More Jobcentre ordeals!

As I was at a conference earlier this week (as mentioned below) and I couldn't keep my usual appointment on Tuesday at the Job Centre. At my previous appointment I explained this, saying that the conference was useful to me for training and networking, so that it would be helpful in my job search. The lady took a photocopy of the programme to file with my notes and made me an appointment for Thursday instead.

So on Tuesday afternoon, someone phones up from the Job Centre to ask why I didn't show up! My wife explained what had happened, but she was not at all impressed!

When I went on Thursday I had to fill in a form as to why I didn't show up on Tuesday. I said I had explained all this last time and that was why I was there on Thursday. But it didn't make any difference. I asked why they had rung up on Tuesday when they knew I wasn't going and why I wasn't going. The answer was something about it not being on my computer record at that point in time. "The call was just a courtesy call," she said. The trouble is, it wasn't a courtesy call, it was a stupid call! And it makes the whole office look stupid ...

Singing to God

I was able to attend a conference for Baptist Ministers in the Eastern Region earlier this week. There were about 70 ministers (mainly male but some female) and their spouses (mainly female, but at least one male). There's something about the worship when you have those people singing out to God! For me, those times of worship were really special.

If you're a member of a Baptist Church in the Eastern Region, you ought to know you're part of a good region with many ministers really committed to God.

Blonde joke

I started off my sermon this morning by telling a 'blonde' joke - thereby upsetting probably a quarter of the congregation in one go! I heard it on Radio 2 and it was told by Sarah Kennedy, who is blonde. This is it:

Two blonde girls were going down the side of the road, one digging a hole, then the other filling it in. They carried on down the road - one digging a hole, the other filling it in until they got to the end of the road. Then they crossed over to the other side and continued back along the road, one digging a hole, the other filling it in. A man who had been watching them work their way down one side of the road, then up the other, stopped them and asked what they were doing.

One of them explained, "There's normally three of us but the other girl called in sick today. She's the one who plants the tree."

I don't think everyone got the joke, there was some whispering going on afterwards. And I'm not saying whether they were male or female or what their hair colouring was!

Now or Later?

I've just received my AA membership renewal request. "What's wrong with that?" you may ask. Well, the letter is dated 3 February, yet the renewal date is 1 April. The letter is headed "It's time to renew your AA membership". To which I respond, "No it isn't! I've got seven weeks to go and I'm not lending you my subscription interest free to you for that amount of time!"

I did once complain to them about this and they said people liked to pay early. I suspect what they meant was, many people pay when they receive the reminder, so they assumed they liked to pay early. It's more likely they don't notice the actual renewal date, or they are scared they will forget about it if they don't do it straight away (but no need to worry, they send out a reminder nearer the time if you haven't paid).

So my renewal notice will go in the "action needed some time in the future".

Nice try, AA! But I'm keeping my money for as long as possible!

White as Snow

We've had about 5 inches of snow and as of this evening, it's still out there! Yesterday my wife and I went out for a walk as it was such a sunny day (albeit cold!). We found a new walk through some woods very close to where we live. Much of the snow was just as it had fallen, beautifully white. We caught a glimpse of a fox. And later on as we were following (probably) his tracks, there was clearly a spot where he had decided to urinate. The snow at the spot was no longer white!

There's an interesting verse in Isaiah in the Bible. God says,

Come now, let us reason together,

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow.

Once snow has been stained, you won't get it white again. That often applies to garments also, in spite of some of the claims made by products advertised on the television!

But God once again promises to do what we would find impossible. He forgives our sins so that, although sin stains our lives, he can make us "white as snow" again. That's the good news of the Christian faith in a nutshell.

I'm sure that fox never dreamt of the theological thoughts he would bring to mind when he stopped briefly in the snow to relieve himself!