DST Issues

So, I'm a Rachael Ray fan. I admit it; I'm not afraid. I tape her daytime show every day. I admit that many times I'll fast forward through a large chunk of it, especially if what's for dinner is something I'd never make or she has a guest that I have no interest in or a segment that does not apply to me. But I do tape daily.

I came home on Monday from a very insane day of work. It was one of those where you feel like an entire week has passed in one day. I made some dinner and settled down to watch Monday's episode. I rewound my tape to the beginning, a very good place to start so I hear. I pushed play and suddenly on my screen is the show The View. Now in my market, The View comes on after RR. So, I hit stop (thinking maybe I had taped after RR a bit too far and didn't rewind the tape enough). My tape nearly immediately stopped and after pressing play again (just to be sure) realized there would be no RR for me. I kept thinking, I swear I set the VCR for the correct time (yes, I still use a VCR). So, I programmed RR for both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Since I have small group on Tuesdays, I knew I wouldn't be able to watch until Wednesday and wanted to not forget to tape Wednesday's episode. I checked and re-checked the times on the programming just to be sure.

I get to work this morning (Wednesday) and get an email from a co-worker regarding Daylight Savings Time and changing our clocks this weekend. There was a link so I clicked on the article and it hit me. That's why my VCR taped the wrong show. My VCR (and many people's electronic devices) is set for the old DST which was this past Sunday. (No wonder why the clock on my computer was wrong when I was on it on Monday night. I just assumed my computer was having an off night. It is getting old in computer years.)

So, you know what that means? My VCR taped two more episodes of The View on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and not one ounce of RR. Bummer. I missed some good stuff. Well, at least I assume I did. I guess I'll have to wait for repeats to come on this summer.

The moral of this story is, check your electronic equipment to make sure it has the correct time and don't forget to change your equipment again this Saturday night. Unless you're in AZ. Or parts of IN. Then you can just laugh at those of us who have these DST 'issues.'

Fummer or Sall

It’s hard to know what to call this time of year. I mean this literal time of this literal year. It’s fall; the calendar tells me so, the shorter days tell me so, the leaves changing colors and falling from trees tell me so. Apparently the weather did not quite get the memo, at least not in my neck of the woods.

No, in my neck of the woods summer is holding on. Temperatures have tied, broken or come ridiculously close to records. The humidity was so thick yesterday that every curl on my head was a big frizzy mess and my skin felt wet. Okay, so the fact that it rained yesterday didn’t help that. The Philadelphia area is on track to not just break but demolish the heat record set during this month back in 1971. I wasn’t even born in 1971. That year the average temp in October was 6 point-something degrees higher than normal. This year we are on track for 8 point-something degrees higher than normal and there are still nearly 2 weeks left in the month. Apparently this is a big deal since the weather guy had all sorts of graphics about it yesterday. Monday temps are supposed to hit 80+ degrees.

Am I complaining about this? Not me. This thinned out blood from her years in Arizona girl is quite enjoying the warmer temps. Yes, it’s hard to figure out what to wear each day; especially when you went ahead and put most of your summer clothes away and took out the fall and winter pieces during the first cold spell (okay official fall weather) that we had. But complaining I am not.

It’s just weird that it’s dark in the mornings and the sun is setting earlier yet the temps are calling for barbeques and lazy nights on the porch. The thing that makes me a bit nervous (slightly too strong of an emotion but I was in need of a word) is we may just skip fall temps all together and be thrown into the dreaded cold of winter. I shudder at the thought. My thin blood needs a transition.

I have a love-hate relationship with fall. I love the slightly cooler temps (in a normal fall), the chance to wear boots and light sweaters, the lower humidity, the leaves changing colors, apple cider, homemade apple sauce, and baking again since I hate to put the oven on in the summer among many other things. But I know that winter is just around the corner. That thought makes me dread this time of year.

This year I get to hold on a bit longer to the warm temperatures. My butt and hips will enjoy the lack of baked goods and my taste buds will enjoy it all the more in a short while. For now, I’m going to try to live in the present. I’m going to try to enjoy this time of year for as long as it’s around. I’ll try to get the most out of the rest of this fummer or sall season.

Spiritual Lessons on the Road

I was recently driving back to Philly from NJ. I traveled a different route home because I started out from a different location. My mapquest directions and I began the journey. Early on I was quite familiar with the roads. Once I got past a certain point I was in unexplored territory as far as I was concerned. It was a very pretty drive over a lot of farm land (yes, NJ has farmland) and some of the leaves were beginning to change colors.

I reached a certain point in my journey where the road changes names but the route number stays the same. I went through a toll booth, found the route number I needed and continued driving. Several hundred feet later I had a brief moment of panic. I hadn’t yet seen a sign confirming I was in fact on the correct numbered road. The new street name was not mentioned in my directions (that became a distraction). I’m in the middle of literally God only knows where. Uh-oh.

I had a spiritual lesson or moment then. I knew that I was on the right road but for some reason I got a small sense of panic and when I let it in, it grew. I knew I was on the right road, but I wanted to see the route number sign so that I could have it confirmed. Isn’t that like our life journey though? We know we are on the right road, the right journey toward God; but sometimes we just want or we just need to be reminded and encouraged. We need to have our journey road confirmed in some way.

I think we all need to be encouraged along our journey. A little while later I saw that number that I needed; the number that assured me that I was in fact on the correct road and there was no need to panic.

I pray we all have someone or someones in our life who can encourage us along the way and let us know that we are in fact on the right road. I also pray that our eyes are open for those people and for those signs. I’d hate for us to miss them because we are too busy being distracted.

a day in The City with mom

My mom and I went into New York City to try to see the Rachael Ray Show. No, we didn’t have tickets; we were trying for stand-by seats. We got up early and my step-dad drove us to the train station. We took the nearly 1 hour ride into the city and then walked a whole heck of a lot further to the studio than we had originally anticipated needing to walk. Yes, we could have taken a cab but we were women on a mission.

We arrived and saw a line forming outside the “Audience Entrance” sign. I went inside the studio entryway beside the sign to make sure we were in fact in the correct place. I was informed by a nice security guy that we in fact were. For stand-by tickets we needed to wait in line and someone with a headset would eventually come out and tell us what to do. Check. It’s off to the line we go. As I’m about to walk outside he tells me that which I already know – it’s hard to get stand-by tickets to RR. I smiled and said, ‘I know, thanks.’ But what I was thinking to add to that is, ‘but you don’t know my God.’ I just never said it out loud.

Mom and I stood in line for about 65 minutes or so listening to the people around us chat about some ridiculous stuff. All the people around us had tickets. We had hope. I kept thinking how wrong it was that some of the people around me who aren’t even fans (or fair weathered ones at best) were going to get in and I might not. One woman in front kept saying things about RR like, ‘I didn’t know she lived in the city.’ In my head I responded – she lives in the Village and has a house in the Adirondacks; she and John are also currently considering a summer home in the Hamptons. Anything else you’d like to know about her? Some people. Instead I just held my tongue.

Finally after what felt like years the woman with the headset came out. She walked past us and was kind of counting/looking for passes. I scooted to the side and asked if we were in the right line for stand-by tickets. After all that time waiting, I didn’t want to get left behind. Her words to me were, ‘I’m going to let you stay right here.’ Hope meter skyrocketed. I figured we’d flash our government issued id as required and walk right in. Headset lady started at the back of the line and started pulling people out of line to go on ahead of the rest of us and get inside. We found out they were considered VIPs. Hey, I’m a VIP too! Rachael may not know it yet but I surely am.

Headset lady got to us and asked for my last name. I told her we weren’t on the list and were hoping for stand-by tickets. Good grief, some people forget faces so easily. :-) She told us to come out of line and walk up to the other woman with the headset and she’d help us. Heart is pounding at this moment. Could it be? Are we going to get in? My mom and I walk confidently up to headset lady II and she asks for our name. Rats. Again I explain how we are hoping for stand-by seats. She tells us to stand to the side. I get up against the wall and headset lady II comes over and drops the bomb – there are no standby seats left. What????!!!!! After all that? No seats? Hey, I’m a VIP too. I guess my V or I just aren’t big enough.

So, mom and I did what nearly every other woman would have done in that situation. We stormed the doors and ran inside. Just kidding. We went shopping. We weren’t going to waste a trip into NYC.

As far as the RR show goes, I’ll try again. One of these days I’m getting in to see the show. I’m still holding my hope. Better yet, maybe one day I’ll be ON the show. Look for me on a tv near you. I’ll be back Rachael; I’ll be back.

Caedmon's Call says it all.

Sometimes I can't figure out how to describe how I feel. I can't figure out what to say (or write on this blog) and so I say nothing. Then I hear a song that says what I think. It says what I'm feeling.

Sometimes I believe all the lies
So I can do the things I should despise
And every day I am swayed
By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith
So I'm feeling precarious
The only problem I have with these mysteries
Is they're so mysterious

And like a consumer I've been thinking
If I could just get a bit more
More than my 15 minutes of faith,
Then I'd be secure

(Chorus)
My faith is like shifting sand
Changed by every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace

I've begged you for some proof
For my Thomas eyes to see
A slithering staff, a leprous hand
And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory
And this soaked altar going ablaze
But you know I've seen so much
I explained it away

Chorus

Waters rose as my doubts reigned
My sand-castle faith, it slipped away
Found myself standing on your grace
It'd been there all the time