I took a day off yesterday (10/31/05). I spent much of last week in Chicago for an NCCL Representative Council meeting and needed some time off. I flew to Chicago from Lincoln and so after returning to Lincoln at about 9:30 a.m on Sunday I had to drive back to North Platte and arrived home early Sunday afternoon. On the drive home I listened to several mp3s I downloaded from two of my favorite sites, IT Conversations and Open Source. I really enjoyed the show entitled, Theocracy in America. Download it here. Christopher Lydon has a unique approach to the traditional interview show.
On my way to Lincoln I had an unexpected hour long stay in Hampton, NE at the United Farmers Cooperative having a new Output Speed Sensor installed on my car. Accelerating back onto the interstate, following a short coffee brake, the car wouldn't shift into high gear and the speedometer had stopped working. I finally limped into Hampton to see what could be done. The initial prognosis wasn't good. However, Bob from the COOP suggested they put my car on the computer and see what turns up. Long story short, the computer said, "He needs a new output speed sensor." The NAPA store had the part and Bob installed it, so I was in business. Bob and the team at the Cooperative took good care of me and I was back on the road for a little more than $70. At least it wasn't the transmission.
The Rep Council meeting could have been held anywhere but was in a Holiday Inn a short 20 minute shuttle ride from O'Hare. We spent Thursday night, Friday and Saturday in room 4 drinking hotel coffee, breathing stale air and listening to reports on the state of NCCL and catechesis. There were two high points of the meeting. One high point was our plan to support catechetical efforts where hurricanes had made catechetical ministry if not difficult frequently impossible. The second high point was the presentation Tom Walters gave on seminarians. Tom's very balanced presentation helped me understand what is going on in the often categorized conflict between the left and the right.
Here is an album of pictures from the meeting. If you are interested in reading some of the blog posts I made during the meeting you'll find them here.The Holiday Inn had wireless internet access throughout, so blogging was a breeze. Along with blogging I tracked the live stats of the Husker vs OK game. We are getting better.
Anyway, on my day off I took some time to watch a movie called, Crash. The Internet Movie Database describes the plot saying, "Several characters of different racial backgrounds collide in one incident, The different stereotypes society has created for those backgrounds affect their judgment, beliefs and actions, This in turn causes problems for each of them..." You will find more information here. If you're looking for more than a couple hours of entertainment then Crash is worth watching. I'm still thinking about the way my judging drives my life. Enough for tonight!