Call me cynical but... why is the fact of something happening usually accepted as evidence of providence?

Yesterday there was news, though it concerns someone whom I know but slightly. He got a job working for an organization that "does" Christianity in schools - don't know a great deal about it beyond that. Anyway, he did, and it made everyone happy. I'll take it as read that he prayed that the result of the interview would be God's will, as did the interviewing panel - I should hope that it's the done thing.

And there was much rejoicing; "Isn't it funny that God didn't give him any other jobs 'til now", or words to that effect - "It's odd, because it doesn't seem like his kind of job, but God clearly thinks otherwise."

Seems to me that being a Christian, and prayer, is regarded as an insurance policy against anything happening which is antithetical to God's will in one's life. Seems pretty unlikely to me.

pan·the·ism
n.
A doctrine identifying the Deity with the universe and its phenomena.[...]

Seems a bit like pantheism.

It was really nice to return home and meet up with everyone again, we just seem to slot back together as if we had only been apart a few days. I finally got the leftover rent refund cheque from my time at Exeter Foyer, £94 back is nice.

I'm beginning to get worried about the backlog of ready-to-collect clocks at work. We don't have that much storage space anyway, and I'm running out of bench space to put my completed clocks. It's hard to feel motivated to complete jobs when I've got nowhere to put them. I've tried reminding Norman to call the customers, but with David on holiday in South America he's too busy with his beloved watch straps. I'm not sure what I can do about this.

Today is going really badly.

I've got a job I need to do ASAP which has been delayed (I don't know how). PCFE kept ringing me with long queries involving prolonged paper-hunting. I finally got in touch with my landlord to find that my cheque's got lost in the post, along with my tenancy agreement (the tenancy agreement for the second time) - the £400 that I then owe him slightly outstrips my bank balance of £57.61. And I've got to move Irene's car, which I can do, but I wish I didn't have to - certainly not on such a manifestly crappy day.

Went to church last Sunday for probably the first time since moving to Exeter, tried Belmont Church as it was recommended by a friend of Dad. Pleasantly surprised by how much it reminded me of St Thomas in Sheffield. Although a computerised OHP and an e-mail address on the Welcome card were a bit of a surprise. The church attracts a healthy range of people from all over Exeter and seems quite lively. Although there were a lot of people, I didn't feel tired afterwards, it seems to be a good church to belong to.

However not all is good, my right thumb seems to be the target for a chain of mishaps, two blisters, one under another and yesterday the click spring on an American clock fell out while I was winding it and have my thumb a glancing clout. Well at least with going to Camberley I should be able to avoid further injury.

News:

I have a girlfriend, Monica. She's Italian, and as things stand at the moment, she'll have to go back to Italy mid September. However, she wants to stay in England, and she's trying to sort it out, so here's hoping she won't have to. We met through the chaplaincy, but that was about a year ago. She comes from a village which has a castle, and the nearest big place is Ancona apparently. She's a bi' (she likes my glottal stops) older than I am, but I shan't say how much - it doesn't seem like it anyway.

So there you go.

Not the most pleasant of weeks, picked up a nasty stomach bug, a few stomach pains on Saturday, and over an hour spent in the toilet. I feel better, and work the rest of the day. Sunday, fever and headache, going to the loo 2/3 times per hour between waking and ten, repeat until Wednesday, despite Imodium and, very annoying. I hope no one else gets this.

Went to work today, feeling better, had my first cooked meal since Friday (first filling meal since Saturday), almost did the Happy Dance. Had to pay Customs charge, must check out the limits on imported DVDs.
Still feeling fine.

The notion that I have enough time in a lunch break to do necessary things and blog about James' and Ella's wedding is laughable.

But James asked me to let everyone know he was still alive.

And married.

Weird.

I guess I might borrow Ed or Luke's computer to sum up properly at the weekend, but until then, that's How, for now.

I discovered an interesting property of the lovely duvet cover Mum made for me, it swallowed almost every item except my pajamas and clean underwear for tomorrow, highly interesting. A less enjoyable re-discovery was that brambles hurt when you don't notice them hanging over the pavement. However I took a calm, reasoned approach and on my return journey brought my worn-out top-cutters with me and did a little public spirited pruning:).

On the house to home transition, I've bought some picture hooks to so I can hang up some pictures to break up the monotony of white walls, and requested the maintenance guy to put them up for me as they staff prefer. I'm intending to get a book on vegetarian cooking to see if there's some nice meals I can make without overloading my tiny freezer compartment with frozen meat. I've given Mark my old blackout curtains since the ones in his new bedroom aren't very good, helping him and getting them out of storage.

Selling some of my old videos on E-bay is going well, I posted five off on Saturday, on Monday my new DVD arrived, £10 profit without any loss to my viewing library.

Took the test my DOB no.1 was Abba's Take A Chance on Me, not too bad, but then I checked the no.1 for my 18th birthday. Take That's How Deep is your Love, The Horror, the indescribable horror. Even The Mr. Blobby song would have been better both in musical quality and lyric quality.

Went to a nice BBQ in the car park of my place actually met some people, unlike the multiple no-shows of the people in the Book Club. A little tired but OK

New from Bebo, doodle crap, and say that people smell, on online whiteboards...

Number one on the day I was born was Boomtown Rats - I don't like Mondays. That suits me I think. I'll go with that for my theme for life. I can't recall the one that was number one on my 18th birthday.

Victor found this thing that tells you what was at no 1. on any given day since the US and UK charts started. Feel the misery:

What was No.1 on the day you were born?

[...]

Ebony & Ivory - Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder

[T]ry your life's theme song which is the No.1 on your 18th birthday

[...]

Bound 4 Da Reload - Oxide & Neutrino

And, on the understanding that that was my life's theme song, suicide would of course come onto the agenda.