“The RoseBouquet”

After a long frustrating Remembrance Day at the office, trying to install the newest operating system on my computer three times, and each time booting into a screen full of messy gray lines, and then having to install the previous version again - the next day was full of blessing and a big surprise.

It was our annual Day of Prayer here at Western Tract Mission, where I work and have my office. We invite others to join us and then we go through each dept., having one of the staff report on answers to prayer in the past year and give us new ones to pray about. We send for pizza at lunch and then carry on until we have thoroughly prayed about everything.

What was different this time was that right after Arnold had made the opening welcome and prayer, Joe brought forward a big box wrapped in gold paper and bright orange ribbons. He presented it to me - from the mission. He didn’t say, but implied it was for giving more than 100% of myself.

Everyone watched and waited while I opened it. There was some teasing about which of my desires/prayers this would be an answer to. (We’d recently been talking over lunch about my need of a garage for my car - but all could see this would not be a garage). From the size and shape of the box I was thinking an LED flat screen monitor, and that was something I’d been thinking I would buy for myself if I get any Christmas gifts of money.

Everyone here knows that I usually take others castoff computers and fix them up and use them as long as I can make them - and my friends are often amazed at how much life I can squeeze out of oldies. Well! It was a Toshiba Notebook laptop. Brand new with a 3 year warranty!

I was floored. So I set it aside on the end of the table I sat at, and we went on with our meeting. I eyed it from time to time, and wondered if it wouldn’t fit into my backpack so that I could carry it back and forth with me. Which would mean I could keep all my emails in one place, for instance, instead of forwarding them back and forth between home and office and sometimes losing them.

When I got home at three I shoveled my walk (until Joe came over to finish for me - shoveling still wakes up the stitch in my side), then I cleaned house and did dishes, etc, until 6. Then, as I sat down to eat supper at my desk I opened the laptop, answered the basic questions, and then explored it for a few hours.

It had Windows 7 on it, and it didn’t take me long, even with a very open and curious mind, to decide that I like my openSUSE far better. And because it has 500 GB on the hard drive, I knew just what to do. First I followed Joe’s instructions for charging and discharging the battery fully, and then on Sunday just after 6 pm I started to install openSUSE 11.4 on it via a NET install. It took much longer than the efforts at the office on Friday, for it worked on and on through the night, and finally finished Monday morning at 9:45 am. I was waiting for it with my parka and boots on, so that I could unplug it and take
it to the office.

Yesterday I started setting up some of my email addresses. There’s still more to do, but if this works out I should be gradually changing more and more of my work to the laptop, and have my work machine with me where ever I go! Just give me another week or two to get things smoothed over.

I’m grateful for the friends who wrote last week after I mentioned that stitch/stab in my side. Your concern is touching. And I’m happy to report that it has decreased somewhat. If I sit very still I don’t even feel it.

I did go to the doctor last Monday and also for an x-ray, but since he didn’t call back I called the office again on Friday. The nurse said it was a lengthy report, and I could come read it, but if it had anything urgent in it the Dr. would have had them call me in. That is sort of reassuring. That told me that my hunch for a fractured rib was most likely correct. The fact that it only hurts when I move or get physically active confirms it in my mind.

Now I MUST toughen up.

We had our first snowfall on Sunday. Winter is now here. The sweeping/shoveling of snow makes that spot in my lower right ribs really hurt! Maybe I’ll have to hire someone to do my snow removal this winter. I have struggled through the pain ’cause that’s what you do when you live alone.

On Sunday morning the car would not start until I’d found my long orange cords, plugged it in and waited 15 minutes. On Monday morning I couldn’t get into the car right away. The moisture in the door frames had frozen them shut. So I had to bring out my hair dryer to blow on it, and a big screwdriver to wedge in the crack - and just deal with it. By the time I could drive away to go vote in our provincial election, and to the post office for a parcel (that wasn’t there), my whole ribcage was achy and sore.

But my faith in the Lord’s measure, and some long quiet hours in front of the computer revived me, and so this morning I bundled up in layers with long johns, lined wool pants, two pair socks in my leather (army style) boots, and my big bulky purple parka, with a fleece scarf over my old wool hat, and two pairs of gloves, I walked to the office. (I’m plotting to design myself a better hat).

Instead of pulling my summer backpack on wheels, I had loaded the larger one for my shoulders I forced myself to walk slow so as not to overwork my poor ribs, and it did seem much longer. But that’s because I’d been driving since my cold and my muscles need to become used to this exercise again. If I don’t I fear I will become a crooked, humped over, hobbling ol’ lady. (I was like that on Saturday!) So I’m determined to fight that role off with all my might! Yep, I MUST toughen up!

Are you tough and ready for winter?

On Friday night, before supper I went out to gather what I thought would be my last bag of leaves and then my yard and garden would be cleaned up for the winter. But I filled one in the back and started another one. Then I went to check my ‘handkerchief lawn’ in the front and - ended up raking more and more leaves, until I’d filled that bag, and yet another. By the time I was done I had trouble seeing the leaves. And I had three big clear bags full of crisp, brittle golden leaves.

That evening at the computer I felt a stitch of pain in my right side that sort’a lingered.

It was still there in the morning and grew worse as I tackled my reno job - papering the walls in my bedroom with Reflectix to keep the cold out. I’d found this at Home Depot and used it a few winters back to line the foundation parts above the basement walls. I put strips against the window frame between the inner and outer panes, and then all over the wallpaper on the north side and most of the west side.

However, every time I stooped to hammer in a tack, or stretched to reach up, my right side really began to hunt. I grunted and moaned as I struggled to finish my project. I had meant to sew a quilt curtain with some upholstery fabric to help winterize my bedroom still more, but decided that I could not. My ’stitch’ was the size of my hand!

I’d planned and did pull off the making of a birthday supper for my brother Tom, and took it over to his apartment and ate together, but when I’d cleaned up the dishes, and gathered my laundry in the basement I was happy to sit down quietly at the computer and take care of those commitments in some peace.

By Sunday morning I was having visions of going to the doctor and being put in the hospital. But if I sat quietly the pain was not so obvious, though any small cough tore at that painful area. I attended church. After communion I asked the elders to pray for me too.

I had a restful afternoon, spent mostly snoozing in the recliner, sipping teas, etc. In the evening I was feeling much better, and did some email catchup.

Yesterday I thought I was somewhat better, but found myself calling my doctor, and got an appointment for 11:15 am. It took him only 3 minutes or so to decide that I needed to go for x-rays. I had those in the afternoon. Now I’m waiting for results.

I’m smart enough to make some guesses, but let’s see what the medical people think my stitch or stab in the side really is.

I think I have that cough about wrestled into submission now. It just gives me the occasional little whimper or bark. Mainly I’ve been wearing my new Pashima scarf with some flare to how I arrange it around my shoulders, and coughing into it when necessary. I wore the red one for a number of days last week and then threw it into a load of laundry on Saturday, and started wearing the blue one.

This has allowed me a clear conscience to attend two missions conferences this past weekend. I had a display table up for Western Tract Mission at the one in Neuanlage, my former home church. I was there on Friday and Saturday evenings.

My current city church, together with the sister Alliance churches was having a missions conference too. I managed to attend the Saturday morning and lunch sessions, and then again on Sunday morning, and in the evening we had a Latino supper served before the closing Rally.

Now, I’m not sure how much to go on and on about the missions conferences, (some subscriber always seems to unsubscribe from this list when I use too much spiritual talk), but I’ve got’a say, I’ve always loved to hear missionaries tell their stories, and I really REALLY enjoyed the ones I heard this past weekend.

How about if I just hint at some of them?

There was someone from a new ministry called Rock Solid Refuge, which is like Teen Challenge, but geared for young men ages 14-18 who are having addiction issues.

A young man from my home town talked of going to Rwanda again this November-December to run a kids’ camp for the 4th year, and this time training their own people to run it henceforth.

A young woman from Tennessee talked of coming to the west coast in Canada to work in a friendship center for Muslim immigrants, and loving it.

A couple, friends of mine for the last 20+ years, are also working in that area, and the man focused his messages on Bible stories of Abraham and the Arab hospitality seen there, as they have come to know it working in that same Friendship center - among other things.

In the city sessions I heard two missionaries twice. One young woman has worked in Mexico City for ten years, part of her time with university students who come to her English club and part of it with street kids. She struck me as a great woman of prayer. I asked to correspond with her.

The other was a veteran missionary to Japan, and he described how differently they must go about planting churches in Tokyo, and then at the closing Rally, how they had found ways to help with the disaster relief after the earthquake and Tsunami earlier this year. I was quite impressed!

Maybe the most profound statistic that lingers with me, is that 20,000 people lost their lives in that disaster, but 30,000 Japanese take their lives by suicide each year - for the past 10 years! That is an even greater spiritual disaster!

Did I mention last week that I was fighting off a head cold and serious cough at the same time as all the fall-out from Mousie’s work, and the events of Thanksgiving weekend were going on?

Well, it got worse, so that by Thursday of last week I was willing to go see my doctor. (It takes quite a bit to make me willing; I only go to the doctor when I’m at wit’s end). I told him that I thought it had become pneumonia, and he did not argue. He just gave me a prescription for an antibiotic, and assured me that I would feel better in three days. His parting shot was “don’t go shopping.” From that I assumed that I might be infectious.

I got the Rx filled right away, and went back to the office. Good thing I work alone, so it didn’t have to bother anyone else that I was slouching a lot, leaning on my elbows, and hanging my head, when I wasn’t coughing fit to snap it off. I got up and made myself one hot drink after another to relax my chest muscles - which were exhausted.

Gradually, day by day I did feel better. The coughing didn’t come from quite as deeply any more, and by Sunday I was feeling quite well, until I tried to speak. That triggered coughing fits. I did go to church but I wore a huge red pashima scarf around my shoulders, pinned with a dramatic broach, and I coughed into the scarf anytime one came on.

A restful afternoon in the recliner was good for me.

Today I dared to walk to the office again instead of driving, as I had the last two weeks; I feel myself again, except for those ‘out of the blue’ coughs that still come. My antibiotics are finished tomorrow night at midnight, and I trust my cough will be all gone by then. If not, I’ll just keep up with more of my supplements and home remedies.

Saturday night I learned on the net that Vicks Vapo Rub on the soles of my feet, then putting socks on can keep me from coughing all night! I’ve done that three nights nights now. What a great tip!

In fact, did you know that when you finish a spell of antibiotics you should really load up on acidophilus (like in Yogurt) and other probotics to put good bacteria into your gut again? Otherwise you’ll just be susceptible to another infection or virus and go through all that again. I know, as that was the chorus to my Mom’s life.

On Friday evening I turned on my computer and hoped to listen to BBN radio, which is my company and wallpaper and atmosphere all day long, both at the office and at home. However, I couldn’t get online. I rebooted and tried several things and then - I remembered. Once before about 3-4 years ago, a mouse had chewed into my phone line and killed my phone and my computer’s ability to go online.

I pulled on the line behind my long desk, and also crawled under it to check, and sure enough. Another mousie had chewed into the phone line coming from the jack in the wall. My phone was dead and although the computer started up, it could not go online. Finding a very short, but working line I got the phone to work. It wasn’t long enough to reach the router or computer though.

This was our Thanksgiving weekend with a lot happening. So I gathered up that phone line to try to get a replacement AFTER Priscilla and Barry’s wedding on Saturday at 11 am. with the reception in the early afternoon. I was home shortly after 3 and drove around the city looking for a place to get that line replaced. Finally got it downtown, and it was free from Sasktel.

I hurried home to try it. I still could not get online to play BBN radio.

But then it was time to leave for church where we were having a banquet to celebrate the church’s 25th anniversary. It was a lovely, scrumptious turkey meal, (my second one of the day), and the program after wards was well worth it.

However, as soon as I got home I called up Sasktel Support to ask if I had somehow connected the cables wrong. The man said that my router had ‘fried’ from a short on the line. I should swap it for a new one. He pointed out that the jump.ca stores would be open on Sunday.

So Sunday after church, I stopped at the Midtown Plaza, but that kiosk/store didn’t have any. He suggested I go to Circle and 8th Street Mall. What? Clear across the city?

I went home and confirmed with my brother Tom, that I was bringing a turkey meal over about 5:30, and that I could bring along a friend who had no family to celebrate with this weekend. Then I put the turkey in the oven and peeled potatoes for the crockpot and made a dessert. I worked a bit on a newsletter and then I laid down for a bit, as my cold was not completely gone.

At 4 pm I jumped up, turned the oven down, and headed across the city. There are two malls at that intercession. It turned out to be at the second one, but I got a new router, with no questions asked.

Then I picked up Shannon, and went home to pack up our meal to take to Tom’s. (Yes, I considered bringing him over to my place, but my brittle bones are no match for his wheelchair. I find lifting it in and out of my trunk rather hard). We enjoyed the turkey meal there, and then when I finally got home to my dirty dishes, I put off washing them until I’d tried out the new router.

(Sigh!) It still wouldn’t work. So I call Support again. This techie could see that my router was working, so the problem had to be with my computer now. I went to clean up the leftovers and my dishes, but I knew what I had to do.

[continued in "What's New"]

My tree of the golden leaves has gone naked. The other tree in my backyard still has mostly green leaves. No, I cannot explain that.

Saturday I raked up four big bags full of leaves from the front and backyard areas. I didn’t even get to the car area and in the back alley. There’s still one barrel of rain water to carry out to the garden by watering can, but after my good neighbour to the east brought me a wheelbarrow full of compost for my garden I boldly asked him for another favour and he tipped over the smaller barrel under the lilacs where the water had become quite putrid.

Sunday afternoon I gave one hour to stand in the Prolife Chain downtown at Idylwyld and 22nd Street. The sun came out while there, and so squinting into it, I cheerfully smiled at the public stopping at the intersection and then driving on. If they honked in approval, I waved at them to thank them.

I also had friendly conversations with the university student on one side of me, and the woman in a wheelchair on the other side.

A CTV news camera man came around panning us with his big camera, and even set it up on his tripod in front of us for a while. He spoke to some others, not me, but I was pretty sure my face would show up on the 6 o’clock news. We didn’t mind for many other times the media has completely ignored our witness.

Sure enough after church that evening, Lorna came up and said, “I saw you on the news tonight!”

Say, do you believe that if you brag that you have not had a cold for a year, then you get one? I did that after the morning service, and before bedtime I was beginning to have a very sore throat. It was still a problem yesterday morning, but by the evening (after we had finally exchanged those organs), I began to sniffle and drip at the nose. Today I admit to having a full-blown cold.

Considering where all I have been over the weekend, and mixing with strangers, it is probably no surprise, but I have this sinking feeling that I should not have said to Christine that I had not had a cold since I followed my doctor’s suggestion last year in July to increase my vitamin D. Doesn’t it happen that we are attacked at the very point where we have some pride?

But then, now I hear that there is a lot of flu and colds going around. So maybe I just need to carry on with my various home remedies, keep to myself for a few days, and trust that it will all clear up before Priscilla’s wedding on Saturday mid-day, and the 25th Anniversary banquet at church in the evening.

A friend asked recently for more news of my life. I tried to explain that I have so many things going on that it is hard to explain all of it to anyone. Even of all the things I was into on the weekend, it is hard to summarize neatly. Sometimes it bothers me too, that I rattle on and on about myself. But hey, I have range of friends that want to know what goes on with me!

In the last couple of weeks many trees have had their leaves turn to gold. On Saturday I raked up a heap on my back patio area, and I buried them in my garden. Sunday morning it was raining golden leaves on my head, and I walked through thick layers of fallen leaves on my steps, and down the path to my car. I noted a crisp crackle-crunch under my feet. Even a delicate tinkle as the leaves landed on me and the ground.

At the car I turned around and - marveled at the golden tree that is more than twice the height of my house. I got back out of the car and took this photo. Just in case it would be naked later in the day.

Yesterday I felt like I was wading through several inches of fallen leaves most of the 13 blocks of my walk to the office, but by this morning they had been trod down quite a bit.

This morning it occurred to me to take out my camera. It has a video setting but I have usually ignored it because I don’t think I understand how to use it, but I thought it might record the sound for you.

Turns out that it recorded the pictures fine, but no sound.

I’ve just put the videos on the computer, and studied the camera, but I still don’t know how to turn on any audio feature.

Anyway, I’ve decided to try putting a short video of my walk on the blog edition. If this works you’ll find them at the RoseBouquet in the At My Place… section.

[Apparently my browser thinks I have missing plugins; I'll leave it here though in case you can see it]

No, not the kind where I describe health problems or surgeries with my internal organs - per the usual joke with organ recitals. But my mind is filled with an organ story just now, so that I can’t think of anything else, so I might as well tell you this story.

My friend Anna was moving from a duplex to a situation where she will be a companion to an older woman friend who has been widowed. This meant she has been trying to sell and give away her furniture - as she simply could not take it all with her, to where her personal territory will be one bedroom.

She offered her Lowery, two-keyboard electric organ to our mission, and in an effort to help her out, I persuaded our Board that we should accept this offer. Even though some feared that the tuning bill would be sky-high. So last Thursday evening I rounded up some of those Board members, (one couple having a truck) and we moved it from Anna’s place to the mission. She also slipped me a donation to use towards the tuning she thought it would need.

A friend here in the office, Anne, had tried it out last week, and said it was in tune. It just needed a good cleaning.

Well this morning I called a man who advertises that he tunes pianos and organs, though his web page shows lots of church organs that he has built which have pipes reaching way into the rafters. This man, Bill, would charge $76 to come have a look, or if I could give him the model and serial number he could look it up. Since I was on my cordless phone I went downstairs to read the information off to him.

I couldn’t read the fine print on the label under the keyboard, so Joe got down on his back on the floor and read them off to me.

With that information, and a talk with Anne down the hall, Bill was able to tell me that it would cost $400 to clean about 300 wires (or whatever) that had got corroded. Basically he would have to de-solder them and then solder them on again. Very time consuming.

My heart sank. But then Bill made a suggestion. He has a smaller working Yamaha organ we can have for $99 plus taxes, and he’ll take this older one if we deliver and pick up the other. Anna’s tip will cover this plan nicely. Now, let’s hope I can persuade the Board members to make the move/exchange! Then we all win!

Next time we have a public meeting downstairs, we can actually have accompaniment with our singing.

Whew! Fall is here! Last week and the week before we were having nice warm temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s Celsius in the daytime. At night they dropped to double and single digits, but every morning the sun was up and warmed things up. Great harvesting weather for the farmers.

Then we began to hear what was coming this week. Since my plants were drying off and dying in the garden, I started digging up potatoes and bringing in various things. I got most of the potatoes dug up last week, but have about 3-4 plants left. Sunday night a cold wind blew in, and the leaves started to fall. Tonight there is to be a frost, as the temperatures will drop below 0. So yesterday after I got home from the office, I went out and harvested my watermelon crop. (The one I took to church on Sunday night was delicious!) I expected to find 10 more, but discovered I had 16. Nice.

My squash harvest comes to 22. I had cut those on Saturday too.

Last night I also picked and pulled up my tomato plants. Except - this morning as I was rushing out to the car, I gasped when I saw that I’d forgotten the yellow tomatoes! I’ll have to bring those in tonight.

There’s still some carrots, a bit of parsley, and some long yellow kind of thing in the row where I had sown pumpkins. And the yellow tomatoes. And those last few potato plants. Then my harvest will be in.

At any rather, I thought I might tuck in a picture here for you of my ‘crops’. If the weather turns nicer again next week, as some say it will, I’ll be able to tidy up the plant waste and turn it into compost.