tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:39:27 +0000Tales of odd humanityhttp://ourneptune.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)Blogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-5245424084961863701Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:39:00 +00002007-06-29T11:41:08.345-05:00I don't know why I have two blogs. I've posted all of my recent posts (last two years) on the Bee Hive. This blog is dead. Rest in peace.http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2007/06/dod.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-4984985760402764344Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:19:00 +00002007-06-19T16:24:35.187-05:00Work has been sooo sloooow lately. My coworkers seem to be keeping busy, but I just don't seem to be getting very many applications. I don't know if they are all just good at appearing busy, or if there's some cosmic event that keeps people with last names beginning with G-L from applying for public assistance. It's given me a lot of free time to websurf (and blog!) and read books. I wonder if http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2007/06/restlessing-with-will-of-god.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-7009751511523208219Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:21:00 +00002007-06-19T10:22:33.993-05:00Another response to my pastor about a sermon on Palm Sunday.Your sermon yesterday got me thinking. It's easy for people to say that Christ died for our sins. But what does that mean? The phrase has never really had that much meaning for me. I think sometimes Christians have the perspective that Jesus was sacrificed in the same way that a lamb was sacrificed in the Old Testament...that we have to http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-thoughts-they-are-scattered-but-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-6037299929772283155Fri, 02 Mar 2007 22:24:00 +00002007-03-02T16:53:29.529-06:00Today your fortune will not come true because you are chickenThere's a man who works in one of the offices above mine. He wears a suit and tie and a tan trench-type coat every day; he's one of the very few people that enter our building dressed so formally. He's middle-aged with greying hair, but not bald. He reminds me of my Japanese teacher, but taller. I saw him a few weeks ago in the little http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2007/03/today-your-fortune-will-not-come-true.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-5098944770478568099Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:08:00 +00002007-02-07T11:13:16.851-06:00Taxes tax meI have a little beekeeping operation. Nothing fancy, but I want to someday make a profit. I want to claim my start-up costs on my taxes as a loss so that when the day comes that I'm in the black, I'll feel better about paying taxes on it. Not that I'm against taxes, I just think people that actually make money should pay them and the record should show that I have none. Do I need http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2007/02/taxes-tax-me-i-have-little-beekeeping.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-5903712732965246554Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:27:00 +00002007-01-12T15:40:44.115-06:00I'm applying to be a Deaconess. On the application they have one of those standard sort of questions about what historical figure I most admire and why. Boring. I think my answer is valid. Hope they like it:History is not one of my strengths, and I spent some time reading about various historical figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger, Frida Kahlo, Mother Theresa and Mahavira, trying http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2007/01/mia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-115818310494981362Wed, 13 Sep 2006 21:30:00 +00002007-04-02T12:14:06.793-05:00Stelle, rhymes with bellFriends, Tasha and Ryan, came to visit last weekend thanks to Amtrak. They were the most gracious guests. Visiting during the week, they entertained themselves while spouse and I worked. Pleasant interactions came naturally as we shared time between talking, shopping, cooking, dining, washing what seemed to be endless dishes, and walking around the property, dodging poisonhttp://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2006/09/stelle-rhymes-with-bell-friends-tasha.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-115764574785672326Fri, 01 Sep 2006 16:01:00 +00002006-09-07T11:59:20.256-05:00Soilent green is made out of the disabledI really have a craving for a brownie today.About two weeks ago the counseling center next door to my office was having a bake sale on the sidewalk. They provide counseling and case management mostly to people with severe disabilities and mental disorders. They are one of the only counseling offices around here that accept the state medical assistance http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2006/09/soilent-green-is-made-out-of-disabled.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-115584316502119213Thu, 17 Aug 2006 19:30:00 +00002007-04-02T12:48:53.306-05:00Even C.S. Lewis will not go to hellMy pastor presented a sermon last Sunday about C.S. Lewis's arguments in the book, Mere Christianity. This is most of the text of my reponse to him. He ended up responding favorably.From your summary of Lewis's book, the take-home message seemed to be almost a proof of God's existence. For centuries Christians and non-Christians have applied their clever little http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2006/08/even-c.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-115161658339838780Thu, 29 Jun 2006 21:19:00 +00002006-06-29T16:33:19.080-05:00Two and half years later, I've climbed the ladder: I'm now the Man. When people ask me how work is going, all I have to say is, "great!" Compared to my last situation, this is cake. No matter how much people complain about the bureaucracy, it's nothing compared to my previous job at an NGO. This is not to generalize about NGOs or the government, but just to say I don't grump nearly so much about http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2006/06/two-and-half-years-later-ive-climbed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-106452803970765173Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:13:00 +00002006-08-22T11:12:57.246-05:00The end of the month is always rough. Today I gave away approximately $990 worth of groceries and grocery-store certificates to 14 families. What we give out is designed to last three days, after which there's another 87 days before they're eligible to come back for food from us. I've been meaning to test out our 3-day design, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I would like to try to make http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2003/09/end-of-month-is-always-rough.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-106441916211793571Wed, 24 Sep 2003 15:59:00 +00002006-08-22T11:12:38.756-05:00Sometimes I get calls from panicked people, people in crisis, people on neptune. Today Karen calls me up:Karen: The electric company cut my power off and I don't know why!Me: [I think to myself, I don't know why either, dear...] Well, have you called them up yet to see what the deal is?K: No. I just got out of the hospital. I've had surgery and been away from home for a week or so. My son said http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2003/09/sometimes-i-get-calls-from-panicked.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-106306141839490035Mon, 08 Sep 2003 22:50:00 +00002006-08-22T11:13:18.946-05:00I am still not trustworthy in the eyes of our PR woman. I made a big mistake last winter in telling a reporter that I thought the utility company disconnecting service in the middle of November for an overdue $20 was "ridiculous" and got our agency in a minor jam. Part of my job, I guess, is making nice with the evil utility overlords so they'll accept our promises to pay out of our emergency http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2003/09/i-am-still-not-trustworthy-in-eyes-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-106271297941184624Thu, 04 Sep 2003 22:02:00 +00002006-08-22T11:13:55.150-05:00Today I participate in the Housing Coordinating Board meeting that my boss got me started going to after she took forever and five days off to be with her ailing mother out East. I love Bev. In her shaky voice you can hear the outrage burning in the pit of her stomach as she tells us the day has arrived when Americans have spent more money on luxury items than necessities for the first time in http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2003/09/today-i-participate-in-housing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-106150267773193262Thu, 21 Aug 2003 21:51:00 +00002006-08-22T11:14:12.893-05:00Sometimes they get to me. Answering my phone at work today reveals a familiar voice. Raina calls me every other month to see if we can help her again or if I happen to know of any new places she can apply for help paying her natural gas bill.Let me give you some background: In Iowa (and perhaps in many states, although not Illinois), the state Utility Board mandates that all electric and natural http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2003/08/sometimes-they-get-to-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-106047334994868576Sat, 09 Aug 2003 23:55:00 +00002006-08-22T11:15:03.753-05:00Last night I helped a man in a wheelchair across the street and it made me angry at you. I was in my Cutlass enroute to a meeting that I was already late for and approached one of the ba-zillion stop signs in the little downtown area of Ames. All of a sudden I realized I needed to give the chunky soles of my sandals a little bit more pressure on the brake than my toes appreciated in order to http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2003/08/last-night-i-helped-man-in-wheelchair.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-106029381460753819Thu, 07 Aug 2003 22:03:00 +00002006-08-22T11:15:19.380-05:00Today I learned that Jeremiah makes more money than me. He asks me if I can move my not-yet-sorted-because-my-volunteer-didn't-show-up-today canned goods off of the food pantry floor and into the hallway so he can mop tonight after we've all gone home to our family dinner time. He grew up in a small town whose name I can't remember now, but begins with an 'L', near a bigger town whose name beginshttp://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2003/08/today-i-learned-that-jeremiah-makes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5657260.post-106029258446978915Thu, 07 Aug 2003 21:43:00 +00002006-08-22T11:15:33.260-05:00There's something about summer that makes the pressure rise. Whether the electricity in their Section 8 apartment is getting shut off tomorrow, or they just got layed off from their 40K job and want to know how they can apply for rent assistance next month, the calls are twice as many and twice as strained in the heat of August. Even in my over-cooled basementoffice, their voices break me into a http://ourneptune.blogspot.com/2003/08/theres-something-about-summer-that.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Apis mellifera)