Lent - Eating for Cheap

So for Lent this year we are giving up eating out. So far we haven't managed to keep to this as we were behind in getting groceries, but tomorrow we start. Except if we go out with friends or if we are severely behind in getting a meal - then we'll do something like Subway. So today grocery shopping was a real event - not just picking up a few items but actually planned meals. We got great deals on meat - only because we filled up on the discounted items - you know the ones that have the little sticker with a buck or two savings. I don't care - we freeze it right away (and sniff it before we freeze it just in case!). But it does feel weird going through the cash with all this discounted meat. Years ago we used to shop with my parents and this was when "no name" items were still a newer idea. My father marvelled at how my cart was filled with black and yellow boxes - all no name. His cart is top of the line, tried and true brands that they stuck with for 20 years. I tried to tell him that its mostly the same brands anyway but he couldn't bring himself to buy the generic!

The other thing I am going to try to give up is tv - I'm too embarassed to say how much time I spend in front of it - part of it is because I'm addicted to my Nintendo DS spider solitaire game - since I'm playing the game whatever crappy show is one is fine until a better one comes on. I have run out of mainstream shows so I am not watching channels I normally would not watch!

As for the picture - not mine but I swear that the person who posted it on flicker must have been in the same "grocery store" as I was in up in cottage country - frightening!

Starbucks - No Decaf at 2:00 p.m.

Went to Chapters to mooch around with a friend and stopped for a coffee. Well I was going to have a coffee - she came back from ordering and said "Don't ask, but they don't brew decaf after 2:00 p.m.". Hmm, its 7:30 p.m. This seems totally ridiculous - I could understand if they didn't serve it in the morning but not at night? Apparently, this has become a well known thing as I noticed a few blogs noting that Starbucks has stopped selling decaf at noon. Apparently demand goes down in the afternoon so keeping fresh brewed decaf on tap with a 30 minutes shelf life is costing them money. Is it that they sell less decaf or just less coffee overall? Who are the people who switch to caf in the afternoon - I'm sure they sell less cups but not necessarily a smaller percentage.

Now apparently if I ask for decaf they will make a fresh batch if I wait four minutes. I am one of those people - I will wait four minutes, I'll actually wait ten minutes. And I enjoy a fresh cup this way. I also go through the drive through at McDonald's and order Big Macs with half sauce no lettuce, or cheeseburgers just ketchup and onions. My favourite question when I order a cheeseburger with just ketchup and onions is whether I want the cheese. Uh, yeah, I do.

Medley, Or How to Ruin Two Songs

For the older crowd you may remember the "Hooked On" series of cassette tapes - basically they take the best bits of memorable songs and blend them into a long play medley of familiar tunes - very catchy. Very fast food too - who wants to listen to a whole album when you can listen to a few verses of all the best songs. With the advent of the CD with the availability to play tracks in any order and to a much larger extent, iTunes where you can put any group of songs in any order, medleys are a thing of the past. Except in a church I know.

Imagine the hauntingly moving "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" chopped into pieces with verses sung in twos with another song blended in. Now if you hate this hymn 0r don't know it - it cannot be improved by trying to sing it without another song. If you love the hymn and relate it to specific times in the church calendar, emotions or just like it because you know the words enough to think about it when you sing it, then you are stuck with a jarring experience of a whole new song. As I stood trying to pick up the tune each time we went back to the other song I got more frustrated and wondered why in the H someone would want to mess with a classic. The alternate song was a song about mercy. As my husband pointed out, who is no more musical then I am, there are already two well known songs, one contemporary and one hymn quality that were written to evoke the sorrow/joy of Christ's sacrifice by having a mournful tune in one part and a lively response in another. We don't need to reinvent the wheel.

Now, I don't normally like bashing the church when it comes to how we worship but this approach has appeared twice in a row now. Don't get me wrong - I have no problem with singing an entry from one song, singing a complete second song, then ending with the ending of the first selection. But interspering verses drives me crazy - unless we sing this particular version a number of times I will never be free to just sing and reflect, instead I am listening hard to the second unknown tune and trying to figure out the link in between the sound, tone, message and what I am supposing to expressing to God. At one point I was so frustrated I almost started laughing because it just reminded me of some horrible lounge singer - taking bits and pieces of other people's work and throwing it out there to see if something sticks. "Really, you've been a great crowd, I'm back on at 9:00 if you want to hear more."

But what to do? Does one register a "no vote" and let the Worship group know you don't like what they do? That seems wrong - maybe everyone else likes it. Do you just suffer through it? I've been praying before worship because I just can't connect. I can see why people change churches over worship - but that is definitely not the answer either. So, in this too there needs to be grace. I am going to remember this for the future though - openly discussing feedback allows for different opinions to be heard - the good and the bad. If I am the only one that doesn't like this style then I can live with for the sake of others, but I'm selfish enough to assume that lots of people don't like it!

I'm so confused....

I have finally figured out how to add a feed to my homepage. Sort of - I actually usually operate without a home page and now have one so I have my feeds accessible.

Technology has totally gotten ahead of me. I no longer know more than my friends and find myself totally confused outside of my safe zones on the Internet. I have also determined that my capacity for memorizing passwords and user ID's has been reached. I had to go into Yahoo to subscribe to flicker and realized that I didn't have a clue what my sign on was though I used to used to go into the church admin group all the time. I was able to pull it up - along with another username I have used in the past. Yahoo was trying to give me a Yahoo email address - what! I can't possibly take on another, I already can't keep up with the few that I have.

I have purchased a router to go wireless and a new printer/scanner. I haven't hooked either up yet and I have a vague feeling of panick at the thought. I'm sure something won't be compatible and I will face the frustration of trying to figure it all out.

Meanwhile, I really want to be able to create a very simple website - I'm thinking of taking a course with the TDSB but really, do I want to commit the time?