craptastic

just as an update since my monday morning duldrums: life is not better

for some reason, life is against me this week.

monday afternoon: computer decides to be unfriendly and uncooperative as a way to let me know that i really should learn to be nicer to it instead of continually tossing it in and out of bags...

monday evening: computer reboots and i work on a paper til 1 am (due in class at 8)

tuesday morning: computer dead. lights turn on the keyboard but no whirs suggesting processing or thinking. cold, snowy and a bit icy. signs that winter has arrived and may stay around for a few months.

tuesday afternoon: out and about grocery shopping (and browsing computer selections with hopes of finding a cheap one to be a "throwaway computer") when check engine light comes on.

tuesday evening: spend hours in the small computer lab on the less than high quality computers. first time in years i spend more than 30 min on a computer that is not my own laptop. projects: assignment for class and paperwork for assignment.

wednesday morning: complete paperwork for assignment on computer. try to submit but fails (busy day for churchwide's server). cold morning. december greets us with a wind chill in the single digits. and a bit of sun to deceive us.

wednesday afternoon: forgot assignment and run back to apt. late for class. find out churchwide's server not happy. not a shock since today is the day hundreds of people are going to try to submit their rlp.

wednesday at 5:17 i submit my rlp successfully! rejoice! this means i officially submitted my name and information (bio info, ministry skills and interests) so that i can someday (hopefully this coming summer) be ordained as a pastor in the elca

tomorrow: appointment to have vehicle checked. plan to buy new computer and possibly get old fixed. hopefully get data off the old one even if it will be otherwise unusable (i really want my notes from the last few weeks of class. everything else is replaceable)

terminology defined:

- assignment: 1) homework due in class 2) process through which pastors receive a new call to a congregation 3) formal name for the "draft" of new pastors into the elca who are then assigned to regions and synods where they receive new calls

- rlp: formally the "rostered leader profile" that is the main piece of information submitted to the elca churchwide office for pastors seeking a new call through the assignment process

- submit: trickly little button through which the form is sent to churchwide instead of as an email attachment