Resurfacing with More This 'n' That

Hello to my readers. I've been "busy with much serving," as well as down with some stomach bug or other over last weekend and into the beginning of this week (yuck!). So I ought to at least do a little updating:

At long last, the traded-in car got towed (presumably by the dealership's wholesaler). It was still a day later than I was promised it would be gone the last time I talked to someone there, but my parking place is now my parking place again (except for when the purple Altima repeatedly gets parked there, despite my written request that the driver stop doing this. The next call is to the towing company).

I still haven't finished my letter to the owner of the dealership. I'm waiting until I have my payment book and final confirmation from the finance company that I do indeed have a loan with them. (Thank goodness I still have another month before the first payment is due...) I do not want the dealer to be able to retaliate by demanding that I return the car to them. Besides, I think this final ridiculously long wait for such confirmation needs to be added to the rest of my documentation and included in the letter. It *will* be a doozy, but I promise to remember I'm a Christian--honest, I do! :D

My church has provided me with a laptop and a flash drive, and it's a (mostly) whole new world. I can do my weekly informal service presentations at home. There are some problems, such as not being able to unlock the full 60-day free MS Office trial because HP didn't provide that key, and Microsoft, true to form, displays "This page is not available. Please try back later" when I follow their steps to get the key online. I'm quickly running out of non-key uses (total of 25), because every single time I access ANY MS Office application, it counts against that total. Yikes! And they warn you at the MS home page, that you can't get the key over the phone. IOW, "Don't bother us with our mediocrity. Make do until we take our sweet time fixing things. We're #1, so we don't have to try at all." (Believe me, if we could have crossed over to Mac, I would have done it in a heartbeat. But I didn't make the decisions, and to be fair, it would have been disastrous because of all the ridiculously old PC-based applications our staff and volunteers still have to use.) But anyway, it's a breeze to create the presentations and pop that flash drive into the sanctuary's projector-linked computer (on the back, of course, since it's so old). I won't even go into the nightmare that was my previous M.O. of doing those presentations, which I'd been forced into last fall when the office hard drive crashed irreparably and our volunteer computer guy never thought it was important to recreate the ability to burn data CDs. Since I didn't have administrator privileges, I couldn't load anything. But that's all in the past. I am the laptop's administrator, and it will gradually get everything I need for worship and music ministry, even if I have to buy it all myself. (I've been promised that with the new year, that won't be necessary.)


I'm also able to use it for a nice little personal thing: watching DVDs. I don't have a DVD player, if you can believe that, and haven't replaced my finicky VHS player. I've bought a few DVDs from Half-Price Books and have rented a couple. Of the three I watched: Elizabeth I (with Helen Mirren in the title role) is superb, if historically very inaccurate at times; The Devil Wears Prada was a fluffy bit of guilty fun, and A Prairie Home Companion was just plain strange--and I'm a PHC fan from WAAAY back. Disappointing; glad I only rented that one. In the wings are Little Miss Sunshine and two old favorites for the next rainy day when I'm not booked (sometime in late May, I believe): Steel Magnolias and The Princess Bride.

Children's choirs start back up this Sunday night. But first, I'm singing at the United Methodist Men's Sweetheart Banquet tomorrow night ("So in Love" and "My Funny Valentine"--think I can hack it as a sultry torch song singer??). Next weekend is my first wedding as the church's wedding coordinator, though the two this month have already been largely handled and I just need to be there and field any emergencies that may arise. Then there are two in March and two in May. This is more than we usually have (more like 2 or 3 a year)--seems we're now the popular place in town to have a wedding. Some have direct or distant family connections to the church, but a couple of them are for brides who think our church is prettier or bigger or something better than their other options. So the end of last week, the pastor and I were frantically trying to get the new policies presentable and republished--the old ones were ridiculously out-of-date and unsightly from much reproduction. I will actually have more responsibility than the previous wedding coordinator did. I asked her for her "J-Lo" velcro wedding emergency waist belt, but she said she didn't have one. (If you've never seen the otherwise forgettableThe Wedding Planner, that reference will make no sense. Suffice it to say that the perfect wedding planner is able to whip out Evian in a spray bottle to refresh a distraught M.I.A. F.O.B ["The F.O.B. {Father of the Bride) is M.I.A. {Missing in Action)"] once he's found on the basement stairs weeping for his little girl, more than a little tipsy. All her other emergency stuff, from nail polish remover to mouthwash, is contained in a remarkable wide belt that velcros around her rib cage beneath her dignified pale blue suit.)

The day job is going well. I really do think this is going to work out long-term. The scope is getting more enormous, as I'm entrusted with more and more of the clean-up of a massive data migration to a new database. There's enough work just with that for several more months, then there's the fact that they've hired 4 new professional engineers just since I started a month or so ago. That means that someone's going to have to enter data and maintain this database, hence the indication that there's enough work for a permanent position. There are overlaps with IT, Marketing, and HR. The people there are friendly and very, very smart, and a lot of fun to work with. Their respect for each other and for me is refreshing. I had lunch the other day with the founder's (now Chairman of the Board) admin assistant, who's been with him for over 20 years. People really do retire from this company after all or the majority of a career there. I wouldn't mind being one of them, though I also deeply long to be working full-time in the church. I guess I'm "selling myself" to work where I can get paid, eh?

And with that, I'm going to call it a night and get some sleep, so I can be ready to sing Cole [Porter] and Richard [Rogers] tomorrow. Better spruce up my luscious deep red velvet ensemble and tend to my manicure. (What manicure?! I forgot to mention that before the main numbers we singers present, I'm doing strolling violin! Can't have long enough nails to really call it a manicure, can I?)

This 'n' That

I've been doing other things, and leaving things kind of hanging here at the Psaltery. So to catch myself up (along with the handful of you who keep tabs on this blog), here's what's up:

The piano debut was wonderful last Sunday! It happened on just the right day. We had a whole bunch of visitors (usually a few, but way more than the norm). The sermon was even better than our pastor's usual excellent preaching. (She preached from the Epistle lesson on what it means in the larger church to be the body of Christ and what she sees as our unique strengths as a congregation and a denomination within that body.) Despite our having had no final rehearsal during the week, due to our ice storm, the choir did a very good job with the anthem. We had a couple join the congregation.

And the piano! Dear Sister Pianist can actually play the piano, piano now! (Musical pun: "piano" means "softly," something it was nearly impossible to do with our old piano anymore.) It sounded fabulous loud, too! She played her already-chosen service music, which turned out to be a great variety of style and technique. The hymn accompaniments were great as well. And after the service, both she and one of our oldest members, who is completely "unschooled" but plays the most remarkable jazz-style piano I've ever heard, gave an impromptu demonstration recital. People did not want to leave.

I even did something completely out of character for me. Sister Pianist hadn't yet heard the instrument played in the sanctuary; it's so different to hear an instrument sitting "out in the space" than while one is playing it. After our early service, I asked her if she wanted to. She said she really would, so after a proper warning, I played one of the few things I knew I could get through (a Bach prelude). For the umpteenth time, she cried (and I don't think mainly from how poorly I executed the little piece). She said it's been a week of tears of joy over this wonderful gift.

During the choir's prayer time at the end of this week's rehearsal, I heard such wonderful perspectives on it. God worked this out for us. People's hearts are in the right place. This has never been one of those churches that considers itself the pinnacle of musical performance, but nothing about this project has even hinted at pride. They seem to agree with me, that the piano is a high-quality tool for the ministry that is worship. In worship, we encounter God and are equipped to go out and help others encounter God. Our old piano was a distraction from the encounter. The new one permits Sister Pianist to help us all make the best music we can.

So...on to other things. The new car saga still isn't over, and I'm still compiling a doozy of a letter to the owner of the dealership, to which I will allow him time to respond before I contact the Better Business Bureau and the state Attorney General. I am absolutely disgusted over the whole thing. I'm now on my third lending agreement, which is not yet final. After I got a call last weekend telling me financing was being redone to the tune of $100 less per month, I went in as scheduled. The guy who'd called me wasn't in; no one knew where he was. Instead, his boss presented me with paperwork for $15 MORE per month, got outrageously condescending with me when I protested, and still had no more satisfying answer than, "Oh, I think [missing call who called me] was just calling the wrong person. I know I do that at least once a day." He called the wrong person, all right...the person who will actually do something about this ridiculously bad business. As for thinking he was talking to a different person, HE called ME, asked for me by my name, at my phone number, so I don't think so. The problem is, after very reluctantly signing the papers (it was either that or give them the car back and walk home), I called him at the dealership the next day. He still insisted he had a much better deal for me, and to let him call me back. I gave him 2 days, and no call. Called again, left a message that I was calling back. Still no call. In the meantime, another gent got involved and said HE'D call me back about the fact that they STILL--now three weeks later--have not picked up my old car. They have the signed-over title, so it's no longer mine, but it's still sitting in my reserved parking place. (I'm about to call the complex's towing service, since it's parked illegally. But that would be spiteful, so I'm restraining myself.) HE didn't call me back, either.

What has me the angriest, though, is what I finally found out about why there's such a run-around on the loan. My day job is a temp-to-hire position. I'd just begun that assignment when the old car broke down and I went into the dealership. I was very up-front about it. I suspected they'd turn me down because of it; I'm not that naive. But they've decided their niche in the market is "we approve everyone." Well, on the second loan thing, I got a call from a representative of the lender. I wasn't expecting this--the wonderful, now-fired salesman never told me to expect it--but no problem, I took the call and answered his questions. One of these was, "Are you working as a temp?" I told him I was, and the timeline on which I expect to be hired permanently. I asked if this was problematic, and he said absolutely not, to enjoy my new car and to look for the payment coupon book in the mail shortly. So I REALLY was unprepared when I went in and found out they'd supposedly rejected the financing agreement because of my working as a temp. The financing boss-guy who dropped the $115 more per month bombshell on me told me, point-blank, I was not allowed to tell anyone from any lender that I'm a temp, at least not if I want to keep the car. His exact words were, "If your honesty is more important to you than keeping the car, tell them whatever you want to. But if you want to stay in the car, you cannot say you're a temp." He was not happy when I replied that just as with the previous lender, if I'm asked, I will not lie. But I won't. Yes, my integrity IS more important to me than staying in a car I didn't especially want in the first place, which is turning out to be horribly more expensive than I should prudently try to afford. (I *can* afford it, especially when the job becomes permanent, but that's a dangerous thing for a temp to count on. And it's now over $100 more per month than what I pay in rent! There's something VERY wrong with that picture.) Most of all, I hate that I allowed the circumstances to suck me into agreeing to anything with this bunch of arrogant, condescending, lying young thieves who can't be bothered to even return my phone calls.

Meanwhile, I've been suffering from a rotten head cold with a pounding sinus headache. At long last, however, I've received my separation paperwork copies (only 4 months after I requested it!), so now I can finally make an appointment with the VA clinic and maybe get a bunch of stuff taken care of. By then, the cold will be history. It's good to know, though, that in the event of a serious illness, I won't be forced into bankruptcy because of the medical bills. I continue to pray for my fellow uninsured Americans who don't have the saftety net of the VA or something similar. VA care isn't free, but it's very affordable. It was good to have today completely off, so I could rest and take OTC stuff to help things drain. Am I ever going to sound like a frog in the morning!

Speaking of which, I'd better stop blogging and start sleeping. 5:30 comes mighty early on Sundays!

Blessings to all you dear readers, and may you in turn be used by God to bless the world.

This 'n' That

Well, as I sit here at the start of one of our famed ice storms (we get a couple of these per winter), I thought I'd blog a bit about some things that have occurred in the past month or so. The Advent and Christmas blogging was fun, but I didn't get in much from "life as I know it" here in my little corner of the world.

One incident from late Advent still warms my heart. It happened during our annual Children's Christmas Program. The pastor asked for two things: base it on teaching the children familiar Christmas carols (because they don't learn them in school anymore), and let the pageant part of it be a simple "bathrobe pageant." Well, I honored the first request, but given the state of children's bathrobes these days, went with the church's costumes instead.

For reasons I won't get into here, my school-age children were all angels (the girls) and dual-duty shepherds and "wise guys" (the boys and my one adult male helper). Our adult female helper was the narrator. The pre-school children, of whom I have very few, were Mary, Joseph, and shepherds. Our Mary was our only regularly-attending little girl, and she is a doll caretaker extraordinaire! Only that morning in worship, she'd seen her school-age sisters as angels, and a high school senior girl as Mary. She was so excited that we used the same manger and stable and "baby Jesus" (doll) as the "big kids." Our little Joseph was a trouper. Mary alternated between "loving on" the doll (Texas term, I'm sure you get it) and gazing adoringly at it once she'd laid it back down in the manger, and Joseph would sit for a while, then stand for a while, mostly gazing (rather sternly) at the manger or at the doll in Mary's arms. But the youngest child in the pageant went into meltdown. He was Joseph's younger brother, the cutest shepherd I've ever seen. But as his preschool group stood in front of the school-age group, singing "Star Child," he started to cry. Narrator and "senior wise guy" couldn't get to him easily. Mom and Dad were halfway back in the sanctuary. So I, being only a few steps away directing, scooted on up to him and picked him up. He cried on my shoulder until Mom got to him.

You have to understand: I have no children and was not enough older than my two twin brothers to have ever had much child comforting in my past. This is one of those rare, precious moments when a child has trusted me for comfort. I hate that he was distressed. But I'm so grateful to have been able to offer comfort to him. Really, there's nothing like a barely-three-year-old snuggling against you, trusting that you love him. Oh, yes, little T., I do love you! (still misting up, thinking about this!)

Now, to totally shift gears here, I have had a convergence of good stuff, not so good stuff very recently. The end of December, I gave two weeks' notice on a three-month temp assignment in order to accept a temp-to-hire assignment for much better money and for a dream combination of skills. (It's going very, VERY well, btw.) The night after the first day on the job, I went down to the church (in a neighboring town) and headed home very late. Only a few miles into the trip, the car gave both an electical system warning and hit the danger zone on the temp gauge. I pulled over and let it cool down. Started up again, and the electrical light stayed on. When it started getting too hot again, I pulled over. Finally after a couple more stop-and-go legs on this odyssey, I was at a convenience store. When all cooled down again, I checked all the fluid levels, added water and antifreeze and a quart of oil, and finally made it home. There's really no one near home for me to call, so I limped the car to work; it did OK. But on the way to a shop after work--this was a week ago Friday--it conked out completely. I called my trusty towing guy and after over TWO HOURS (busy night), he picked it up and towed me home. There was NO MONEY to repair the poor ten-year-old thing. This happened at the WORST time!

So the next day, I started researching some options. I was about to be making the best money I've ever made, but after just two days on the new job (and starting out as temp there to boot), I didn't make a good "risk" on buying another car. Plus, all I had to put down was the poor disabled trade-in. I had the TV on for "background noise," and finally realized one of those annoying car sales infomercials was on. It was for a dealer near me, promising no matter what car you want (new Suzukis, or other makes of pre-owned), for as low as $88 per month, they'd put you in a car. If you were one of their first 30 callers, you got an extra $1K over book value on your trade or $500 pocket/extra for down payment. That latter, I was sure counting on. It was either them or a prominent pre-owned "we finance" place within walking distance, so I called to prequalify, then went to the dealership. They didn't know a thing about the "first 30 caller" thing but assured me the dealership would take care of that. I was looking for a 2-3 year old car, perhaps a Honda or Toyota. The ONLY car they'd sell me, after hours there, was an '07 Forenza, for an outrageously high monthly payment. And nobody still had any answers about the "first 30 caller" issue. Never got it. I asked about the "we'll put you in the car you want." The clueless salesman said that was what the bank would qualify me for. Essentially it was take it or leave it. And here we were, now dark out, and me nearly a mile from home without a car.

I'd been praying, hard, ever since the car started acting up, that God would help me work all this out. I could NOT lose the new job due to car woes. I very reluctantly agreed to the only deal I could seem to get. To add insult to injury, the income verification documents I took in Monday at lunch, didn't fly. (I was up-front with the salesman and the finance manager about the job being temporary at this point, and they assured me there was no problem.) Finally, the next day I had to go back in AGAIN, I thought to get the 2007 books (they'd given me 2006) and my spare key. Nope. Without my knowledge or approval, they'd abandoned the financing they'd put together on Saturday and went with a different bank, which ended up being for two percentage points higher interest and which raised my already high payments nearly $20 per month. Again, it was "take it or leave it." They'd taken my title to the old car on Saturday, so I didn't even have the old car to fall back on once I could get it fixed. (It's STILL parked here, by the way, in MY RESERVED SPOT! GRRR...) So once again, if I was going to have a way home, it was a matter of agreeing to their shenanigans.

The sad thing is, it's a nice enough car. It feels comfortable and drives well...much more power than any car I've ever owned before. And in the long run, other than the terribly high price, it will be good to have a car under warranty. This dealership offers free loaner cars if any warranty-covered work is done--that is, if they're telling the truth about THAT. But DANG! This was a horrible experience. I know everybody stresses out to some degree when buying a new car. But I was stuck with more car than I wanted, for a whole lot more money than I have, and all based on a part-time church job and a day job that, for the next two months and three weeks, is a temporary assignment. God and I have been talking, let me assure you! Mostly my saying "You've GOT to help me keep this job!" and God communicating "Trust me" at every yelping turn.

But really, isn't that where we all are, at the heart of it? We're all sustained by God's providence, no matter how cushioned from that awareness our relative wealth may make us (you know, things like having clean water, a roof over our heads, transportation, a living wage...the things that the majority of the world's people either lack entirely or struggle to provide). I *am* a grateful woman, though I am not grateful for the deceptive practices of the car dealership. About that, I intend to communicate my complaints. I've had a week to "sleep on" my experiences, and I even re-watched today's airing of the same infomercial, just to be sure I was accurate in my letter.

So...that's the latest stress in the life of Psalmist. Thanks for reading my stuff. Oh, and happy 2007 to everyone!