September 2005


Personal30 Sep 2005 09:53 pm

Found it. Cretora is the blogger I mentioned whose husband (currently pictured in the top post) apprehended me at SMBI. That was fun. If you ever run into me and I don’t know you but you think I might be Mr. Iced Tea Forever, please be sure to introduce yourself!

Medical29 Sep 2005 10:30 pm

Went to the dentist again today. And since last time I complained so much about the ineffectiveness of Valium, today I experimented with a new drug.

He gave me Halcion. It is the lamest excuse for a drug that I’ve tried in quite some time. What a crock. That stuff wouldn’t slow down a wheelchair-bound arthritic senior citizen.

I did a little poking around on the internet tonight, and it looks like the stuff is merely a pathetic sleeping pill. How lame is that.

He feigned surprise at how little I claimed it was affecting me. He said it usually really knocked people out. I explained to him that I am very resistant to medication, and he concurred that I certainly must be.

Maybe next time I’ll try one of each.

Music&Personal28 Sep 2005 08:08 pm

We had a wonderful weekend at SMBI. In amidst all the music and singing and friends and everything else, I also launched my public speaking career! But as I told By, I’m sure this is going to be one short-lived career.

All drivel aside, my sermon went pretty well. I fleshed out my notes quite a bit and ended up with a fairly well padded outline that I also used as a handout. I wanted it to be a somewhat cohesive document that would stand on its own as a possible resource for the recipient at any point in the future. My words would fade from their memory, but the wisdom inscribed on that solemn document would last forever. Wait, I’m back to drivel again.

I was a little concerned about being able to yap for an hour. I ended up not quite even making it through my notes, so that was fine. I did ramble and repeat myself a good deal, I think. It’s hard for me to keep the big picture in view and keep track of where I am trying to go. But it was good, I was satisfied overall with how it went.

It’s funny, normally public speaking fills me with horror, denial, and dread, but this incident didn’t nearly so much. And I have a theory why. Not only am I passionate about the subject (quartet organization and operation), but it’s one that I feel I know and understand very well. I felt I really did have something to offer.

Anyway, more about the weekend. My wife wasn’t able to come, so my brother-in-law Todd drove out with me. He visited his buddy Ryan who is currently a student at SMBI. It was a long drive (7.5 or so hours). What a pain. We arrived at about 2:30 am.

All attendees sang in a men’s chorus under the direction of my friend Brandon Mullet from Faith Builders. It was great to sing under him again, he’s a wonderful director.

Saturday morning this kid (also in the bass section) comes up to me and says, yeah, I read your blog. Turns out that it was occasional ITF commenter pickupman! That was a surprise.

And while I’m talking about ITF, here’s another story. Sunday afternoon I was trucking down the hall looking for Todd and I heard a man shout “Troyer!” I whirled around to see who it was and I didn’t know the guy. He said, “Are you Mr. Iced Tea?”

Ha ha!! What in the world! Yes, I sure was. Turns out that his wife has a blog (I apologize, I forget the name) and is an occasional ITF surfer. They were sitting there during our program that afternoon and she turned to him and said, “I think that’s Mr. Iced Tea up there!”

More later.

Audio&The Den of Iniquity23 Sep 2005 04:40 pm

Speaking of my answering machine message, a little while ago my old buddy Marty (Marty stories here and here) gave me a call.

I used to work with Marty over at the old Plant 103, he was my partner in all things electrical. He was calling to check up on me and see how I was doing. Somehow I get the impression that he doesn’t think ITF needs an office!

Listen here (114KB, 0:12).

Hoosierville23 Sep 2005 12:34 am

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Fish-on-a-stick is gone!!

Personal21 Sep 2005 10:18 pm

Had quite the suprise last night. Got a phone call around 8 or so in the evening, and here it was Larry! And where were they at but the Blue Gate Restaurant! Just a few minutes from our house. What a surprise. They were on their way back home from a wedding in PA.

So Larry and Margaret came over for awhile and visited, it was wonderful to see them again. We like to have visitors from Utopia.

Anyway, I need to get back to preparing for my sermon this weekend.

Music&Personal19 Sep 2005 10:13 pm

This coming weekend I’m once again making the eternal trek to SMBI in PA for the Quartet Weekend. Last year the road tolls were 20 bucks ONE WAY! I was unprepared, I barely had the cash to cover it going out there. And it’s around an 8 hour drive I think, way too long. Then coming home late that Sunday night the heater core went out in my car.

Joy.

But I made it, and it was well worth it. What a great weekend! I’m looking forward to another one. I get to see friends that I don’t see very often, and it’s great singing and hanging out with fellow rabid quartet guys. Me and my buddy Benj are going to try to throw a quartet together for the weekend.

Dave Gingerich was going to have one of the workshops, but had to cancel. They asked me to fill in for him, so I’m in charge of the “Organizational Structure” workshop. I’m not real comfortable with public speaking, so it’s getting right down to panic time. I can’t think on my feet when I’m orating publicly, and I often ramble and talk in circles. I’d much rather sing in public than speak.

Hey! That’s an idea! Maybe I should just set my presentation to music!

(Sung to the tune of “Muy Bien Senor,” a song I wrote a number of years ago.)

“Always sing in tune,
Always sing in tune,
Every time you practice
Learn to sing in tune!
Always sing in tune. . .” etc.

And so on. I’ll have to consider that, it may be just the ticket.

Misc19 Sep 2005 04:08 pm

My friend Mark Roth of Anabaptists.org has just started a new blog, Panting Hart. Its content is derived from personal devotions. Why?

Perhaps a public commitment to post something every day will be a positive exercise in self-discipline that will push me more into the Scriptures, thus giving God more opportunities in which to stimulate my hunger and thirst.

Perhaps a place for mutual feedback and encouragement in this pursuit will motivate others as well.

Sounds like a great idea to me.

The Den of Iniquity17 Sep 2005 05:08 pm

A week or two ago I started suspecting my screwgun trigger was going bad again. It slowly got worse, then the brake went bye-bye. And next was the variable speed.

Those both happened the same day. The gun was nigh near unusable, then I started smelling something burning. Electrical-type burning. The screwgun was laying on the table where I was working, just sitting there. I touched it and it was smoking hot!

I quickly yanked the battrey out, only to find meltage and nastiness:

Notice the little warp or bubble in the right bottom corner, on top of the battrey? It was even getting hot down there inside, that started to melt too.

So I was forced to trade it in on a new screwgun. Had to go clear in to Elkhart for the nearest Sears too, what a pain.

I get in there and find that Craftsman has redesigned the 19.2 volt screwgun, so I got to upgrade. And this one is pretty nice.

The first thing I did of course was yard off that drill handle, I don’t need that. I’m sure it would be nice if you did a lot of drilling though, but I use it mostly for driving screws.

I certainly hope that they redesigned the trigger too! On the inside. The old one was definitely faulty.

The chuck is different, the clutch adjustment is much better, the grip is more ergonomic, the rubber is a little tougher, and the neatest thing is the little LED work light on the top of the battrey housing. It comes on with the trigger and casts a little glow up towards the front of the gun. Pretty slick. Nice if you’re working in a dark area and could use some extra light on the subject.

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