The $1,000 sneaky kebab...

This is a yarn about a $8.00 kebab, guilt over a small amount wasted,
and the disproportionate costs in outcome.

Last Tuesday I had a "TBA" day at work. This means that I was rostered
for work, but was effectively on "standby" at home. This in itself was
welcome because I was still weary and run-down after long hours the
week before testing some new locomotives. (not that I did much to
contribute, but just putting in the hours was tiring!)


So I slept in, then went shopping, and ran some errands. During this
time I got a bit hungry, having skipped breakfast. So I visited my
regular kebab store in Katoomba and bought a kebab. And hoped Mrs F
wouldn't find out.

Shakespeare wrote, "What a tables web we weave when first we practise
to deceive." We al know that the web weavers at St Andrews House and
Lithgow Anglican Church get away with web weaving with impunity and
disentanglement, so I figured my little description would be easy
enough to cover, including the $9.00 cost.

Although having said that I also knew Mrs F cannot be deceived, so I
carried guilt for spending money we don't have and fear of the I
evitible discovery of my deception. As an aside, the principal web
weaver tried to tell Mrs F I couldn't be trusted as I was an alcoholic
and if Mrs F was a fool if she didn't believe the informant. Such is a
tangled web of lies. But such is Mrs F's ability to get to the truth
that instead of destabilizing our marriage as was intended, it
strengthened us and our resolve not to be defeated by the tangler in
deception. What a shame bishops lack such discernment.

Anyway, I hung low at home until Mrs F and the little fs went to my
parents' place for a few days. So far, either undiscovered or
unconfronted!

By late Tuesday night my stools were flowing like a river in flood. A
dirty river. Assisted by stool stopper pills I made it through work on
Wednesday although I didn't make it through the front door, if you get
my meaning.

Suitably cleaned up I used my TBA on Thursday to recover and the lead
up to my 18:30 sign on Friday also to build strength.

But five minutes into work i ran over a colleague's iPad, left
accidentally in front of my car. There goes $1,000.

I am now sitting in a doctor's waiting room with exploding tummy and
pains all over. I've called in sick for tonight and tomorrow.

We evangelical and Reformed Christians do not believe in karma, and
rightly so. Otherwise there would be no explanation of the
"flourishing" of the web weavers after we were shafted for doing good.

But I can't escape the natural human response to a sneaky kebab
costing us a month's saving towards our mortgage we need to be saved
up for by August!

I am reading the book "Betrayal: The Underbelly of Australian Labor",
by Simon Benson (Sydney: Pantera, 2010).

On page 258 is a letter from Neville Wran to Morris Iemma on the day
of the latter's forced resignation:

> Dear Morris,

> The circumstances of your departure and your conduct throughout the whole distasteful affair reflect great credit upon you which, of course, could not be said of those who orchestrated the debacle. You
> will remembered your positive contribution to the party and
> the community long, after the Lilliputians, who created the impossible situation that confronted you, have been forgotten.

> Kindest regards,
> Neville Wran AC, QC.

The whole book resonates close to home; the ALP Party Machine with
local, state, federal and factional rivalries is not at all dissimilar
to the Sydney Diocese.

Have you missed a session because of Church commitments?

Are you one of the wonderful CMS Summer School volunteers who direct the parking or look after our kids?

Were you too busy playing Angry Birds on your iPhone and missed one of Archbishop Jensen's more salient points?

Are you playing at home?

Well, youre' in the right place now:

Catch up on the 2012 CMS Summer School, as tweeted by its tweeting attendees!

So far we have online:

1. Day 1 (Saturday 7 January) here.
2. Day 2 (Sunday 8 January) here.

Keep checking for more!

Welcome to day 2’s ‘Twitter Summary’ of CMS Summer School.

Before we begin, I have to announce a great tragedy. @jmoff, also known by his human name of Justin Moffatt, will not be at #cmsss this year. This means we cannot repeat our game of spotting @jmoff and reporting it on twitter.

We need a new twitter game this year. Please hashtag your suggestions with the usual #cmsss and #cmsgame. Thanks.

Now, the michelleandglenn.com clan managed to make it to #cmsss on time today. It’s a very long commute, from Eastern Leura to the site!

By God’s good providence we got Miss Nearly 6 on the bus and Miss 2 stayed with us in the tent. Miss Nearly 6 didn’t get much sleep as she was so excited about seeing her mates from previous years.

Warm-Up Tweets:

The usual warm-up tweets were exchanged before proceedings got underway:

@kenwest: #cmsss almost registered - long story!

Read more...