The new year.

It's been pretty busy in Curtville this year. Work is insane and this has been the biggest busy of this busy year. It's pretty overwhelming and I am getting stretched more than I have been in a LONG while. Hopefully I can make it through this time.

I was in town today and noticed something interesting. It is really quite amazing how the stores move from holiday to holiday as soon as they possibly can. There are Valentines Day AND Easter stuff already on sale here. I was thinking, "How quickly we forget Christmas." I wonder how this is. It seems like I spent weeks gearing up for Christmas. Weeks. Anything commercial having to do with Christmas was everywhere. Now, it's like a wind just came and blew it all away. Where did it go? What happened? Oh, another holiday it coming? Gotcha. Better start gearing up. Really bizarre. Does humanity need this? Is this what we're about? Moving from one celebration to another with no thought as to what we're celebrating. Get the gifts. Give the gifts. Stay up til midnight partying. Buy something red and chocolatey and heart shaped for that special someone. Buy something chocolatey and rabbit-ish to celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. What's next?

Thoughts and a rant and...

Happy New Year everyone. Man, I got a real hankerin' for chocolate.

Is it really like this?

This week has been a week of absolute mayhem. I have been doing the auto adjuster thing for 3 weeks now. I have been taking claims and booking vehicles in to get appraised and all that wonderful stuff associated with auto claims. We have what's called a "BF List". That is "Bring Forward". So, when I book someone in to get an appraisal I set a "BF point" one or two days after their appointment. This gives the Appraiser time to upload his photos of the vehicles damage and the estimate of the damage. The BF point acts as a pop-up on the BF List. It is a reminder for me that the next step needs to happen in order to deal with this particular claim. Okay, that's the BF List in a nutshell.

So, this week has been the week where the loads of claims I have been doing have been popping up on the BF List. They NEED to get dealt with. Some are easy and straight forward. Just send a letter to the person reminding them to have their vehicle repaired ASAP then close the file. Others are not so easy. When we write a vehicle off there is a LOT of paperwork associated with that and the auto adjuster is just the person to take care of that.

So the start of this week came after a weekend, as all week beginnings usually start. However, this particular week saw only myself and another adjuster on duty. The weekend had been pretty cold with lovely icy roads and that makes for one crazy Monday of claims. Needless to say, we are swamped. Today I was handling claims left over from yesterday. I actually got the number of claims to be processed down to the single digits for about an hour. Then I made the mistake of looking at my BF List. Have you ever looked into the eyes of madness? As Jack Nicholson as the Joker put it, "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" I came close to having a conniption. Is that how that's spelled? I've said that word a lot but have never had to spell it until now...weird. I am barely keeping my head above water dealing with the new claims. Okay, who am I kidding. I'm drowning horribly. But the real kicker is that I'm not able to deal with all the stuff coming in on the back end. I'm adding new claims but not dealing with the old ones. And I have quite a few vehicles that need more work than the standard letter.

This is week 3 of being an auto adjuster. Needless to say I have been sleeping quite soundly with dreams that consist of claims and my never being able to successfully get a car booked in to get appraised. This is the eye of my madness.

The worries and cares of this world.

Man, oh man! What a time it has been here lately. SO much is going on. I can't remember if I've posted this here or not but I know I have been saying it to those whom I have talked with the last while - I have never known a time of this kind of busyness. It's like I have no time to relax at home, no time for anything. I'm not sure if this has something to do with my sitting on my butt for two months in Calgary taking a break from life waiting for our house to sell or not. I tell ya, things are really hectic here.

I have been working and training at my new position and it's a huge learning curve. Lots to know. Procedure's, computer menu's, protocol's, forms and the why's and how's of all of it and more. It has been at the forefront of my mind. I've been thinking about it at night, dreaming about it and waking up early, EARLY in the morning with this stuff on my mind. It's crazy!

Today it hit me. Christmas is almost two weeks away. The time of year when the world celebrates the birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ. How much has this been on my mind? Not the buying gifts and all that stuff associated with Christmas but the actual pondering and thinking and meditating on the gift of God to man - His Son. I'll tell you how much. Zero. I mean it. Zero. Zilch. Nada. I have been so wrapped up in the goings on of life here that Jesus Christ is far, far away from my thoughts. Sure, I pray and talk with Him. But reading His Word and being fed by His Word and just enjoying Him...nuh-uh. I could come up with a zillion excuses for my not doing this but in the end it adds up to the same - I have wandered away from Him. That sheep that has left the fold and gotten lost.

I can relate to that sheep. Just moving along from one place to the next until all of a sudden it looks up and...what the heck? I'm lost. What have I been doing? In focusing on the world around me I have lost sight of the Shepherd. Where is He? Where did He go? Why do I keep getting myself lost? What gets me is the next part in this parable. The Shepherd LEAVES the 99 sheep who are not lost and goes after the one that is. He's actually searching intently for that one that wandered away. He's actually looking...for me. Me, who wandered away. Me, the one who left. Me

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on
whom his favor rests."

It's happened!

Well, as the title to this segment of Curtville alludes to, it's happened. What, you may ask, is "it's"? Let me tell you...

I have been slowly preparing, studying, reading...soaking, myself in the AAIA. That is, "Automobile and Accident Insurance Act". Particularly Part's 3 and 4 of "The Act" as it is known. Now these parts are very important to a person aspiring to become an Adjuster with SGI. My father, henceforth known as "dad", has been an active encourager of my studying. Actually dad has been pushing, cajoling, hinting and...(I can't think of another "and") me to study and learn this stuff. He has been a great help and has made it understandable, for the most part, to me. That's my dad! If it wasn't for him I would never have passed the written tests.

I had to write a few tests and passed most of them. In the end I was the last guy standing and then had to go for an interview. I sat before three managers and all the questions they asked me I was able to give them examples of my work in the homeless shelters in Calgary. The interview went really well.

I waited a few more days and received a call at home from my manager asking me if I wanted the position. I said, "You ding dang darn tootin' I do!" Well, I really said, "Yeah!" December 1 is my start date. I will have been with the company a little over four months and I've been moved up the ladder. A big raise and loads more responsibility AND another huge learning curve to ride, but I'm so looking forward to it.

So it's happened. The beginning of something cool that started with the end of something really crappy in Calgary. I never would have thought that when all that crappy stuff happened with my boss/hapkido instructor that it would have been the beginning of this really cool stuff here. The Lord Jesus Christ took all that shit, used the greed and manipulation of my old boss, and used it to bring all this about. This is living proof that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I can hardly wait until we get to heaven, until it happens!

A song for the eve...that's evening, y'all

Here's a great tune by John Mayer I heard on the radio in Calgary when I drove the shuttle van for the homeless shelter I worked at. 3:00am and this song came on. What a great trip.

Without further ado...enjoy!

Music in the Church.

The last few Sundays we have been attending our old Church here in Curtville. It was where I attended when I first became a Christian all those many years ago.

It's kinda weird being back there. Lots of old, familiar faces and LOTS of new ones. One thing that has struck me in the few times having gone here since coming back to this part of the world is the music. It got me thinking of a conversation I had with a guy a few months back regarding music in Church throughout history.

The early Church's music was the Psalms. Singing the Psalms was a part of the worship service in the Church. Gradually the Psalms were replaced by Hymns. No longer was Scripture sang. It was replaced by songs that were still very good, but not the Word of God. In my time, Hymns have been replaced by Choruses. However, a Hymn or two can still be heard in a Church service depending on how many of the older generation attend or not. It seems that Choruses are the stuff of younger people, my generation so to speak. We've moved from singing the exact Word of God to something now that, if it were not for being inside a Church when it's sung, could easily be mistook for some quirky love song one would hear on some "Light" station on the radio.

Now I have to admit that I do not know of many Psalms that have been put to music. There are many Hymns that I love! Some Choruses are not too bad, in my opinion, however the majority of them tend towards the mushy, touchy-feely kinda stuff that turns me off. This trend though, towards man and away from God, is something that is not limited to just music but our/my whole life.

So what is better? Singing Scripture that doesn't have a good beat to it or singing a song written by man with good guitars and drums and such behind it? Sometimes something that sounds good may not be the best. I've a lot to think about...

The trains, the trains. The soothing sound of trains.

Well, Curtville has finally moved. Don't be fooled by the same web address and what you think you know about the impossibility, or lack thereof, of moving an entire ville. Trust me, it's been moved!

We are finally settled, somewhat, into our new house. This place is what I've always wanted - all 4 walls to be mine. It also has all those other things that loving couples discuss with each other about what would be great in a place if they could afford it. You know, things like - "Wouldn't a garage be awesome?" We have a 3 car garage. "A workshop that's heated would be KEEN!" We got one of those as well. "A huge yard that's sheltered where the neighbors can't look in and view us would be WUNDERFULL!" Yep, got it. And the icing on the cake - "In the middle of all this falling snow, wouldn't it be great to be sitting in a hot tub?" Oh yeah, baby! We have one of those as well!!! Hee hee heeeeee! It's like everything I've thought would be cool to have, we got.

We live in a quiet little village 6 minutes from Swift Current. It doesn't have that big city stink that Calgary has. It doesn't have the noise that Calgary has. There is no fear of what some whacko may do to your loved ones if they're enjoying a stroll down the street like there is in Calgary. Here people leave their houses unlocked when they leave for town. UNLOCKED!!! The lifestyle here is so different. Slow, quiet and wonderful. This is the kind of place that gets made fun of in the big city. Well, I say, make fun all you want and never come here. The more people discover what I have the more they will want to come. Then the place will get bigger, and noisier and faster and...and.

The only noise here is the chugging of the trains. Not too loud but it's there. The slow, deep rumble as it moves down the tracks toward the West. Ahh, so soothing. I think I'll go soak in the hot tub, even though it's not snowing.