Stream the service

Let’s talk streaming.  Let’s talk streaming church.

I am on Roku and looking at the multitude of churches and religious groups that have a channel.  Amazing. 

With as many on the Roku there are a lot of churches that are not live streaming and archiving their services.  Why?

So what is out there? StreamingChurch.tv; dacast.com; ChristianWorldmedia.com. And there is UStream, LiveStream, and a few others.  LightSource.com has a list of churches up my dogmatic bent.  

Streaming some serious television

We (I) made a decision not to subscribe to cable or satellite tv at this time.  For one we were not sure where and what we wanted and to be honest I have to be locked in to a system that if the neighbors are forthright have issues with one particular service and when you talk to the satellite providers, well, anyway. 

Our TV was way back in the 15’ long storage unit and we decided to use some fundage to buy a smaller TV we could use for the time being.  The BestBuy brand had one with Roku.  Not wanting a smart telly this one has some of the niceties without the spying, or at least the conspiracy guys say. So this TV comes with Roku. 

I heard of Roku from some of the residents around Mountain 2 who stated they used an internet provider and had a Roku account.  Others mentioned Roku and paying for only what you wanted. Wasn’t sure and used and use the RabbitTv for some programming.  But once we purchased the TV with the Roku. 

Roku is interesting.  Sure some of the programs I could get on my computer but why if I can view them on the flatscreen.  And with Sling, I am getting a satellite provider’s product without the 2 year contract, Hulu allows me to catch up on some shows and Feel’n gets me in the mood with all the Hallmark movies and shows, especially around the holidays. 

Here is what I have found interesting.  There are a number of religious programming from some real crazy theologically warped to some very sound and in between.  A church we visited in NC has their own channel.  Others use a channel called StreamingChurch.TV.  I have watched services online off and on but now getting it on the big screen is nice.

So far we only have one Roku and two TVs.  I am really thinking of picking up one of the devices for the other tv as it seems we can’t always agree on what to watch.

A ball cap and conversation

The other day I decided to wear my Redskins cap as a protest to the way the Broncos played and the success the Redskins had on Sunday.  I know it is hard to believe I would be such a radical ;)
I dropped by the 7-11down the road and the guy behind the counter started talking football.  We had a good 10 minutes if not more discussing the Broncos and the Redskins and even the Steelers.  (side note here, I really am not a die hard fan but surprised myself with all this knowledge I was able to share)
So after that I went to a couple of other places to take care of business, if business is what you want to call it. I went a back road to where the U-Haul storage unit is and coming up on the back side of the Citadel Mall.  Probably 4 years.  Come to think of it I have not been to the Chapel Hills Mall in as long.  Definitely not the Christiana or the Anne Arundel Malls. The Citadel Mall is starting to look like the National Mall.
Almost every shop I stopped in I have a conversation about the Redskins, Steelers, Ravens, and the Broncos.  Why right by the cash register is there a Ravens shirt, no one would admit they were a fan.  However not having any Sooners stuff was a bit of a put off and there I found a store full of Huskers. Are they still playing football?
Now I know a lot of folks will not go to the Citadel because of the, the ah, diversity.  I learned that from Dan at the Imagination Celebration.  Oh well... As I was heading up towards the Dillard's outlet store, have you been to that?  Geesh, stuff, too bad I am not working and need some fancy threads on the cheap.  Ok, anyway, heading up the way and a young Latino man with tats all over his body and giving that gangsta stride yells to me, "I am a Redskins fan, I really like the Redskins. I only wear the Cowboys, well because."  So we had some bonding time talking about Cousins and RGIII, and of course agreeing that Jerry has to be the worse GM and why Romo is still with them. 

Now if we could get that together on a topic more personal, oh, like, if you were to die tonight?

Successful marriage?

The question I have received regarding our 42 years of marriage is this: What’s the secret of a long term marriage?

This is a challenge question. (like the game show)

My first thoughts to the movie, “princess bride” and the vicar starting out with, “Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam… And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva… So tweasure your wuv.”

First one has to define “success” as there are different interpretations of this one word.  Doing a web search there are so many ideas of what success is.  Aside the idea that success means lots of money and the best job in the world, success has been defined as Winston Churchill’s statement that "Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."  Can’t say marriage is without failure or failures whether personal or spiritual.

The guy that I hoped would be my boss one day has a down to earth idea.  Sir Richard Branson stated that, "My definition of success?" he asked himself on Virgin's blog. "The more you're actively and practically engaged, the more successful you will feel."  If you only knew how many times I applied to work for Virgin Air. Anyway…

Thomas Edison had a lot of failures in his lifetime.  His opinion was "Success is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration."  Oh boy, there has been a lot of sweating out things over the past 42 years.  If one looks at Branson’s actively engaged there will be a lot of perspiration.  Success achieved by work. 

But what is success in marriage?  There was a heading on one site that stated that to understand success one has to realize one size does not fit all.  I remember the books and pamphlets that we received from well-meaning people when we got married that was supposed to help us become better partners.  Might have worked for the author but that author and family was never separated for periods of time because of the military.  And the one book that tried to convince the wife to wear saran wrap and be ready for her husband at the door?  Ahh, no.  Good thought but not one of those that really worked at described. 

One group gives advice based on a scientific approach.  Science – factual until new facts are found, but I digress.  So the five include expect less, get more; give incentives and rewards (uhm, If, then?); daily briefings for improved communications (Powerpoints? Metrics? I left the military long ago); implement change; and keep costs low and benefits high.  I could see some of this but a daily briefing?  “Today breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon and grits.  Someone tried to log into the internet with the incorrect password….”

How about a list that takes some ideas from a number of sites? Let’s see how this might pan out adding some of my commentary.

·         Friendship – a must for sure

·         Humor – only works when you are on the same page and humor versus ?

·         Communication – another one where you must be on the same page and be able to hear as you get older

·         Chore sharing – especially when you have a family

·         Sexual intimacy – add some foreplay which does not have to be sexual

·         Affection – aside from the sex there has to be this

·         One point listed was that of “no four horsemen of the apocalypse” - criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling, and this is one that I have some issues with, especially defensiveness

·         Mutual and separate friends – uhm

·         Reliability – Uhm, be the maytag man

·         Relationship vision – similar to the vision of your company or church you have to have a plan, an 18 month, 3 year, 5 year, and 10 year

·         Humility

·         Patience and forgiveness

·         Time

·         Honesty and Trustworthiness

·         Selflessness

·         Oh, and arguments are ok

Any of that apply?  Uhm…

What is our secret to a successful marriage? Someone said we had moxie.  Of course the determination and the sticktoitness.  And we believed the “until death do us part” and the “sickness and in health”.  Another aspect is one that we have said many times when we could have made our separate ways was that we believed that God had ordained our relationship.  It isn’t money and although I have had some cherry jobs, my work sometimes was a barrier to a good relationship.  The word “love” is one that is long lasting, something you do not fall in or out of.  Sacrifices on both sides.  And is marriage a 50/50? Nope, it is 100/100.

Some adjectives for consideration – adoration, devotion, passionate, cherished, stimulating, provoking, wanting, yearning, euphoric, recreation, pleasure, distracting, and…

From Miracle Max: “Sonny, true love is the greatest thing, in the world-except for a nice MLT – mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that.”

A link to a good article that outlines some of my thoughts:

http://www.today.com/id/19031744/ns/today-today_health/t/secrets-long-happy-marriage/#.Vkub2narTIU

What the

WTF?

During the Broncos game this last week I noticed a lot of WTF on the twitter feeds.  I was thinking about that as I remembered my 4 y/o grandson followed by the myna bird sister saying, “what the “ which reminds me that I do need to talk to the “rents” about this. 

So most people know what WTF means.  But what if?

WTF after Payton throws the ball = where’s the football?

At the buffet, Where’s the fondue? And other foodie responses – where’s the fries?

When’s the finale? Enough of American Idol…

Or a question the teacher always gets – when’s the final?

Or after a few beers, “watch this friend”

After that breakup, “why the face?”

Nightstand – watch the foot.

Looking at a cover of Glamour and saying Where’s the Female?

Using a meat slicer looking down and stating where’s the finger?

Wasting the Flirtini

Wave the Flag

 And more to come

Lessons of a bartender

We were sharing the big screen tv with some regulars at the Inn to watch the game and as our game faces changed we also observed those that regularly attend.  Regular attendees.  Members and supporters of the place.  The time reminded me of some thoughts I have had over the years regarding church and the parishioners that attend.

 Years ago I read a book by Charles Swindoll where he wrote (with massive interpretation and paraphrasing) that the bartender is one individual that really understand the congregation of the bar.  People will spill their guts at the bar and to the bartender more than they ever will to their pastor.  I raised this statement in one of my classes at the U.  You have to understand that the majority of the class members were pastors and only 2 of us were lay.  The idea expressed by this author and preacher was not taken lightly. 

I have had an opportunity or two to talk to bartenders about this opinion and both verified that for the most part they know more about each regular customer than their friends and spouses. For one spoke of being a listener and that would be the difference between the pastor and the bartender.  The bartender would be more apt to ask a question or two to get clarification or get the person to better explain what was happening.  Whereas the pastor maybe listens but is prepared to have an answer, that biblical response.  But has the pastor listened? 

Back to class, you have to also understand the courses we were taking were to break down and highlight what ministry really is. Some take on the role of pastor without considering all the other duties and activities that a church has, especially the small congregations.  So in our discussion of this writing it was revealed by a few of my classmates that maybe they really didn’t know their people.  What are their passions, what teams to they like, what causes them frustration, and what really bothers them. 

That is when we opened up in class, taking the role of listener and hearing what each and every class mate had to deal with, without the ready answer based on 1^st Hesitations. Took some time.

While teaching a course in Albuquerque I visited a church of the denomination and noticed that the pastor and members would have a pub meet.  The idea was to meet at a different pub every other week for people to bring unchurched friends to and sit around talking and listening.  The bi-weekly events were successful and I met an individual that started coming to the church because of this activity.

Asking why and referring to Swindoll’s point the discussion was that people do open up in settings they feel safe.  All one has to do is listen to the people that are there.  When people feel that you are truly listening and showing honest empathy these folk will tend to seek out what this strange congregation has to offer. 

The church we have been attending this summer has a Tuesday morning with the pastor that allows people to attend and just talk.  One gets to know who the person is that you shook hands with Sunday morning in a setting like this.  Funny how sitting around a table drinking coffee or depending if you are in Albuquerque at the pub.  The same can be said about playing golf.  You can learn a lot about a person on the course.  No barriers, no curtains. 

Maybe we need to take a lesson from a bartender and learn to listen more before we “preach”. 

Journals and social media

Journaling and social media

Years ago I went to a weekend retreat at Golden Bell for a study in journaling.  Ok, I wanted to know more because I was not good at being dedicated to this form of notebook blogging.  It was a good seminar that lasted the weekend with the presenter giving us tips on successful journaling or life note taking.  He showed us a half a dozen journals he wrote in over the years and stated he had many more at home. 

Journaling was a method of accountability and reviewing spiritual growth.  And this is one way we can really track where are personally, with relations, our readings, and so much more.  Sometimes the information will be sparse and other times our notes could go on forever.  The journal is to be a honest reflection.  Journals can be private or they can be open.

With that information and a notebook and pen I started. And started. And started again.  The times I have kept good journals were when I was deployed or off on a TDY somewhere, but once I came home and got busy, the journal sat the shelf.  On occasion I realized I could use the notebook to take sermon notes. 

The blog, the web log, an electronic journal of sorts became a way of documenting our thoughts and lives.  Blogs could be private or shared.  People could read the goings on in our lives and we let folk into our circle.  In courses I taught I would encourage students to journal or blog some of the courses’ highlights.  This was before the learning management systems discussion boards.  Discussion boards and message boards are still being used to post ideas, notes, and pictures.  Pictures on blogs and boards added to our journaling potential.

Bang, the new social media launched with Facebook, Twitter, and now Instagram.  Here is where we could post our thoughts, ideas, opinions, pictures, and more.  This new way… I still have friends that will only post via email.  One friend and even a college president stated how they abhorred social media.  They did not want to see peoples’ dogs and cats, what they were eating, where they went on vacation.  If they wanted to see pictures of the sand dunes they would ask to see the photo album and hard prints. 

Journaling – I was thinking of that as I grabbed a notebook and started to jot some thoughts down.  But why not ramp up the blog?  Then I was looking over my Facebook, twitter, and Instagram.  Instagram is my photo journal, twitter are those short opines, and facebook with all the stuff we would have written in a blog but sharing with more family and friends. 

What are we journaling?  How are we journaling? Who do we want to read of what we write?

Online Churches

There are churches that we have attended and became part of over the years that are offering the opportunity to continue to worship with the congregation.

Sometimes I need my 10th Pres fix and we would take that trip early Sunday to attend one of the services of the day.  Philadelphia is a great place to visit and the church is one of the more traditional PCA churches around.  10th Pres was the church of James Montgomery Boice among others.
http://www.tenth.org/
http://www.tenth.org/livestream

Glasgow Church is located in Bear, DE.  Some great people attend this fellowship and the church looks at technology as a beneficial tool.  The only church that has a scan card for attendance.  The church broadcasts live the service every Sunday Morning and some other activities.
http://www.glasgowchurch.com/#our-story-1
http://www.glasgowchurch.com/watch-now/

Cornerstone was our Sunday morning drive.  Located in the country side of Pennsylvania the church has the sermons available online -  http://www.cornerstonepca.com/sermon-series/

Village 7 is the church we have been associated since 1995.  This is where the start of my embracing of a Calvinist theology. 
http://v7pc.org/
http://v7pc.org/sermons

While we are traveling around the south enjoying some Florida weather we did visit some friends that attend Naples Covenant Presbyterian Church.  Ahhh, Naples, some beautiful Gulf beaches. 
http://www.covenantnaples.com/sermons/sermon_archive

One church that has shaken up my quasi traditionalism has been the Restoration Church in Denver. When we were not at Mountain 2 we would be in Denver and this congregation is, well, different.  This shook up my contemporary worship. 
http://restorationcc.us/
You will have to unpack the site to capture the sermons - http://restorationcc.us/messages/

Calvary Baptist Church in Lamar, CO with Jeff Alexander offers up some sound  theology - http://cause-of-god.com/page17.html -

Lamar Christian Church provides a live stream for the sermons each Sunday morning.  I enjoy listening to this Scotsman. http://lamarchristian.com/worship-online/index.html

This summer we became involved with the Community Fellowship of Christians close to Mountain 2.  This church has been a blessing as we transition from the east coast back to Colorado and the Front Range.  You will enjoy these sermons.
http://communityfellowshipofchristians.org/

I know I am missing a few but as we were on our vaca we went to church with some friends that are heavy into multimedia, so much so they have a channel on Roku.  The church is Elevation an located in Charlotte. 
http://elevationchurch.org/
http://elevationchurch.org/archive/

Churches and Sermons

Over the past few years churches that have expanded to video and audio broadcasts via the web is great.
I am reminded of a small booklet that was older than dirt written by a preacher condemning preaching using radio waves.  Using scripture describing how Satan had control of the earth and with that radio waves and Christians could not be part of that.  Of course he did not listen to radio and abhorred preachers such as Billy Graham using Satan's tool, the radio.  I am afraid our dear preacher man would be appalled at how the church is using the internet to reach the world.

I have found that having that connection to the church via the stream or recorded message, it allows me to stay connected with the church, the message, the theology, and with those other that might have to miss the physical attendance, without missing church at all. 

I will post a list of churches that I have signed into or have downloaded a sermon or two. 

Why a creed?

Why Creeds?

That is an interesting question as the issue comes up in conversation as much as infant baptism.

In a book by Gordon Clark titled, What Do Presbyterians Believe, the first call to order is that of creeds. In many churches we subscribe to the Apostles Creed.  But beyond that we might on occasion read in unison another such as the Nicene Creed.  And it is somewhat surprising how many creeds there are in the Christian faith.

The concern some theologians have regarding creeds is that are they biblical and do they address what the “church” believes as truth.  The author of the book states at one point that the creeds for many leaders are obstacles.  So some churches have creeds or follow the creeds that have been written and other churches shun such as being “unnecessary”.

But I believe that creeds help us focus on where we need to be in worship.  I think the reading of the creed in the service brings us into focus after that heart pumping chorus that went on for 15 minutes that blew out my earplugs.  Time to calm down and reflect on the Trinity, DBR*, and the central focus of our gathering.

As I am reading this and reviewing some creeds I have forgotten and were addressed on Reformation Sunday a post on Facebook from Grace Online Library was about “creeds”. The author of the blog lists out “the 7 point list” that addresses the essentials of what we believe the bible teaches us. And worth copying into the leaf of your study bible.

What I find interesting is that both the author of the book and the author of the blog use the creeds as a transition to the confessions, more specifically the Westminster Confession of Faith.  The author of the blog raises an interesting point about confessions leading us to standards.  One of the things I have learned transitioning from a Wesley-Armenian theology to a reformed Calvinistic approach is that the standards or the confessions are strictly biblical, supported by scripture and interpreted by scripture.  I could get into some issues I have had with “manuals’ that were created by man and interpreted by man, as the more don’ts than do’s, but that is another post at another time.

*DBR = Death, Burial, & Resurrection

Blog site: http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/creeds-confessions/why-do-we-need-creeds-by-andrew-j-webb/

The Confessions:

Westminster Confession of Faith – http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/

The Baptist Confession of Faith  of 1689 (with notes of Spurgeon) - http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/creeds/bcof.htm

The Belgic Confession of Faith - https://www.urcna.org/1651/file_retrieve/23907

Scottish Confession of Faith - http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/ScotConf.htm

The PCA beliefs not to be confused with the PCUSA - http://www.pcanet.org/beliefs/

Creeds:

Apostles Creed - http://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/apostles-creed

Nicene Creed - http://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/nicene-creed

Athanasian Creed - http://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/athanasian-creed

The CRC has some good resources

Is Babylon on the rise?

Now it is the red cup at the local national coffee shop.  Holy cow, we go to coffee shops all over and one preacher has gone nuts over the one red cup.  Never complained about the red Solo cup but has his holy knickers in a bunch, cutting off the circulation to the beans.

Brings me to a topic that I have been thinking about and pondering for the last couple of weeks.  And Sunday’s sermon kind of pulled back on the pop top and things just go shook up.

I have been reading a book I picked up at a seminar that is discussing the issues of idolatry.  When we read the 10 commandments the first command is pretty darn strong and each command after follows in unison the first.  There shall be no other gods before me.  In other words we need to shun idolatry.  But what is idolatry?  Uhm, this is one of those topics that can cause some problems with a lot of Christians.  We have heard the sermons that money can be our idol but we have prosperity preachers telling us we can have all the riches we want. 

But besides money what else can we idolize?  The author of the book states that we can idolize people, government, freedom, self-inflicted of slavery to government subsidies, (ok, I added that one), and so much more.  In a sense the idea that everyone can have a free education can be a form of idolatry as we worship the paper of the education more than we do the honest hard work of a trade. Oh boy. 

I started reading Habakkuk and started seeing some similarities to what we are facing today in the US.  Now being an ESV for my reading I kind of slid over to the Message to get some more impact to what Habakkuk was asking or demanding of God and what God had for a response in the first chapter. “God, how long do I have to cry out for help
    before you listen?
How many times do I have to yell, “Help! Murder! Police!”
    before you come to the rescue?
Why do you force me to look at evil,
    stare trouble in the face day after day?
Anarchy and violence break out,
    quarrels and fights all over the place.
Law and order fall to pieces.
    Justice is a joke.
The wicked have the righteous hamstrung
    and stand justice on its head.”

We find ourselves asking the very same things as we look at the murders, the infringement of our constitutional rights, the insanity of our government, and the hedonistic activities of those around.  God, what is going on?  If you were a caring God you will stop this nonsense.!!!

Hah!  Well God does answer Habakkuk. “Look around at the godless nations.
    Look long and hard. Brace yourself for a shock.
Something’s about to take place
    and you’re going to find it hard to believe.
I’m about to raise up Babylonians to punish you,
    Babylonians, fierce and ferocious—
World-conquering Babylon,
    grabbing up nations right and left,
A dreadful and terrible people,
    making up its own rules as it goes.
Their horses run like the wind,
    attack like bloodthirsty wolves.
A stampede of galloping horses
    thunders out of nowhere.
They descend like vultures
    circling in on carrion.
They’re out to kill. Death is on their minds.
    They collect victims like squirrels gathering nuts.
They mock kings,
    poke fun at generals,
Spit on forts,
    and leave them in the dust.
They’ll all be blown away by the wind.
    Brazen in sin, they call strength their god.”

Wait a minute, God is a loving God. He would not allow such to happen?  Or would he? 

I think of a meme I want to create with the “Matrix” character stating, “What if I told you, that God is raising up the Babylonians to destroy the US?”  One of the issues that keeps coming up when the questions are why the Islamic followers want not kill Americans is because of what we have been exporting to the world, we have been exporting a lot of trash.  Be it the music, the lifestyles, the television, and more.  We have shown that we have more than the God of Jacob.  We have a lot of gods and many of those gods do not set well with parts of the world.  Oh boy. 

Read on into Chapter 2 and beyond of Habakkuk.  Anything sound familiar?  Uhm.  Well, when you finish this I want you to go to Revelations 13 & 14.  I felt that cold wash cloth hit me upside the head.  Not what I wanted to read but – Near the end there is that one scripture verse that outlines the mark of the beast, the 666.  I do not know who the beast is but it is interesting that for years we have discussed the issue of some numbers or numerology and that was the social security number, then our bank and credit card numbers, and when the SKUs came out and bar code readers, what an uproar.  But the preacher brought up a thought that is out there among scholars and theologians of this “mark”.  What if I told you the mark is not a tattoo on your body but the mark of the world that has been embraced and lived?  Your mark is based on your actions and activities.  What do you hold as your god? What do you idolize? 

Moving into Chapter 14 we are introduced to those that are marked with the mark of the Father, those that held fast and did not succumb to the ways of the world.  Start with verse 12 and 13 before you read verses 1- 11 as these two focus on the believer.  Now going back to Habakkuk, we could juxtapose the two books and get a picture that things have not changed for a few hundred years.  But…

Then as the preacher began to unpack Chapter 17 of Revelation, I began to see what we are dealing with in the world.  Babylon is in the picture again.  Babylon dressed as a whore, one with all the makeup in the right place, enticing. A Bruce in Catlin clothing.  John looks and then he looks a second time. 

We are tempted by the whore, the whore of idolatry, the greener grass, the image of a hedonistic, pleasure filled life.  But “attention”, this is not the case.  It is not what it looks like.  And when you read further you will find that not only would you be used by this prostitute, she as well has been used by the beast that ends up devouring her, and you along with her.  After the pleasure the pain and torture will begin. 

 

Oh boy, where is the customer service in this?

Oh boy, what happened to quality service and action?  There was a day that TQM – total quality management, six sigma, ISO, and other quality management tools were touted as the way to improve work flow, eliminate constraints, and aid is customer satisfaction. 

One of the responses I have heard over the years when asked why certain quality issues were dropped were because, well for example DoD and particularly the AF was that it took too much time, time to build slides showing metrics of how quality should be done and never really implementing the efforts.  Kind of like an academic institution wanting a solid strategic plan but never really putting the plan to effective work. But that is another issue along with ghost administrators.

So twice I have to call CenturyLink for issues.  Now understand that CenturyLink for the Front Range has two companies; Centurytel CenturyLink and Qwest CenturyLink.  I can’t combine the bills because of this disjointed system but recently the call centers and IT support have been outsourced to a Pacific Ring country to which I wish I had studied Tagalog more intently when I was there.  Now you still need to call LaJunta if you want service in the south and east but otherwise you call the outsourced center.

Maybe it is my age or maybe I am just tired of this nutroll of having to call and like an elephant in a circus have to go through a series of “games” in order to receive my peanut.  “Have you massaged the dsl line? What fabric is your knickers? Can you repeat after me ‘I have rebooted and reset the modem at least 20 times’?”  Of course the statement in the end is that the problem is with the house and for $85 dollars I can let the tech in my house to determine how much more CenturyLink can drain from my bank account.  Oh and it will be a week before they can get to the house. 

At Mountain 1, the whole neighborhood is on the fritz. It is called by neighbors the bi-annual something needs to be fixed in the main line.  So after the internet is working for 4 days I finally get a call from the tech who states he was on vacation and why no one was called to work on this early is beyond him. 

On to Mountain 2 the system goes out and again the problem is with my house line.  Riiight.  I call and I tell the CSR all that I had done such as send my modem to the spa, turned the dsl cable upside down, rebooted and reset the modem a dozen times, and have the system up on the computer reading the status of the modem and the line with the line being the problem.  

Circus time – let’s play clown car.  Geesh, are you not listening to me?  Problem with the house.  Ok, one thing about a free education in the military is that you learn some things without going to school such as rewiring the phone lines in the office in the bomb dump and learning how to use the testers.  So I know the system at Mountain 2 is up to CenturyTel CenturyLink.    Ok, it will take about a week to get a tech out there because they are really busy.  Really? So there is a massive problem?  My question to CSR, who is paying for the time I have to go to a useable internet?  I rely on internet for my work.  Where do I sent my $60 a day plus per diem while this is out?  I could use the money to buy some good cigars.

The tech calls the day he is to arrive and asks if I am irritated that it took so long.  Ahh yeaaaah.  Apparently the techs are getting the brunt of the anger of people having to deal with the new system.  I told him that I almost called the LaJunta office but… So I do have a direct line now.

So was the problem Mountain 2? Woodpeckers damaging the lines upstream. 

Geesh.