The Good, The Bad, And The Funny

Well, let's start with the good and end with the funny. Several good things happened this week. One is that I finished the Book of Acts on Thursday. That was a personal goal so I could begin the new translation this week. I'm not even sure how to pronounce the name but I'm sure I will learn. I know I will be keyboarding 1 Corinthians. There are just a few chapters left in the Mixe language and then it will be off to the editors and finally onto the internet. In connection with keyboarding, our "boss" invited all the keyboarders and their spouses to her house Saturday for a Mexican potluck. It was fun to get together like that but the special treat was that the man and wife who translated Mixe was there to tell us how it was when they started. The process began in the late 1940s when they went by mule and on foot to the village where Mixe is spoken.

Another good thing: The Center had a Volunteer Appreciation dinner for all the volunteers. It was very humbling to be honored for a few weeks work by the people who gave most of their lives to translating the New Testament into a foreign language. The food was good -- not spectacular -- but the whole evening was really great.

How about the bad? Okay, maybe it isn't so bad, I don't know yet. The story begins Thursday evening when I started the pickup to drive home. It ran really rough and the closer to home, the worse it ran. It would hardly climb the hills getting into Jim's place. We borrowed Jim's car to go to the Volunteer Dinner. Friday I took Jim's car over to the Center to plead my plight. They have an auto repair department and do a little work on diesels. The diesel "expert" was leaving Saturday morning for a couple weeks but he was willing to take a look if I could get the pickup over there. Problem was it wouldn't even pull up the hill to get to the main road. So they sent a guy over with an old rebuilt Suburban and a short rope to toe me in. Fred spent a lot of the afternoon on it. The computer codes indicated problems with cylinders 1 and 5 -- probably either rat damage to the wires or injector problems. He eliminated the rat theory but they don't have the time or expertise to go into the injectors. But when he put the wiring back together and started it up, it ran almost perfectly. So today after church, I dumped a double doze of injector cleaner in it and drove it to Oracle -- about a 40 mile round trip. Ran great. So this week, we'll check the computer codes again and maybe change the fuel filter. The pickup is still at the Center and I'm driving Jim's spare car but tomorrow I'll start driving the pickup again and see what happens. Pray for us diesel dummies.

Speaking of church. We went to the Vistoso Community Church. It was good. Remember what church was like back in 1955? That is what it was like. Except they had a computer and projector. Hymns, suits, ties, older people, etc. But they are reaching their community.

Now for the funny part. You have to put on your grin and understand that I'm baring all to tell you this story. A few days ago Joyce and I got ready to go someplace. I pulled on some fresh underwear, a fresh shirt, and a pair of pants. After I tucked in the shirt and begin to move around I noticed a distinct sharp stab in my backside -- in fact quite a few of them. S0 -- now this is embarrassing but I'm willing to tell you -- down came my pants and Joyce began pulling little short cactus spins out of my ... well, you know what. I made it through the day and that evening I lay on the bed with my face pointing down and my derriere pointing up. Joyce, with tweezers in hand, began pulling anything that looked suspicious -- cactus, hair, pimples, anything. Ouch! That mostly solved it, except that we went through the same thing the next night. After that, I decided to let the rest wear themselves out. Where did I pick up such a wondrous assortment of Arizona flora? I have no idea. We think maybe off the carpet. I like to put my socks on by sitting on the steps leading up to the bathroom level. If we happen to have cactus spins on our shoes when we come in, they could be transferred to the carpet and then to my ... well, you know what. So, go ahead, laugh at my expense. It's okay.

I love you anyway. And I put on my socks somewhere else.