A week ago, I went on a fantastic trip to Montréal with Jon & Sheba. It was all part of Jon's plan to romance Sheba for a couple of days building up to his proposition and her acceptance. Yes, they are in fact now engaged!
Maybe I should back up a bit and explain what happened. On the Saturday, Jon took Sheba out for a sail on lake Ontario as a romantic date. Then the next morning, Sheba thought she would be having breakfast with her mum but she was surprised to find Jon, a chauffeur (that's me) and a car waiting for her instead. We took her home and got her to pack some things before grabbing some brunch and then heading for the highway. Sheba still didn't know where we were going at this point. We eventually told her when we got onto Highway 401 East and she couldn't figure out where we would be going.
We drove about 650 km each way in our rented Chevrole Impala which was pretty good and thankfully had good air conditioning because it was REALLY humid.
When we arrived in Montréal, we got settled in to the bed & breakfast before Jon & Sheba headed out for dinner and some jazz. I had a wander around the city and took some pictures. I happened to stumble upon a movie set where Scottish actor Robert Carlyle was being filmed for a show called Human Traffic which I believe will be available on cable in October. You can see my photos here.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Kilt Ordered!
On Saturday, I decided to cycle to Hector Russell to order my kilt. I knew it was quite a distance but I thought it'd be a good bit of exercise. Well, one hour later I arrived there and chose the tartan for my kilt. I went for the ancient Farquharson. As if that wasn't complicated enough, I also had to choose from three different mills who all use slightly different colouring. I don't remember right now the name of the mill I chose but I'll look it up.
The kilt should be ready in 6 - 8 weeks although it depends if the mill has the material in stock. It should be ready in time for all the weddings I'm going to in September. OK, both the weddings I'm going to in September...a week apart.
The kilt should be ready in 6 - 8 weeks although it depends if the mill has the material in stock. It should be ready in time for all the weddings I'm going to in September. OK, both the weddings I'm going to in September...a week apart.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Will Elder - my friend
Today I received the sad news that Will Elder, a friend and ex-colleague died of cancer this morning. The news hit me as a bit of a blow because we had been praying and believing for God to heal him. The whole thing seemed so tragic as well as he had so much of his life ahead of him. He was 22.
I first met Will in 2002 when I started working at TACF as a volunteer in what was then the Media department. Will was such a friendly and cheerful guy. He was always enthusiastic, hard working and helpful. He had time for people and would help out whenever help was needed, even if it wasn't really his responsibility.
When he stopped working at TACF a while ago, I didn't really keep in touch with him. We just went our separate ways, really. He first contracted testicular cancer almost a year ago and he had a fairly bumpy ride with various treatments and some misleading good signs and even a phase when he thought he was cancer-free.
I went with a few friends to visit him about a month ago and we chatted for a bit. He told me of all the pain he was in, how he had gone hoarse one day from yelling so much because of the pain. Through it all, though, he never lost his sense of God's presence. He said he could feel God's love and he could sense angels in the room as well.
It's just tough when I KNOW that people get healed and cancer really isn't a big deal to God, he's healed people before. God is also a God of LOVE and he desires good things for his children. Right now these don't seem to add up with what's happened but I beleive there are other factors outside my understanding. I still trust God, I still belive he has a good, pleasing and perfect plan for my life and all the rest. I just wish I knew more about healing.
I've been wondering recently, as Will's death seemed more and more imminent - why should he die and me live? Really, when all is said and done, he was a nicer guy than me. I've probably run to sin instead of God more in my life yet here I am in perfect health. I suppose we may tend to associate sickness with God's judgment but it's not always that way.
Will isn't in any pain any more. That I believe. He's with God, his creator, his loving Father. How amazing a promise that is. Really, where is the sting in death? All we have is this temporary separation until we are re-united in heaven. Until then, though, I'll miss him.
I first met Will in 2002 when I started working at TACF as a volunteer in what was then the Media department. Will was such a friendly and cheerful guy. He was always enthusiastic, hard working and helpful. He had time for people and would help out whenever help was needed, even if it wasn't really his responsibility.
When he stopped working at TACF a while ago, I didn't really keep in touch with him. We just went our separate ways, really. He first contracted testicular cancer almost a year ago and he had a fairly bumpy ride with various treatments and some misleading good signs and even a phase when he thought he was cancer-free.
I went with a few friends to visit him about a month ago and we chatted for a bit. He told me of all the pain he was in, how he had gone hoarse one day from yelling so much because of the pain. Through it all, though, he never lost his sense of God's presence. He said he could feel God's love and he could sense angels in the room as well.
It's just tough when I KNOW that people get healed and cancer really isn't a big deal to God, he's healed people before. God is also a God of LOVE and he desires good things for his children. Right now these don't seem to add up with what's happened but I beleive there are other factors outside my understanding. I still trust God, I still belive he has a good, pleasing and perfect plan for my life and all the rest. I just wish I knew more about healing.
I've been wondering recently, as Will's death seemed more and more imminent - why should he die and me live? Really, when all is said and done, he was a nicer guy than me. I've probably run to sin instead of God more in my life yet here I am in perfect health. I suppose we may tend to associate sickness with God's judgment but it's not always that way.
Will isn't in any pain any more. That I believe. He's with God, his creator, his loving Father. How amazing a promise that is. Really, where is the sting in death? All we have is this temporary separation until we are re-united in heaven. Until then, though, I'll miss him.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
I think I'll buy a kilt.
Since the wedding at the weekend, I've been considering how much money I've spent on kilt hire. The rental costs $150 each time and I know I've rented a kilt at least 3 times while in Canada, possible even 4. That's from $450 - $600 dollars right there and I have nothing to show for it other than a few cool photos.
I can get a full 8 yard, hand-sewn kilt from Hector Russell in Toronto. (Interestingly, the first Hector Russell was in my home town of Greenock.) If I get the kilt by itself, it'll cost $645 which I think I can afford. Then I can wear it whenever I want, which would be quite fun.
I'm going to go with the Farquharson tartan which is my family tartan, although it's not my name. To add confusion, there are actually four version of the tartan I can choose from. Here's a peek at each of them.
Ancient
Modern
Muted
Weathered
I'm going to go and have a look soon to see which one looks best in real life as they can look misleading on a computer screen.
I can get a full 8 yard, hand-sewn kilt from Hector Russell in Toronto. (Interestingly, the first Hector Russell was in my home town of Greenock.) If I get the kilt by itself, it'll cost $645 which I think I can afford. Then I can wear it whenever I want, which would be quite fun.
I'm going to go with the Farquharson tartan which is my family tartan, although it's not my name. To add confusion, there are actually four version of the tartan I can choose from. Here's a peek at each of them.
Ancient
Modern
Muted
Weathered
I'm going to go and have a look soon to see which one looks best in real life as they can look misleading on a computer screen.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
HSBC No More!
I have finally closed my account with HSBC. I find PC Financial to be a far superior bank. I've been using them for a couple of months now but I still hadn't closed the HSBC account because I couldn't figure out a way of getting my money out without needing to pay a fee, since I had a lot to transfer and I didn't want to walk out with a bag full of cash.
I spent the money instead and today I was handed a $2 coin from the manager as she closed my account. It was actually quite amusing. It illustrated how little interest I had in the bank by that time - the fact that I had spent all but $2 before closing the account.
She was actually pretty grumpy about closing the account, as if my business going elsewhere will put her out of a job. She asked me to fill out a form at one point and when I handed it back she said, "Thanks, that's great....Well...it's not great."
I just smiled to myself, thinking her poor attempts at guilt and manipuation wouldn't work on me! Ha! Your Jedi skills will only work on the weak minded!
I spent the money instead and today I was handed a $2 coin from the manager as she closed my account. It was actually quite amusing. It illustrated how little interest I had in the bank by that time - the fact that I had spent all but $2 before closing the account.
She was actually pretty grumpy about closing the account, as if my business going elsewhere will put her out of a job. She asked me to fill out a form at one point and when I handed it back she said, "Thanks, that's great....Well...it's not great."
I just smiled to myself, thinking her poor attempts at guilt and manipuation wouldn't work on me! Ha! Your Jedi skills will only work on the weak minded!
Photos from Chris & Lorri's Wedding
I now have the photos back from the wedding on Saturday. Follow this link to have a look. Luckily for Chris, I took out the one from the night before when we made him wear a thong.
Monday, May 16, 2005
A pretty cool wedding
I was priveleged to be part of Chris & Lorri's wedding on Saturday. We had quite a drive to get there, though. Chris is from New Hamburg and the wedding was in Saint Mary's. (the town, not a Catholic church) Check out a map of the area on Google to see where these places are. The reception was somewhere else entirely. I don't know exactly where it was - it was a barn somewhere. Mind you, it was a really nice barn.
One of the highlights of the day was at the end of the ceremony when the minister told us the reception was to be at 5:30pm. Chris and Lorri looked at him kinda funny and said "it's 6:30" to which he replied, "no, trust me, it's 5:30" Well, the newlyweds left in the car and then Lorri's dad came up to the front and said "The reason it's 5:30 is because they don't know this but we're having a helicopter pick them up and fly them there. Oh, and free helicopter rides for everyone!"
It was a pretty cool deal and far more original than the old "free drinks all round" concept. There were two helicopters, one of which could take three passengers and the other could take four. They kept going for quite a while until everyone had a shot. I had to be carefuly standing in line with my kilt on because each time a helicopter took off, there was quite a gust. I think I managed to defend my dignity ok, though.
All in all, it was a great day, though, starting with a last-minute band practice in the morning and ending with helping to clear up some of the stuff in the barn and getting back to Toronto at around 2am.
I love the community of a wedding. It's not just two people getting together, it's everyone being a witness and participant in the joy and celebration of their new life together. Here's to Chris and Lorri's new future together!
(I will hopefully have some photos soon!)
One of the highlights of the day was at the end of the ceremony when the minister told us the reception was to be at 5:30pm. Chris and Lorri looked at him kinda funny and said "it's 6:30" to which he replied, "no, trust me, it's 5:30" Well, the newlyweds left in the car and then Lorri's dad came up to the front and said "The reason it's 5:30 is because they don't know this but we're having a helicopter pick them up and fly them there. Oh, and free helicopter rides for everyone!"
It was a pretty cool deal and far more original than the old "free drinks all round" concept. There were two helicopters, one of which could take three passengers and the other could take four. They kept going for quite a while until everyone had a shot. I had to be carefuly standing in line with my kilt on because each time a helicopter took off, there was quite a gust. I think I managed to defend my dignity ok, though.
All in all, it was a great day, though, starting with a last-minute band practice in the morning and ending with helping to clear up some of the stuff in the barn and getting back to Toronto at around 2am.
I love the community of a wedding. It's not just two people getting together, it's everyone being a witness and participant in the joy and celebration of their new life together. Here's to Chris and Lorri's new future together!
(I will hopefully have some photos soon!)
Monday, May 02, 2005
BICYCLE!
(In my best Queen voice:) I want to ride my BICYCLE, I want to ride my bike!
Yes, it's true. I finally bought a bi-cycle - a two-wheeler, with no stabilisers! I'm a big boy now, yes I am.
Inspired by the plethora of bicycles is use in Denmark, I decided to get one of my own to get around (round round get around, I get around!) my neighbourhood. I can also ride to work/church as well and get a bit stronger in the legs in the process. That way I'll be stronger for climbing as well and a spot of cardio exercise is always a good idea as well.
For those of you interested in bike details, I got the Yukon by Giant. I hope to have lots of fun and get fitter at the same time.
Yes, it's true. I finally bought a bi-cycle - a two-wheeler, with no stabilisers! I'm a big boy now, yes I am.
Inspired by the plethora of bicycles is use in Denmark, I decided to get one of my own to get around (round round get around, I get around!) my neighbourhood. I can also ride to work/church as well and get a bit stronger in the legs in the process. That way I'll be stronger for climbing as well and a spot of cardio exercise is always a good idea as well.
For those of you interested in bike details, I got the Yukon by Giant. I hope to have lots of fun and get fitter at the same time.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Back in Copenhagen
It's Saturday night and I'm now back in Copenhagen. I've not been able to get to a computer since last weekend. OK, I'll rephrase that. I've just not been near a computer. I probably could have been if I really wanted to be but I didn't so there you go.
A lot has happened since I last wrote but I don't really feel like writing a huge report of my week here. Denmark has been an interesting experience for me, though, and it's been interesting to experience yet another culture.
It's strange the things that strike you as different when you travel from one country to another. In Denmark there are so many bikes. They're everywhere. Not only that, but it seems all streets have bike lanes and traffic lights for bikes as well. People tend to be very well-behaved with waiting for the proper signal to cross the roads and the system of payment on public transport relies a lot on honesty but again people play by the rules. It was nice to see somewhere that there were so few cars on the road and well-run buses full of people as well as all the bikes. I thought that all the biking would make people fitter here but smoking is also much more popular in Denmark so I don't know if they cancel each other out or not.
Anyway, I'm going to stop for now. Tomorrow morning I'm flying to London then on to Toronto. Hopefully I'll be "bright eyed and bushy-tailed" for work on Monday morning.
Hej Hej
A lot has happened since I last wrote but I don't really feel like writing a huge report of my week here. Denmark has been an interesting experience for me, though, and it's been interesting to experience yet another culture.
It's strange the things that strike you as different when you travel from one country to another. In Denmark there are so many bikes. They're everywhere. Not only that, but it seems all streets have bike lanes and traffic lights for bikes as well. People tend to be very well-behaved with waiting for the proper signal to cross the roads and the system of payment on public transport relies a lot on honesty but again people play by the rules. It was nice to see somewhere that there were so few cars on the road and well-run buses full of people as well as all the bikes. I thought that all the biking would make people fitter here but smoking is also much more popular in Denmark so I don't know if they cancel each other out or not.
Anyway, I'm going to stop for now. Tomorrow morning I'm flying to London then on to Toronto. Hopefully I'll be "bright eyed and bushy-tailed" for work on Monday morning.
Hej Hej
Det er hyggeligt!
That is pronounced: "Day err hoogalit"
Do allow me to explain from my Scandinavian phrasebook which includes Danish, Faroese, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish.
"Hygge is a concept close to Danish hearts. It describes many things, like being cosy and comfortable in a warm bed, or sitting in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa, or a surprise visitor with whom you stay up all night chatting."
It's too bad we don't have cool words like that in English as well. Some things don't translate precisely, I feel.
Do allow me to explain from my Scandinavian phrasebook which includes Danish, Faroese, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish.
"Hygge is a concept close to Danish hearts. It describes many things, like being cosy and comfortable in a warm bed, or sitting in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa, or a surprise visitor with whom you stay up all night chatting."
It's too bad we don't have cool words like that in English as well. Some things don't translate precisely, I feel.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Fun in Copenhagen.
I've been settling in to Danish time which is 6 hours ahead of Toronto. I'm still not quite adjusted and I find myself tired in the afternoon and wide awake at bedtime. Today I got up at 8:30, though, and just had a nap before dinner.
I've been to the PIH church in Copenhagen although I couldn't tell you where it is. We took two buses and a subway to get there. I enjoyed the worship although I didn't bother getting anyone to translate for me so I spent the whole message trying to guess what they were saying.
Today I went to the Planetarium with Camilla. It's a big cinema which I think is the same as the iMax technology we have back in Scotland. We watched a documentary about natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes and tornados. It made me smile when I saw the tornados and I remembered the time when I told one to go away and it did!
We still need to visit Hans Christian Andersen's grave which I believe is just across the road from where we are just now. Tomorrow morning we're getting up early to get the train to Århus. Hopefully I'll have another chance to do an update soon.
I've been to the PIH church in Copenhagen although I couldn't tell you where it is. We took two buses and a subway to get there. I enjoyed the worship although I didn't bother getting anyone to translate for me so I spent the whole message trying to guess what they were saying.
Today I went to the Planetarium with Camilla. It's a big cinema which I think is the same as the iMax technology we have back in Scotland. We watched a documentary about natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes and tornados. It made me smile when I saw the tornados and I remembered the time when I told one to go away and it did!
We still need to visit Hans Christian Andersen's grave which I believe is just across the road from where we are just now. Tomorrow morning we're getting up early to get the train to Århus. Hopefully I'll have another chance to do an update soon.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Rock On!
I recently bought some Metolius Rock Rings from the Mountain Equipment Co-Op but it's taken me a while to get all the equipment to actually attach it to my wall.
Last night I finally got it all finished. This is by far the biggest Home Improvements (or DIY) adventure I've ever had. Prior to this, the biggest thing I ever did was to attach an Ikea mirror to my bathroom wall.
This latest project was a bit tricky. I had to mount a 2 by 6 (or "bit o' wid" for you Scots out there) on the wall using three 5 inch bolts that I (ok my friend Thomas) drilled all the way through the concrete wall. I also attached six "bolt hangers" to the wood so that I could clip the rock rings into a variety of positions for wider or narrower holds. Now all I need is some upper body strength to actually hold on!
Last night I finally got it all finished. This is by far the biggest Home Improvements (or DIY) adventure I've ever had. Prior to this, the biggest thing I ever did was to attach an Ikea mirror to my bathroom wall.
This latest project was a bit tricky. I had to mount a 2 by 6 (or "bit o' wid" for you Scots out there) on the wall using three 5 inch bolts that I (ok my friend Thomas) drilled all the way through the concrete wall. I also attached six "bolt hangers" to the wood so that I could clip the rock rings into a variety of positions for wider or narrower holds. Now all I need is some upper body strength to actually hold on!
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Winter Pictures
It's almost the end of winter. OK, sorry, it IS the end of winter! I believe it, despite what I see with my eyes!
Well, actually it was a bit warmer today. I have to say. The snow banks are melting and people are discovering all kinds of lost items that have been burried since November.
These are some pics I had in my phone that I hadn't got round to uploading yet so here they are. Each one is a link to the relevant page in my Flickr account.
Well, actually it was a bit warmer today. I have to say. The snow banks are melting and people are discovering all kinds of lost items that have been burried since November.
These are some pics I had in my phone that I hadn't got round to uploading yet so here they are. Each one is a link to the relevant page in my Flickr account.
Canadian Tire Cat
This is rather disturbing. I was in Canadian Tire (a home hardware shop for the Brits) with Drew and we noticed this cat sitting around like he owned the place. It was so bizarre. The weird thing was that I think he did own the place. He didn't have a name badge saying he was the manager or anything like that but I had this "sense" that he was in charge.
The day Jeremy Wright came to play
It was a very odd day, last Wednesday. It was especially odd for my old boss Jeremy who tried to fly to the US for a blogging job. He was prompty stopped at the airport and detained for two hours with a couple of strip searches thrown in for good measure.
He came over to our office instead to regroup after his ordeal. (The US Customs authorities have a place at Toronto Airport, before you get on the plane) We ended up making the most of the visit and playing CounterStrike:Source for the better part of the evening on our LAN. I won, incidentally. :)
I happened to spot an article about it in today's Toronto Metro magazine. (Jeremy not getting into the US, not me beating him at CS:Source) It was so bizarre. I was on the subway, heading downtown to an MSDN seminar and I happened to notice Jeremy's picture on someone's newspaper. Here's a link to the paper. He's on page 3. (Trying hard not to make a page 3 joke for british readers.)
He came over to our office instead to regroup after his ordeal. (The US Customs authorities have a place at Toronto Airport, before you get on the plane) We ended up making the most of the visit and playing CounterStrike:Source for the better part of the evening on our LAN. I won, incidentally. :)
I happened to spot an article about it in today's Toronto Metro magazine. (Jeremy not getting into the US, not me beating him at CS:Source) It was so bizarre. I was on the subway, heading downtown to an MSDN seminar and I happened to notice Jeremy's picture on someone's newspaper. Here's a link to the paper. He's on page 3. (Trying hard not to make a page 3 joke for british readers.)
Saturday, March 19, 2005
What's worse than having to re-write a post?
I'll tell you - it's looking at your blog and discovering that the first time round it was published after all. Aagh! Well, you got a slightly better story the second time around but I could have done without the 20 extra minutes of writing that it took. Boo hoo.
I'm going to Denmark!
Ok, so I know this is pretty random, even by my standards but I've decided to go to Denmark for a week. Work's been really stressing me out a lot recently. I just feel so overwhelmed with the amount of things that need done and the pile only gets bigger. People keep coming up with great ideas for new programs we could write but I'm only one developer and it's getting insane.
You could be excused for asking "Why Denmark" as you may have guessed I'm not just going to hop across the Atlantic to a country chosen entirely at random. No, there is a significance to this nation. I have a friend there who I've been getting to know over the past 3 months and I thought it'd be fun to just head on over to say "Hi".
I should mention here that this is my second attempt to post this message. I was in the middle of publishing it earlier and I pressed the backspace key, thinking the focus was on another window. It had the effect of choosing the "Back" function of my browser. When I clicked "Forward" again it was too late. My post had evaporated in a puff of cosmic dust. Gah, I hate it when that happens. If I had a penny for every e-mail that went up in a puff of cosmic dust I'd have...well one penny. Anyway...
I'm really hoping there's blossom on the trees when I'm in Denmark. I love blossom. I just figured out why I like it so much. Consider snow. Snow is great, snow is fun but snow can become tiring after a while - especially here in Ontario. It's like pre-Aslan Narnia. The winter never seems to end. On the other hand, consider the fleeting life of blossom. It just bursts out of nowhere, adorns the trees like Solomon's splendour and then in no time at all is trampled underfoot. It's an amazing explosion of artistic colour, a heavenly exclamation that life has returned to the trees and warmer weather is just around the corner. I love blossom.
Four weeks today I'll be at the airport. If only I could go sooner. I love being spontaneous and even four weeks seems a long time to wait. Ah, it'll pass soon enough!
Thursday, March 17, 2005
St. Patrick was an amazing man!
I was reflecting on the amount of aggressive "Why aren't you wearing green?" attacks that have been hurled my way today. It's just interesting how something that started out as a holy day, a commemoration of a life of sacrifice, has degenerated into Guinness, wearing green, Leprichauns, shamrocks, pots of gold etc...
The truth is that in St. Patrick we see a man who was born in Scotland and captured by Irish warriors who sold him into slavery when he was 16 years old. He then spent 6 years as a farmer for a chieftan who was also a druidical high priest. He escaped back to Britain and chose to devote his life to God. He returned to Ireland and pretty much converted the nation from Druidism to Christianity.
That's an amazing life, a great story. It's such a great story that green beer just seems childish by comparison. (No, not child-like - childish, pointless, shallow, trivial.) What have we done to the holy days of our past? How do we remember the people God's used as instruments of his signs and wonders? We see how much Guinness we can drink. (sigh) It bothers me.
The whole story of St. Patrick can be read here: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm
I leave you with one of St. Patrick's prayers, known as "St. Patrick's Breast-Plate".
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
The truth is that in St. Patrick we see a man who was born in Scotland and captured by Irish warriors who sold him into slavery when he was 16 years old. He then spent 6 years as a farmer for a chieftan who was also a druidical high priest. He escaped back to Britain and chose to devote his life to God. He returned to Ireland and pretty much converted the nation from Druidism to Christianity.
That's an amazing life, a great story. It's such a great story that green beer just seems childish by comparison. (No, not child-like - childish, pointless, shallow, trivial.) What have we done to the holy days of our past? How do we remember the people God's used as instruments of his signs and wonders? We see how much Guinness we can drink. (sigh) It bothers me.
The whole story of St. Patrick can be read here: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm
I leave you with one of St. Patrick's prayers, known as "St. Patrick's Breast-Plate".
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Butter or Margarine?
It's the age-old debate that came to the fore last night as I tried to butter my bread for my sandwiches for today's lunch. You see, I've learned that margarine isn't good for you and in fact is only one molecule away from plastic (thanks to Mr. Gazaneo for that) but I'm having issues with butter, too. If you try to spread butter straight after taking it out of the fridge, you end up tearing the helpless bread into tatters. I have also tried to store my butter in the cupboard, resulting in a nasty, oily puddle forming in my cupboard. Grr! Is there no end to the madness? Someone must know of a way of getting butter to do its job without driving me INSANE!
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Moving an IT Department
It's really not a small task by any means to move an entire IT Department. Admittedly, we don't have many employees in IT but I'm thinking more of servers and network cables. Yesterday, we did a 12 hour shift and managed to move all the servers into the new location as well as redirect a few critical cables that connect to our other building. We had already re-routed the the network cabling for the upstairs of the office a couple of days earlier so that saved some time. Now everything's up and running except for the downstairs computers in the same building as the servers. We were re-routing 34 cables that were all converging on one patch panel in the old server room and it turns out that they're about 8 feet short of the new location of the patch panel. As I write this, my boss is pummelling the floor of our new office with a variety of chisels, hammers and drills to make a hole through to downstairs so we can take a shorter route and hopefully have enough cable to spare. I can see why some bright spark invented wireless networking. It certainly saves time when moving office. On the other hand, it's not quite as reliable as old fashioned cat5 cables.
On the downside, my back's sore again today. I think it's from all the active work twisting, pulling and climbing yesterday while re-routing the cables. God, please heal my back! I know you can! This healing belongs to me because of what Jesus did on the cross. I receive it now in Jesus' name. Amen!
On the downside, my back's sore again today. I think it's from all the active work twisting, pulling and climbing yesterday while re-routing the cables. God, please heal my back! I know you can! This healing belongs to me because of what Jesus did on the cross. I receive it now in Jesus' name. Amen!
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