Sunday night stuff

Cars...

I have a Peugeot which I bought nearly a year ago. It was a mistake. I thought I had checked it out thoroughly but discovered that it had a smokey engine. Six months ago I got a warrant of fitness for it. (a six monthly chore if you own a car in NZ) A few months ago I had it serviced and things dealt to, so it stopped covering cars behind me in blue smoke. I took it for a warrant on Monday quite confident it would pass. To my surprise it was turned down on a few small things, but it was mainly rejected because of it's smokey engine. It was certainly blowing less smoke than it was at the last warrant? The receptionist said, "The mechanic reckoned it isn't worth fixing!"  I was so annoyed. I was annoyed at myself for buying a dud almost a year ago. I was annoyed because it really is a good car with a good body, tidy interior and drives nicely and probably has lots of life in it yet. Now "the system" (regulated by people who have a vested interest in getting older cars off the road!) consigns it to the scrap heap. Anyway my Monday turned out to be depressing because of this. We told my daughter about this and she informed me that at her work they were selling two cars and we might like to look at them. I suspected they were probably going to be too expensive, but thought we'd look anyway. The first we looked at was a good wee car. My daughter asked her superiors about a price which turned out to be very cheap. So we purchased a very tidy low milage 1996 Toyota Starlet that runs very nicely. (I think my daughter's work were feeling generous toward us.... I am grateful) I am pleased we now have a more familiar vehicle, more economical and more environmentally friendly. Sorry Peugeot.

"JC's helper" fire fighter retires... he is a theological "problem".

On Friday night I went to our drop-in centre as usual, stayed about a half hour then went to the fire station. Two guys were leaving and the social club were putting on a farewell "do" for them. I spent about an hour there, got given a beer, listened to the farewell speeches and went back to Drop-in. One of the guys leaving was the guy who gave me the name for this blog. He is an ex- seaman and is nicknamed "Bosun". He is the firefighter who called me "JC's helper".  He is a theological problem. You see when I was a boy or teenager he is the typical guy that I as a "good little christian" was warned about. He can tell the dirtiest stories you imagine. His language was not the most genteel, but I like him. He is simply a nice guy. He gave us a computer for a children's program we were running. He has helped at our Christmas dinner. He has always been hospitable toward this minister at the fire station. He has caught fish to give us and his wife baked a cake for us.  As they gave their farewell speeches they talked of his conscientious work. They spoke of his enthusiasm for the job that had lasted 41 years. They told of his honesty and his positive nature, his readiness to go the second mile and his morale boosting sense of humour.  The theological problem I have is that I was told that people like him are heathens, unsaved and not nice people to hang around with. Yet I find Christian graces being expressed in him. I find him expressing more warmth, more friendship and love of life than some of the righteous saints who would condemn him.  Often the various religions are too worried about defining who is "in" or "out".  I don't think God is confined to only those who congregate.

Fuse Problems...

At our drop-in centre Friday week ago we blew a fuse. We were playing pool, table tennis, drinking hot drinks and talking when suddenly some lights went out and heaters went off. It was near the end of the night and difficult to diagnose with others using the building, so we left it to the next morning to fix. I was working at the night shelter yesterday and once again discovered a blown fuse. I found some thin wire and put it in so that we could operate. Today after Church I went back with some real fuse wire and  fixed it properly. I got to thinking about these fuses. When the electrical load gets too great the fuse blows and you know that there is an overload problem some where. The fuse blows and you go look for the problem. Wouldn't it be handy to have a fuse in our systems that blows when we get overloaded? If I take on too much, and life is on overload it would be quite good if there was a fuse wire that would signal "overload". Of course there are "fuse wires". Health goes down hill. Blood pressure goes up. Sleep goes out the window. These can be life threatening things and can be discovered too late. It would be good if there was a little light fuse wire that just let you know before things got bad.  When do you know that you are trying to do too much? Sometimes I think I have taken on too much, but then I think maybe I am just being lazy? I know people who can get through heaps of stuff. A fuse giving a definitive answer would be nice!  When/if I get to heaven I will have to talk to the creator about this deficiency.

That's me for this Sunday.
Photos: A seat on my walk this afternoon and the new addition to the stable.