The ER, God's Love and Sludge Suckers

I never planned on going to the ER last week; but then I suppose that is why they call it an emergency -- you don't really plan on it. Having had a routine procedure that decided to get complicated, I ended up in the ER and then stayed the night at the hospital. Having lost a fair amount of blood I realized that upon my release my normal slate of activities for that week was out of the question.

During this time the building where I live and am the manager, developed a lake in the parking lot because the storm drain became filled with sludge. Tending to be hyper-responsible, I was trying to figure out how to de-sludge the drain knowing that physically I could not (and should not) attempt the task.

That is where the goodness of God and the sludge-sucking truck converged! I was watching out my kitchen window and saw a truck pull up to a nearby drain, the operators got out, attached a bunch of hoses and they began cleaning out a drain on the sidewalk near ours. Eureka! There are people who get paid to suck sludge from drains!

This normally would not be a high point of my day, but when I realized that a.) I shouldn't be doing this and b.) God knew I would worry about it and c.) there are other people who have the equipment and skill to do these things, I immediately rejoiced and relaxed and thanked God for this small mercy.

Just to let you know: they agreed to look at my drain and in very short order had it cleaned out and explained to me how it worked and how to clear it in an emergency and that there really is no way to deal with a full drain other than to have them come now and then and clean it out. Yay for these guys! A small mercy but a great joy!

Who knew that God loved me that much?

Live Music; it's Really Alive!

So, having just come home from a concert, I was asking myself "Why do people go to concerts?" I mean, after all, we can buy the CD's or download the songs and listen to them on our computers or some other more sophisticated sound system.

But listening live, now that is fun! It is a really stupid thing to say, but the music is so alive! The artists have the chance to share their stories, they talk about the music, they play extended versions of the songs and we as an audience get to interact with the artist and interact with the music as they share it with us.

So, after the cost of the ticket, the wait in line, the obnoxious fan, the sticky floor and the sigh at the end of set that seemed too short because I could have stayed all night -- it is fun to listen to the CD but it is great fun to be at the concert and listen, taste, touch and smell the experience.