The Future of Transportation

We've just received a leaflet through the door about sert, which stands for "South Essex Rapid Transit". You may be forgiven for thinking it's people of Basildon who've eaten too many of those "friendly bacteria".

But actually it's a a tram service, but without the tracks. Or, if you like, a bus service running (partly) on dedicated roads. Sounds a good idea, until they break down - then they are presumably know as a "dead sert".

If I've whetted your appetite for sert, there's a video about it on their web site. Go to http://www.sert.org.uk/video.asp

Out of reach ...

The cupboards in the kitchen are higher than in our previous house, so we have bought one of those stools to stand on. In the Argos catalogue there was one in a nice off-white colour, so we ordered it. When we picked it up, it wasn't quite that colour as you can see from the picture!

As with anything, it comes with the mandatory safety warnings (the yellow label in the picture). It says, "Do not attempt to move the step while you are on it." As the wheels retract when you stand on it, it's difficult to see how you could possibly move it whilst on the stool.

It also says, "Always maintain two feet on the base during use." So now I'm puzzled. How do you get on it in the first place if you've got to have both feet on it all the time? I've got it, run up to it and jump onto it!

Oh, no! The last warning is "Never jump onto the step".

It's no good! We'll have to return it to Argos. Maybe they can explain how to use it and still keep to all the safety warnings. Or maybe they can't ...

Apologies to Loyal Readers

First of all my apologies to all those loyal readers out there who have noticed my lack of blogging recently.

My excuse is we have moved home, to Laindon, into the church house (known in Baptist circles as the Manse). It has been a traumatic time, trying to find a place for everything AND having the gas cut off. That's another story, which I'll tell you about another time.

I'm pleased to say we are in a cable area, so we are back with Virgin media, after 18 or so months with BT (say no more!). Virgin are much more friendly. I phoned up to get cable installed and did NOT have to wait in a queue. In fact "Geoff" answered, sorted it all out and left me a number which took you straight through to their office. When I did ring the number, I left a message asking Geoff to ring me back, and within an hour he did! Other large companies with call centres please note!!

But perhaps Virgin go a bit over the top in their friendliness, when the official letter you get from them to confirm everything is entitled, "Well hello there!" In it they tell me if I want to know more, "just take a peek at the leaflet we've tucked away with this letter."

But we mustn't complain about that - better than the 'stiff' letters from some other organisations, so generally it's a well done to Mr. Branson.

Money to money - at a price

I happened to notice in Tesco's one of those change counter machines. You pour in your miscellaneous coins and it counts them for you. It said on the machine, "Turn your coins into cash". Am I missing something? I always thought coins were cash already! The irony is, they charge you 7.9 pence in the pound for the privilege of having your coins counted. So it's in fact turn your cash into cash and lose 7.9% in the process!

I ought to say if you exchange your coins for goods bought in the supermarket, then you can have the full amount back you poured in. I remember someone once said that given you can buy just about anything at Tesco's, including insurance, why not have your salary paid direct to Tesco's? Then if there's anything left over at the end of the month, they can credit it to you. Seems the logical next step ...

More holiday reading

The book I mentioned in my previous blog I haven't finished. But I did finish a crime novel AND I finished a book that was in the 'library' at the hotel we were staying in Corfu. Among the usual range of novels there, I spotted John Stott's recent publication, The Living Church.

It was a good read. But I say that because I agree with what he says! However, it was still challenging. In other words I agree with what he says a living church should be, but how do we get there? How do we, at Laindon Baptist get there? I have some ideas, and I'll be sharing them with the deacons soon!

I also took away on holiday, The Green Bible, which is a version of the Bible where passages that speak about the environment are printed in green. It's interesting reading. Sometimes I think, "Why did they highlight that?" and at other times, "Why didn't they highlight that?"

But I found most interesting the "Green Subject Index" at the end. Looking at the passages in the Bible, for instance, that speak about pollution. It's obviously not about oil spillages or leaks of toxic chemicals. No, the ground is polluted by the spilling of blood on it. The ground is 'polluted' and does not grow crops as it should when there has been killing in the land.

In other words, when we sin, the land suffers. This is not surprising, as when Adam and Eve sinned, it didn't only mean their banishment from Eden, but the whole of creation was somehow affected (read about it in Genesis 3).

It therefore must mean that when we repent of sin, the land is also 'healed' of pollution. See 2 Chronicles 7:12 (which, oddly, isn't in green).

If you have seen the Transformations video, you may remember the town in Mexico (I think), where the harvests were transformed when many people turned to God.

It's a very interesting subject, which demands more study!

Holiday reading

I was reading a novel and it said something like, "a police car with siren wailing shot past the end of the cul-de-sac." My mind immediately pictured a police car tearing up a driveway from the garage of a house, across the front lawn of the house where the road ends, then down the drive of the next house.

And then I realised ... - but here's the question, Which 'end' of a cul-de-sac is the end and which is the beginning? To me the end is where the road ends and you can't get any further. Surely the police car shot past the beginning of the cul-de-sac?

Questions, questions!

By then I had lost my place in the book and lost the thread of the story. Maybe that's why I don't read many books.

A Moral Dilemma

I have a moral dilemma. When you go into a restaurant and order a tea or coffee and those little packets of sugar come, even though you don't take sugar, is it OK to pop them in your pocket and empty them into the sugar jar at home? Actually it's not a jar it's a plastic container with a snap-on lid - of course.

You see, I reckon you've paid for the sugar so you can do what you like with it. So why is it I wait until the waitress is nowhere to be seen and then surreptitiously place them in my pocket or pass them to my wife for her to slip into her handbag?

However I've worked out some reasoning. If the sugar packets come in the saucer, then I reckon I must have paid for them and I can pocket them if I like. But if they are in a dish on the table, it's questionable that I've paid for them, so I don't pocket any.

At the beginning of our holiday, however, things were sorted by my wife. It wasn't a moral answer to my dilemma. But when I was about to hand her a packet to slip into her handbag, she said, "We're not collecting more of those things!"

Problem solved.