Boom De Ah Dah

I promised myself that I would not let my blog fall victim to the latest viral media craze. Unfortunately, I just cannot help myself with this one. These are all the shows I spend my summers watching. It is too much fun not to pass on.



And, now, LIVE!!!



Title by: The Discovery Channel

Blessed Relief

The couple of weeks with the new housekeeper went well. With the Ps off on travel, it helped that we could focus on just the house for the first few days.

Ms. D is a much shyer version of Ms. C. She has a great eye for what needs to be done and is self-motivated to do it. Ms. C and I are both relieved to be back to full staff. It was a crazy 6 weeks.

Title by: Frank Zappa (Can you believe it has been 15 years!?)

Deadline

It has been so crazy at work. I did not realize that I was pushing myself so hard. Fortunately, the Ps absense gave me a chance to breath and catch up on the back-log of tasks and small projects on my desk and floor. Yes, my floor. It turns into a rolling "to-do" list when things get hectic. Now, I can see my floor! It is the small things at work, sometimes.

Next up, my House Managers Book. I have a self imposed August 6 deadline (one year anniversary). Wish me luck.

Title by: Blue Öyster Cult

We Have All The Time In The World

My plans are pretty low-key this weekend. The Greenport Greek festival looks like it will be fun. There is also an Irish festival in Calverton. I will probably end up tat the Greek festival tonight and head over to the Irish festival tomorrow for some Guinness and shepherd’s pie. It will also give me a chance to ogle the local red-heads (yeah, yeah, oink, oink, oink). I am, after all, a semi-bachelor. There’s something James Bond-ish…”taken not stirred”. (I’ll have to work on that line a bit, I think.)

It is interesting that both cultures provide for great pleated skirts. Too bad the Greeks dress their men in them. ;-0

Enjoy your weekend.

Title by: Louis Armstrong (From"On Her Majesty's Secret Service")

On the Wing

The Ps took a 6 day trip to Paris recently. It was a rather quick thing. Mr P had been knocking the idea around for a few days. I found out they were definitely going at 5 PM on a Monday. Departure day was Thursday.

The air travel was set by 6 PM on Monday, but we had to wait for Paris to be awake to set the room.

Tuesday morning we changed travel agents to American Express and re-booked the flight. By that afternoon, the air travel and hotel were locked in. The hotel and American Express concierge services helped me get dinner and theater reservations all set on Wednesday. We had Euros in hand by Wednesday afternoon. Everything was packed before I left on Wednesday, too.

This would be expected or even a bit slow if we were in Manhattan. But, no, it was all done from the Hamptons. Thanks in very large part to American Express Travel and Concierge and the banking team.

Title by: Owl City

Make It Easier

Since I am down one half of my housekeeping staff, Ms. C and I have to make up the difference. I probably missed that introduction. Ms. C started with us just after Thanksgiving last year. She generally covers the Monday through Friday shifts.

Ms. C has been working 6 day weeks on and off since the beginning of June. She even pulled a 17 day-in-a-row jag. She can be contentious and difficult at times; however, she definitely knows how to pull up the slack when I ask her. She has the right kind of heart for the job. I will have to be sure to not burn her out during this transition.

Title by: Indigo Girls

Everybody Ought to Have a Maid

One of the housekeepers left suddenly at the beginning of June. For complicated reasons, she was unable to return to our service in a timely manner. I had to replace her. Thankfully, she was able to refer friends and relatives. The new housekeeper starts next Wednesday.

Title by: Stephen Sondheim

Spending the Day in the Shirt That You Wore

Ma chère and the Ts left last Sunday. They are back in Wisconsin for the summer. La plus jeune soeur de ma chère flew in last week to help with the drive back. They got in early Monday morning.

It feels like they just got out here and now they are gone again. I am not complaining...okay maybe just a bit. It will be another long 8 weeks without them around. I miss the noise when they get the dog all riled up, the giggling, the dog trying desperately to catch them...ah the sweet sounds of chaos. This will be the first summer since 1989 that I will not get Up North. I hope the Sound is a good surrogate. And, I always sleep so crappy without my partner. Her pillow still smells of her.

It is good for them. The Ts get a bit of their old routine and friends back, if only for a bit. Ma chère spent the last few days as a social butterfly catching up with friends and family in Milwaukee. They should be Up North by the 4th.

Title by: Poi Dog Pondering

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

It is easy to find a WELS congregation in Wisconsin. The choices are rather limited out east. As a matter of fact, there is only 1 WELS church, Grace of God, that services all of Long Island. Grace of God is located in Dix Hills at about the mid-point of the island. It is a small congregation with 60-70 members. People can come from as far away as Queens to the west (60 minutes) and Baiting Hollow to the east (45 minutes...guess who).

As a general rule, we attend church every Sunday; a day also held in priority as a family day. We have not always asked the Ts to attend Sunday school. The rationale was they get plenty of Christian education during the week compared to quality/quantity family time. Since they are no longer in private school, the balance was off. This is where the tension began. The Ts needed more "face time with their Maker".

We were spending 90 minutes round trip to Grace of God. Throw in the hour or so to get 5 people out the door on a Sunday morning plus Service time, the inevitable chat in the back of church and voilà the morning was gone. Now, don't get me wrong. I have no problem giving thanks to the Lord for his Grace and Forgiveness. But, the 90 minutes commute plus $20 in gas was not what He had in mind, I think.

On top of that, we were not satisfied. And again, I beg your indulgence for just a minute. We do understand that church is not like Starbucks. Our satisfaction is not guaranteed. We do not attend church to be told how wonderful we are. We do not attend church to be told what bounty will befall us because we showed up this week. On the other hand, there should be a sense of belonging that neither ma chère nor I felt.

It was with this on our hearts that we began looking for a new church. Our foreboding was the understanding that we would have to leave WELS to do it. Thankfully, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) has a relatively large foothold on Long Island.

I will spare you, at this point, the research into the differences between WELS and LCMS, the time spent in conversation with one another, both WELS and LCMS pastors, parents, relatives, etc. Ultimately, we made the decision to join Our Redeemer in Aquebogue, NY. I promise to post more on the transition later.

Title by: Samuel Medley