Matt <3's Alisse

Aw, aren't they cute?


Let me tell you, I'm SO excited for my friends who got married this weekend. If you haven't yet, go wish them congratulations. They'll see it when they get back from their trip to Aruba.

I got to see lots of other friends too, including but not limited to:

Beth

You ought to go over to her blog and tell HER congratulations, albeit for a different life event.

Olivia

Olivia must have remembered me from when we helped them move to their new place, because the whole time we were visiting, I would try to go sit with the "grown-ups", and she promptly grabbed my fingers and dragged me back to play with her. Every. Time. Don't think I'm complaining though.

Ashley and Tree

It was so neat to be able to hang out with these two ladies at the same time. They're two of my favorite people. Here, we all look like deer caught headlights, on school picture day. Gotta love the background.

Paul

We got to spend a good amount of time talking to Ashley & Paul, since they stayed at our house Friday night & made the road trip with us. He's got the fastest Sidekick this side of the Mississippi.

Jeremiah

Tree and Dan's boy is growing up so much! I was so impressed with his baby signs, and his social nature. I first met him less than 4 months ago, and he's gone from Baby to Almost Toddler in that time!

After the wedding festivities, we headed to Chicago Sunday to have lunch with Caroline & her Josh, then took her on a Target run. Didn't have my camera handy, but was fascinated by the escalators made for shopping carts. Wow.

I saw plenty of others, too- check out the rest of the album!

matt and alisse

I'll leave you with the profound thoughts in front of the church where the wedding was:
life insurance rates

2nd Annual Gerig Hall Reunion

Camping this weekend was a blast. I enjoyed seeing everyone and hearing of the adventures that God is taking each of us on! Some are looking to by houses, some are starting new jobs, some are in the midst of moving, some are looking to expand their family- we're all in different places, but all totally blessed. Spending time with this group was a delight. All told, we had 18 people and a dog show up- 15 of us lived in Gerig at some point.


Already can't wait until next year!

Compare this event to last year's.

A Thinking Faith

An email from a friend lately said:

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what's really important to me and how my perspective on so many issues has changed so much over the past two years and has drastically changed since I graduated from high school.

A discussion ensued between us, and I agreed that I was in the same position. I look back to what I was involved in and what I believed then, and so much has changed. Later, she said

"It is SO NICE to know that someone is going through the same stuff I am... I think we have changed how we think partially because of who we are: thinking, intelligent individuals. I think it is also because of Taylor. We were taught that all truth is God's truth so we shouldn't be afraid to look into controversial issues. The problem is, I feel like a lot of Christians don't really think about why they believe what they believe. "

"All truth is God's truth so we shouldn't be afraid to look into controversial issues" I love that.

I wholeheartedly agree with her on the point of having a "thinking faith". I want- and need- to know why I believe what I claim to (whether the answer is logical or scientific or scriptural or experiential... answers can be informed by any or all of these types of information). I feel like I am being intellectually dishonest with myself otherwise. I also don't want to be afraid of saying "I Don't Know." I don't want to claim support one side or the other of an issue when I am not convinced I know the right answer, or that the side I am supporting is right. I don't want to make arbitrary stances.

Living in the Not-Knowing is hard. The Modern mindset wants black-and-white lines drawn, easy explanations given, and simple, 4-point summaries of how the world and faith works. I want intellectually honest answers and humble discussions, where participants will admit that all is not certain, answers aren't easy, and God and the world are complex.

Is this OK?

Will anyone join me?

Gerig carries on the Tradition

Airband was last night. As I mentioned earlier, I was out stormchasing & missed the show (and we would have to pay for performance tickets & stand in the hours-long line... I'm not a college student anymore, I guess.), but I heard it was a good show...

Gerig performed Tradition, from Fiddler on the Roof, and carried on the dorm's tradition of first place finishes, for the 5th win in 8 years. Amazing! I'm so excited for them!

Summer Taylor Magazine headline

I opened this season's Taylor alumni magazine and laughed. And laughed and laughed and laughed. I couldn't help it. Did anyone else catch the headline I'm talking about?

Yes, that's right. You thought that "Ring by Spring" was an unspoken goal at Taylor, and the new slogan of the university was "Beyond the Mind"... but alas, no. The mission of the university is to get you engaged and married. Here are some excerpts from the article:

When one engages, he or she may make a promise, assume an obligation, or even enter into a conflict. Engagement is what the Christian life is all about.
...
Let me suggest that Beyond the Mind, Taylor's current tag line, could be Engaging the Mind.
...
Why does Taylor recruit young men and women? ... Because Taylor engages the evangelical community to develop excellent scienctists and challenge them to impact their local and global communities for Christ. Yes, Taylor is all about engagement. Engage!

It helped the entertainment value of the article that the first paragraph was about Star Trek. We watch more than our fair share of Star Trek around here.

So, if the mission of Taylor University is engagement, what's the mission of other Christian schools? Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary might answer similarly "Homemakers: The Mission of SWBTS". Why? Well, they just announced a new degree in homemaking. If the name of the school sounds familiar, it's because I've blogged about it before, back when they denied a female bible professor tenure just because she was female, and the leaders of the university decided that women shouldn't teach men. What should they do, then? According to seminary President Paige Patterson, "We are moving against the tide in order to establish family and gender roles as described in God's word for the home and the family." What's the family & gender role that the seminary thinks women should take, based on God's word?

Course work includes three hours of "general homemaking," three hours on "the value of a child," seven hours of "design and apparel"--including a four-hour "clothing construction with lab"--seven hours of nutrition and meal preparation and a three-hour course on the "Biblical Model for the Home and Family."

My first question was, are men allowed to take these classes? Do they need to know the value of a child, too? What if they like cooking?

More seriously, my problem with the statements made is the exclusivity of the statements.: The role of homemaking is THE BIBLICAL model for a woman. She can be called to nothing else, so this is why we teach her to sew and cook and change diapers. She cannot, like Taylor professor Sheri Klouda, be called to teach God's word. She cannot be called to work in the world. If a woman is to follow what God has for her, she is to do the things taught in this course of study.

What if she is called to work in the world, or go to be a missionary? What if she never marries? What if a man never marries and needs these skills too? Is it un-manly of him to do these things? It just seems like we're putting God in a box if we say that He can only use half of the people he made to reach the world, the other half is resigned to ministering in the home --which, I don't want to knock- there is definitely value in ministering in the home. But does every woman have to be called to only that?

------------------------------------------------
EDIT: Because I've noticed that this post is getting attention from people both in Upland and in Fort Worth, I offer this disclaimer: Obviously, I'm just having fun with the Taylor story. Everyone knows the joke on campus. Just good fun. The actual story doesn't even mention engagement related to marriage.
As for the SWBTS story, this is something I haven't mentioned before: I grew up (until 8th grade) in a Southern Baptist church. I might not agree with all the views that the church has today, but I do appreciate the foundation I got growing up.

Words on Camping

I've had writer's block this week. It's frustrating. I usually love to write, and this week... nothing's coming.

So, we went camping last weekend. We got there Friday at about 4:30, and were glad that Ashley & Paul beat us there by about half an hour- the got the last 3 sites for our group. If they hadn't made it there, 16 people wouldn't have had a place to sleep Friday & Saturday. Anyway, we unpacked some of our stuff to the campsite- basically, we brought what we needed to sleep & make dinner with. Others showed up then left quickly, as they where headed to a wedding in Wheaton. We held down the camp with Brent & Sara & Ashley's dog. We enjoyed cooking over the fire & visiting with them. We saw three deer sneak through the woods near our campsite, including a fawn. It was surreal.

We went to bed before the wedding crowd came in, and got up earlier than everyone else to cook breakfast. The meal for 16 went surprisingly smoothly, considering the limited equipment & number of people to feed. I was pleased, anyway. Saturday for lunch we met even more friends at a picnic area and had a proper reunion celebration. There was cake involved.

After lunch, everyone headed to the Dunes for some beach-time. We went with Matt & Alisse to climb Mt Baldy. Some people played in the waves, others just relaxed.

After the Dunes adventure, we headed back to the campsite, to be joined later by the rest of the group. After dinner cooked over the fire, everyone just visited and caught up. Some of us were entertained by harvesting wild blueberries and feeding them to the two-year-old. It was a good time.

Sunday morning we packed up earlier than most and headed to South Bend to meet Josh's friend for lunch. After lunch, we tagged along to an art fair in St Joseph, Michigan, where we saw lots of fine art, and a carousel museum. There was a beach there, too.

And thus ends our weekend adventures. I'm still tired- I haven't recovered yet. But, oh, what fun the time with friends was!

Breaking news

The Indy Star is reporting that the trucker involved in the Taylor University crash over a year ago has pled guilty to five counts of reckless homicide in court today, facing 4 to 24 years in prison. He also pled guilty to four counts of criminal recklessness resulting in serious bodily injury. Last year, he had pleaded not guilty to the same charges in the crash and faced an August trial. The trial was moved after objections by the defense to the chance of getting a fair trial in the deeply-impacted small community.

Two days from now will mark the 1-year anniversary of the breaking news that one of the victims of the crash was misidentified, and a girl thought alive actually died in the crash, while the girl who was thought to be killed was alive and being cared for by the dead girl's family. All very troubling.

This news is actually a praise- the families will not have to relive the crash and horror by going through a trial- the matter will be settled, and friends and family can continue to heal.

Taylor in the news

While at Taylor, I'd go home for breaks and weekends, but, when driving back from campus, getting off I-69, heading east then north on St Rd 26 , then 22, the drive was so familiar. I can still replay the whole stretch in my head. The culmination of the commute, though, was the entrance of Taylor coming into site. My heart leapt. This was the familiar, peaceful place- home, for four years- with friends and mentors and beauty and fun. I always liked that drive.


So what has become of the Taylor sign? Well, this one in the picture is from the north entrance rather than the south, where I would drive from, but it's still somewhat disturbing to see it in two pieces, cracked like the Stone Table. Apparently, it's being replaced. For those of you who come from the north, you will have a different face to campus greet you next time you show up. Hopefully your heart will still leap.

In other news, Taylor made the Indianapolis Star with a story of plans for a new prayer chapel as remembrance for the crash victims one year ago. It will seat 75, which is probably the same size as the existing prayer chapel, which is probably the most beautiful and quiet place on all of campus to retreat, reflect, and pray (except for, perhaps, the woods by the lake.) (picture of Josh & I at the prayer chapel). The existing chapel is also probably the most ignored room on campus, accessed via a seeming 'back door' of an administrative building. This fact made it all the more secret and seclusive.

Five Die in Indiana Car Crash from Same Community

This could have been teh headline a year ago. This could be the headline today.

A year ago today, five people died in an Indiana car crash, all in the same van, caused by a errant semi truck. These five people were all from the same community- my community, at the end of my senior year at Taylor. The tight-knit campus and town was hit hard, but pulled through. Remembrance services are scheduled throughout this week.

You might understand me being shaken up, then, as I just read another news article in the Indianapolis Star. There was a car crash this morning in northern Indiana. It was caused by an errant semi truck. Eight people were killed- five in the same van, from the same tight-knit Amish community. Their driver survived.

We know what the community will go through, to an extent. From the article:

About 14,000 Amish live in western LaGrange and eastern Elkhart counties, Nolt said.

Yoder said the deaths would hit the Amish hard because they are so community-oriented.

“But they will accept it as being God’s will,” he said. “You don’t question God.”

Taylor is undeniably community-oriented, and in the aftermath, we may have questioned God, but we've seen the unexpected miracles he's brought since then, and seen God's will in it all, as heart-wrenching as it has been. We can pray that the loved ones and community of this van-full will also be able to come through the tragedy together.

Women in Christian Academia

This is an old news story that has just recently came up again. I thought I had posted about it the first time around, but apparently not.
The original news story goes something like this: Sheri Klouda was a tenure-track professor of Hebrew at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary since 2002. When the time came up, she was denied tenure (essentially fired). Was she failing to perform her duties as a professor? Did she show herself as unqualified? No, neither of those reasons are why she was denied tenure. "While Klouda was initially allowed to teach men, [Seminary president Paige] Patterson and Southwestern now interpret the Timothy passage to mean that only men can instruct future pastors, according to a seminary official." (MSNBC also has good coverage of this) Another article points out that there still is a woman teaching in the school of theology- Patterson's wife, Dorothy. Of course, that's acceptable because she teaches women's studies classes attended only by women.

Bloggers have weighed in on the issue. Blogger Wade Burleson broke the story on his blog and complained to a newspaper:

"Sheri Klouda is not a pastor, she has not been ordained or licensed, she does not perform ministerial duties,... The same institution that conferred her degree and hired her has now removed her for gender. To me, that is a very serious, ethical, moral breach." Burleson is pastor of Emmanual Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., and a trustee of the International Mission Board.

One of Klouda's classmates when they were in school wrote:

Her husband has chronic illnesses that require her to generate income for the family, so she "pulled and scraped and fought to get her education so that she could provide for her family," wrote [Ben] Cole, pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas.
"I suppose she could have tried to get a job as a secretary or a librarian, but this woman has gifts of intellect and scholarship that God intends her to use to their fullest potential," Cole wrote. "So she got two degrees from Criswell, both with honors. She received top honors at Southwestern Seminary, and she was able to buy a home and teach her students to love the biblical languages she spent years studying. But Paige Patterson thinks it’s Sheri Klouda’s job to be a homemaker…."

We've had the conversation between friends before on whether women should work on stay home, and this is an interesting case study. Should these beautiful gifts and intelligences given to serve God be ignored because 'women should not work outside the home'?

The new news is that she is suing the seminary & school president for gender discrimination.

And, do you recognize that doorway, that office number she's leaning up against? If you guessed Reade, you're right! After being dismissed, she's now teaching Old Testament at Taylor University! Hooray for Taylor!

Purple & Gold?

WHOA! So, based on Corey's comment yesterday, I was curious if Taylor was still closed today... and I went to the website and, whoa, it's different. Just threw me off for a minute, I guess. They are making liberal use of the redesigned cross-and-bucket logo, and the colors scheme is ... maroon & tan? I suppose that's easier on the eyes than the school colors, purple and gold, but it gives the site a different look (For a purple and gold comparison, check out the Athletics page).




Maybe someone else knows when the change was made. I usually visit the site at least weekly, so it had to have been recently. This is the second redesign in not-very-many years, but I suppose it was required, with the new logo & colors.

Learning opportunity plug

For those of you at Taylor, go hear David Goetz, author of Death By Suburb speak at the IFC event Thursday. He's from Wheaton (the town not the school), so what he has to say will ring true with all the Chicago suburbians, at least, and then anyone who grew up in a typical suburb or plans on moving to one someday. Having grown up in Carmel, the most stereotypical suburb in the Indianapolis area, the points he has in his book hit the nail on the head for me. I was seriously considering driving up there to hear him, until it was announced that he was also going to be at MY church, for a 4-hour seminar while Josh is working Saturday. Hooray. So I'll be there. And hopefully have the book done by then.
(for more insight, check out the blog post I wrote before I started the book, and the comment on it from the author himself)

Intelligent Giving

Josh made a comment last night that made me think. He said he's reached the age that he always thought of when he thought of being 'grown up'. He said a guy that looked like a young businessman- definitely 'grown-up'- in a station wagon we've actually talked about getting went through the drive-thru at the bank yesterday, and when Josh looked at his drivers license, he saw he was only 3 years older than us. I said, yeah, we're out on our own, all married and with full time jobs and such. I guess you can call that 'grown-up'.
Speaking of having jobs, we now have significant paychecks coming regularly and we're being able to worship by tithing. Over and above tithing, however, we've talked about how else we want to give, and to what sort of organizations. I've talked about this before a long while ago, coming from a slightly different angle.

I came across a site today called Charity Navigator which publishes and ranks charities (and ministries) based on their financial responsibility. I thin kit is important that wherever we choose to give, that the gift be used with good stewardship and in a way that makes a difference and forwards the goal of the organization. A good example I found on the site was World Vision. On their fact page, you can see that the vast majority of what they get, they spend on their programs, rather than their office or fundraising. Another strong point is that they don't spend more than they have, so they budget well and are responsible with what God gives them through others.

Taylor is listed on the site, and I was happy with their report as well. These are slightly old numbers, as they list Dr Gyertson as president. Taylor could be in for some trouble, though...

A link I clicked on from the front page of the site was titled Charities Routinely in the Red, a list of charities that spent more than they got- a LOT more- over the last 3 years. The only organization I recognized on the list was the fairly-well-known American Bible Society, listing none other than Taylor's own Eugene Habecker as the president, with an impressive salary, I might add, for an organization that isn't making ends meet. I have a deep respect for Dr Habecker, I enjoy hearing him speak, and I appreciate the way he's handled everything that has happened at Taylor during his term. I just really hope he learned a thing or two from the deficits at ABS, and that the same thing doesn't happen under his watch at Taylor, especially with the big plans in the works for a science building and other (expensive) campus changes.

I like Taylor and trust the leadership. I'm sure all will be fine. This was just an interesting find today.

Taylor crash update

Couple things:

• Classes start at Taylor in a few days, and I won't be going back, but Whitney's already there! I have to imagine it must be unreal for her friends there, who left mourning her loss, to see her in the DC and classes again! There will be celebration as the Taylor community comes back together over the next few days. Check out the chapel in the background of that picture. It's a happy sight..


• The Indianapolis Star is reporting that Grant County prosecutors are filing charges against the truck driver in the crash. Witnesses assumed the truck driver had fallen asleep at the wheel, when he drifted across the median without attempting to brake or turn back, but the investigation is showing a different picture: The truck driver "used his cell phone at 7:57 p.m. to call his sister, Nicole Spencer. Their cell phone connection ended at 8:12 p.m., several minutes after the crash, according to investigators." Local news station WTHR also has the story. WTHR has had the best, most sensitive coverage of the whole Taylor-crash story. The meteorologist at the station is an Taylor parent.

The long road home

So, like I said, I've been following Whitney Cerak's family's blog and was so happy to learn she'll be at Taylor for the fall. I checked it this morning to see what seems like the last post for the blog, ever... by Whitney herself!
She says,

It is strange to find out my family and friends had a funeral for me, but they told me God was faithful even during that time. It is so hard to believe that this story is all over the news and so many people know about me. Even though I don’t know many of you who are reading what I am writing about my life, I am so thankful to have had your prayers.

and concludes with the happy news,

I AM FINALLY HOME, Whitney

Back to school

Not me, I'm not going back to school in the fall, and I'm OK with that. Another girl will be there, as improbable as it might be.

I, for one, have been following Whitney's progress on her family's blog every day or every-other day. Well, I hadn't checked it yesterday, and I checked the Indy Star first, only to find that the reporters had beat me to it. According to their story, Whitney will be back to Taylor in the fall. Even CNN picked up on it.

This is joyous. I won't be back with to school with my classmates, but a classmate who was mourned as dead will be back. It's amazing.


Oh, and, in other news, the Indiana legislature is taking action taken from the Taylor crash mix-up to hopefully prevent this from happening again... give the coroners (an elected position) formal training.

Ashley <3 Paul

I've yet to say anything about last weekend. This is primarily because I have not been at home in front of a computer. After work this week, we've gone to my parents' house every day and taken care of their dog Millie and finished up thank-you notes.
So there. That's the story of my week. Last weekend though...

We left promptly after work Friday to drive to Georgia. We were lucky to not hit any really major traffic on the way down Friday, except for the normal slow-down in Nashville, and we ended up stopping in Murfreesboro, TN, for the night. Early the next morning we took off again, headed to my aunt's house then to the wedding. In Charleston, the interstate was completely closed, right before we were supposed to change interstates, so that threw a wrench in the works a little bit, and probably cost us about 45 minutes as we wound through small towns with lights not timed for the interstate-volumes of traffic they were getting through their main thoroughfares.

We were at my aunt's before noon, and showed up at the church at 1, so I could responsibly perform my greeting and guestbook-attending duties. It was so great to see everyone. The wedding was beautiful. I grinned like crazy, because I'm so happy for them. I was recruited to go with the wedding party and hold bouquets and water for them while they took pictures, and I was so glad I got to be involved and help. (I also was able to steal photos of the poses the photographer was having them in) At the reception, which was very nice, Emily sang 'You're Still the One' by Shania Twain and made Tree & I cry, because we knew it was the perfect song for Ashley and Paul. I was so glad to see Tree and Dan before they leave the country again. We were glad to see Matt, even though we see him like every few weeks for one reason or another. I was glad to see lots of Gerig friends, many of which I hadn't seen in a long while. After the wedding, we went for Mexican with my aunt and uncle. Sunday, my aunt from Columbus came up and joined us for an early lunch before we hit the road. I really enjoyed seeing family.

Reason #2 I'm not posting till a week later: I took my SLR film camera to the wedding, and I really wanted to post pictures, but that involved sitting still long enough to scan some in. And another downside of film: I only had 2 rolls of film left when I showed up for the wedding, and one was black-and-white. The pictures in the album that are in black and white are not that way because of my editing skills or artistic license. No, that's the way they printed. I know. I'm so old-fashioned.

So, I'm giving Google Albums a try. Check out my Ashley-and-Paul's-wedding album. Enjoy!

Ashley & Paul!

Aug 5, 2006 - 21 Photos

The Weekend Where I Graduate

I've been really bad about blogging lately. I apologize. I attribute this partly to the fact I have been in front of a computer less- not being home or in the dungeon for any significant amount of time. I also attribute it to the whirlwind-rate stuff's been happening in life.

Notes from last week that haven't been mentioned yet: I threw a surprise bridal shower Tuesday for my friend getting married in July. I went wedding- and bridesmaid-dress shopping Thursday with the same friend and we were successful. She's going to have a simple wedding, but I think its going to turn out nicely. The dresses are very pretty, anyway :)

This weekend, I graduated. Graduation rehearsal was unexciting, except when I got there early and got to see my friend who had been in the hospital just a few weeks ago having heart surgery and gave her a (gentle!) hug. Graduation was nice, albeit hot. I wore ample sunscreen and avoided a sunburn. Josh got sunburned on the back of his neck pretty bad. I was excited to find out a few days before graduation our commencement speaker was the highest-ranking Taylor grad in government, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen L. Johnson. He had a good speech. He didn't talk too much about environmental protection, but that was OK. Much effort was put into balancing 'celebration and remembrance' at the ceremony. Posthumous degrees were given to 3 of the students that died in the car crash a few weeks ago. A degree was also awarded to the student who is still in the hospital from the crash, currently coming out of a coma.

Not only did my parents, Josh, and Josh's parents come to see me graduate, when I finally found my cheering section in the crowd, I saw that Matt was sitting with them. He got some good pictures. His girlfriend Alisse was taking pictures of me as well, as I walked to the stage to get my diploma. I haven't seen those yet.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday, Josh was sick. I helped him pack up his apartment, then he came and helped me pack my apartment Monday. Today, I'm going to finish packing a few things, then head to Josh's apartment. We're going to load both our Civics full of Josh's stuff then head to Carmel Wednesday to get the key to our new apartment! Yay. I'm so excited to set up a home and settle and have a place of our own. 1.1 miles from where I work. Across the street from Meijer. Spacious and affordable.

Oh, if anyone in the area isn't doing anything Saturday and would like to help us move in, we'd be delighted.

I leave you with Alisse, Matt, me & Josh at graduation:

and our Civics in the same order :)

Week of May 08, 2006 (193 of 194)

Week of May 08, 2006 (193 of 194)

That, my friends, was the title that appears currently over the calendar on my online class schedule. "Week 193 of 194." Do the math. 193 weeks ago was, oh, approximately FOUR YEARS ago when I entered Taylor once-upon-a-time.
And, check it out, 194 minus 193 equals ONE. One week. That's it. The graduation cap and gown are in hand and rehearsal is on my calendar. Finals are in sight. Apartment-packing has begun. The "real world" is on the horizon and fast approaching.

Can't wait.

Adventures in Service

Warning, really long post
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Saturday, I and my four fellow senior seminar group members stepped out of the bright, safe, rural, upper-middle-class bubble that is Taylor University and stepped into another world. We were there to help, to save the day, or so we thought. Actually, we didn't know what to think or expect. We were going to Virtual Scavengers in Indy, and all I knew going into it was "they put together working pieces of donated computers for nonprofits." That was it. I had this fear that I was going to be there for 5 hours testing memory or case fans or something. I don't like working with hardware. Which was demonstrated yesterday. But that's another story.

I digressed. I walked into this warehouse and was greeted with piles and piles of computers and monitors. There was a section of the warehouse segmented by plywood walls that was the "store." It seemed to sell, at highly discounted rates, software, computer books, and maybe computers. I didn't go in and look.
Once everyone got there, we were given our jobs. It was pretty easy to separate us- the ladies (Cindy & I) went to the 'programming' area, while the guys were snagged to, as they reported later, move monitors from one pile into another, more organized pile. They got a detailed lesson in the art of properly stacking monitors.

The 'programming' area, as it was called, wasn't programming at all. It was wiping hard drives, imaging the computers, and installing Windows. A lot of click-click-click-wait. Because I was proficient in using computers to start, I needed a lot less oversight than a normal volunteer does, and I got two computers (essentially) completely done during my time, while no one else got through even one.

Even though I had two computers going simultaneously, I was able to talk to the other people in the area during the 'waiting' bits, which was most of it. Here's the stories of the people I met:

• Bryce - This high school student from Indianapolis was finishing up his spring break when we were there. Apparently, he had spent his entire spring break working at the warehouse. I respected that. He was very polite and knowledgeable, especially for just a freshman in high school. I was very impressed. I told him this was great experience so early- because he had been working there, he had learned a slew of thing s I never knew about hardware, networking, software, etc. Very cool.


• Leonard - He's the staff member in charge of the area. He is good at what he does. It's different, working for a ministry or nonprofit than for a business or university. At a for-profit you have equipment, trained staff, and a budget. Here, Leonard trains his "staff" on a week by week basis, he has whatever equipment that comes in, and I didn't see much evidence of a budget. Even with those hardships, he got work done in a very matter-of-fact way, making sure things are done right. I appreciated it.


• The obnoxious kid - OK, so he wasn't so much a kid- he's 24, older than me - but I needed a name. I didn't catch his name, but that's OK, because I probably won't be seeing him again. And that's OK too. When he first started talking to me, I could tell he had an attitude, but I was pleasant, hoping the attitude would wear off. He said he was going into the National Guard and was working toward his GED. I told him that those were good things to do. Later he expanded on his plans and said he wanted to go "shoot everyone over there" because he thought that would solve the problem, or be an EMT and drive an ambulance, because he liked to drive fast. He said his license was currently suspended for driving 100 in a 55 and not paying the ticket. I told him all those things were not good things to do. When I really lost respect for him, however, was when he got a phone call, and answered it Push-To-Talk. From what I overheard, it sounded very much like a drug deal. Who makes a drug deal on PTT with other people around? Duh. Bryce, who must've not overheard what I did, said, "How do you understand the guy on the other end of the phone?" Admittedly, the guy on the other end was garbled like a walkie talkie would be. The kid shot back with some smart remark, then added, "It was a business deal." Hmm. Yeah, so, the kid wasn't doing any work- I think he was there while his dad was getting a computer- and he kept talking and being disrespectful and eventually got thrown out. Leonard said he thought he was trying to impress me. Um, no, didn't work.


• The ladies working with me - One of the ladies was at the warehouse to gain computer job skills. She had gone to school once-upon-a-time-before-computers for graphic design, and now was trying to get back into it. She was taking some computer graphic design classes at Ivy Tech as well as helping out with computers there. Another lady was working 4 consecutive Saturdays to earn a computer for her son. She wouldn't be able to afford one otherwise. She was a big Reggie Miller and Pacer fan, and we talked about that. All the ladies were eager to work and learn, although none of them were proficient or even comfortable using a computer. I tried to explain what they were doing as we went along, rather than just saying, Click here, Click here, Now wait till it's done. I think they appreciated it.

At the end of the day, Leonard asked Bryce, who was supposed to be in charge of helping the volunteers, how the day went. He said "I didn't do anything- she did all of it." I suppose I did. I wasn't going to sit and watch progress bars when I was supposed to be serving. Besides, I enjoyed it. They asked me if I would be coming back. I said, probably not, but I'd talk to my group. They said they wished I would.
Last Story: As the Taylor group was waiting to leave, we were talking to a lady in charge, and she was explaining the purpose and vision of the organization. Cool stuff. I piped in, "Yeah, there's lots to do here, you just need to get the manpower to ..." when I was abruptly cut off by teh lady with a pointed finger and a sharp "Not manpower, PERSONpower." I mumbled, "Right... personpower."
This exchange got me thinking of how little we are exposed to feminism ideas at Taylor- her comment caught not only me but the entire group off-guard. That's for another post, however.

Lessons 'o the day
-I like meeting people, especially when I can talk with them one-on-one. I love hearing people's interests, their stories, their passions. An author that captures exactly what I'm talking about is Studs Terkel.

-I like serving using my gifts and passions - I can do technology. I can do communicating. I care about social and economic justice. Sitting and waiting for Windows to install, or a disk to erase, is pretty menial. I can see the bigger picture behind it and give meaning to the menial.

-I enjoyed helping the ladies learn how to use the computer - I've never considered corporate training at all, but I think I would really enjoy it. I think I have to actually get experience in business first, before I can jump into teaching people how to do things in business.