Friday Random Dots

• I have a new laptop. It replaces the one which I dropped on its corner, the one which got me through seminary and the subsequent work. That old laptop paid for itself, having lasted six years, and it was time for it to be replaced anyway. I love the new laptop, but I am having a bear of a time getting files off of the external hard drive which I used for backup. Since the old laptop was well and truly broken when it dropped, we cannot retrieve stuff from the internal hard drive on it. Theoretically, I should be able to restore files from the external backup drive. Practically, it is not working. The files appear to move to the designated folder I've created for them on my laptop, but when I look for them, they cannot be found. So I will break down and go to the Geek Squad guys this afternoon and see what they can do to reveal my stuff and move it over. I have already spent way too much time trying to resolve this myself.

•  We have another slew of pastoral care stuff happening. The brief respite was a blessing - I was able to get through my vacation and the family visit for my birthday without feeling like I was not attending to parishioners' needs. But now it starts again, just in time for the start of the program year with all the things that it entails. Prayers, please, for a parishioner who just received a difficult diagnosis and for his family as they adjust to what will be a long hard slog.

• Yesterday was full of special conversations. One was an elderly parishioner who was sharing her complicated life story and asking interesting questions. Another was a lunch with a musician friend who is always full of fascinating ideas. Yet another was iftar (breaking the day's Ramadan fast) with our friends of the Muslim Coalition. There were as many Christians and Jews there as Muslims. Delicious food, rich conversations, ideas for new ways we can continue to work together for the betterment of the greater Richmond community. 

• Our diaconal candidate has come up with a wonderful way to reach out to our neighborhood and invite new folks to join us for some casual conversation and relaxation in a non-intimidating way. We should start this in late September. It feels like the right thing to try. We are growing - three new people last Sunday alone - but we know there are folks who would benefit from being a part of our parish family, and we would benefit form their presence. This may be a first step.

• The never-ending saga of what is wrong with my hands may be (slowly) coming to an end. The hand doc, whose first name is encouraging (Joy! really, that is his name), is leaning towards carpal tunnel syndrome as a diagnosis, which is a manageable thing to deal with. The EMG test was inconclusive, but he decided to go ahead with a cortisone shot. This would be both diagnostic (if it fixes the pain and other symptoms, it really was carpal tunnel) and therapeutic (if it fixes the pain, I'll be very happy). I'm cautiously optimistic.

Doug and I are hoping to go to the Maharajah exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts this evening, since this is the last weekend. A little bit of meandering around a different culture, and it may inspire us to go have Indian food for dinner!