Stuff and Nonsense

1) Um, yeah. About that last post. Thanks a lot, Tom. See my butt? Kiss it, baby. Kiss it publicly. To be fair, the 'Boys have a long way to go... but damn, Tom...

2) We (fraternity) went on retreat a couple of weeks ago--won't say where, won't say who was the retreat master--and let's just say it blew chunks. I can read from articles. I can read from 10 year old notes. I can create a retreat that manages time better than that. I can create a retreat that is more profound and less droll. And that's sad, considering that I don't know squat about giving retreats.

Oooo, wasted time, let me get started. The first night? Sign in at 5:00, a mediocre dinner at 6:30, and the first talk started at 8:30. How long did the talk go? 10 minutes. 10 freaking minutes, then "Good night." Eh?

Second day: I skipped breakfast and enjoyed my time with TJ, but it was at 7. The first talk was at 9:30, and lasted 20 minutes; hour break. Second talk? 25 minutes, followed by and hour break, then lunch, then another hour and a half before the next talk. Of course, we used some of this time for our fraternity meeting, which was more poor time management, but that's the bane of any club or organization. Anyway--we had almost four hours of downtime. The worst part? The 25 minute talk in the afternoon was flat-out hawking the books. When it was announced that the evening session would be book signing, I fled... and I wasn't the only one. I returned on Sunday morning around 9 for the morning talk... nobody stayed past it although there was Mass and then lunch provided.

Don't get me wrong--there were some gems in the rough, but they were buried deeply. I'm glad we candidates only have to give a 20 minute talk for the next meeting. I'll post a little later on some tidbits.

I don't appreciate the weekend being used for the retreat master's book hawking and signing. I don't appreciate having not only everyone's time wasted, but the money that we attendees and the Fraternity shelled out to attend it. It was expensive, and I don't think we got our money's worth.

3) Work is good but frustrating, school the same, and my knee is better every day. I didn't tear the ligament again, but I sprained it good.

4) Sibs are in crisis mode. I'm ignoring them.

5) Pray for some friends of mine who have left the traditionalist (CMRI!!) sect and come home to the fold. Christ in His mercy and wisdom has opened their eyes. The wife's family is hard-core traditionalists and the road ahead is going to be rough.

Peace! More later.