblivious, I'll have to pay attention next time I go up there.

I was supposed to take Exit 192. But that's currently non-existent, and the detour sign wasn't posted until Exit 191. That doesn't give enough time to decide, "Hmm .. I should probably get off here."

So I thought I'd just take the next exit, loop around and pick up my directions from there. Problem was, though, that the next exit put me on a state highway with no loop around access. So I took an unplanned detour through Springfield and manged to find my way to the parish for the meeting that was to start at 11 a.m.

At 10:45, I was still the only one there. At 10:50, another member of the committee showed up. At 11, we were still the only people there. As we were at 11:05, 11:10, 11:15, and 11:20.

Everyone else finally showed up at 11:20. One of them said, "You look angry." Jane probably knows what she meant. But, the meeting finally got started and we did whatever it was we were supposed to do, and the chair provided lunch, so it wasn't totally a waste. And at 1:20, we left the parish and made some unplanned detours through downtown Eugene while we looked for the I-5 access. Finally found that, and I was home and napping by 3:40.

Got in a good enough nap to be on good behavior for the pancake supper and a good time was had by all.

I hope your Shrove Tuesday went well, and may you have a blessed Lent.

It's a work week

I was technically off today, but I got up for the men's breakfast and then spent three hours in the office writing my article for the newsletter and the first of two Lenten discipline pieces.

I was going to go for a run today to get back into that habit, but when re-starting a habit I would prefer to do it in nice weather and avoid getting wet. I don't mind running in the rain if I've been running for awhile, but I don't like to start out that way.

Came home and was basically a slug all day. That's what days off are for, right.

Tomorrow I'm up to Eugene for a Camp Board meeting, but home in time for the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper. Two services on Wednesday, a typical office day on Thursday, and then back up to Eugene for Diocesan Council.

I'm not a big country fan, so I'll spare you the Willie Nelson and Roger Miller links. But I will give you one of my favorite road songs: