Blech...
I know, it's been awhile since I've done a proper blog entry, here goes.
Last Tuesday, the 12th, my Grandfather went in to have a pacemaker put into his heart. Despite reassurances from friends and family that it was a "minor" procedure I still spent most of the week prior to it freaking out. Monday night I was up till 6 am just 'cause I couldn't sleep and I spent most of that time making copious amounts of Bisquik biscuits and consuming them. Fuck the diet when it's my own grandfather. The procedure took about an hour longer than was expected, but fortunately, he got through it all OK. I was really really really happy to hear that he was up and joking with the nurses. He'll be recovering over the Christmas break. I, for one, am glad he's going to be alright.
This past Friday I went out to lunch with my good friend Eamonn. While happily chatting away another friend, Amber, happened to stop by to say hello. Unfortunately she was sick. I also got a flu shot that same afternoon. So, now I'm not sure where I got this miserable sinus thing from, but, I have a completely miserable sinus thing going on. Yuck. I hope it goes away, sooner rather than later.
Finally, today my friend Amanda cooked a baked ziti dinner for finals week up at the NC. It was most delicious. I even got a quick game of ping-pong in with my other friend Bemate. Unfortunately, a homeless gentleman stopped into the church looking for a bit of shelter for the evening (it's nasty out). This, naturally, freaked out the NC residents, the females in particular. Cena provided him with a bowl of macaroni and cheese and I got tapped to stay and chat with the fellow (read: keep an eye on). I ended up calling police dispatch; thinking that they would be able to transport him to the local homeless shelter. While waiting for the police officer to come we had a highly interesting conversation involving how he was fleeing from a murderous politician. Also, he wanted to create a "food printer" similar to the replicators on Star Trek. He actually had some interesting thoughts. Apparently, so he said, he was in Logan to use the library.
When the police officer showed up the gentleman was most congenial and provided his ID to the officer. It was at this time, however, that we were informed that, to my surprise and many others, there is no homeless shelter in Cache Valley!? WTF? Here I honestly thought I was calling this guy a ride to some shelter and instead we find out there was nothing. However, the officer was quick to point out that this gentleman-drifter had been coming to Cache Valley since 1998 and had been involved in several "purchases" of an illegal nature in the past. I was quite a bit saddened to hear about this as we had already had to send the fellow on his way. Really, I just don't feel good about how the whole thing went down. On the one side there is the compassionate part of me that wanted to be able to give this guy a warm meal and a sheltered place to stay. Then there's the part of me that says this guy is choosing his way of life, had known there was no shelters in Cache Valley, had participated in some quasi-legal things, and was still perhaps doing them. He also did turn down the officer's offer to have him sleep at the lobby of the jail. Not under arrest or anything, just staying there.
Where does one draw the line? I definitely feel conflicted about how the whole thing was resolved. My "defend the tribe" side feels vindicated that a possible threat was removed yet my "charity to all, malice towards none" side feels really really crummy for taking a guy who was out on the road and making his day, perhaps, a bit worse. It just seems wrong that we have a beautiful new church, and yet, we can't provide something so simple as shelter to someone in need. Even if it wasn't at the NC, surely we could get a cot or something somewhere at the new church? This just doesn't seem right.
Last Tuesday, the 12th, my Grandfather went in to have a pacemaker put into his heart. Despite reassurances from friends and family that it was a "minor" procedure I still spent most of the week prior to it freaking out. Monday night I was up till 6 am just 'cause I couldn't sleep and I spent most of that time making copious amounts of Bisquik biscuits and consuming them. Fuck the diet when it's my own grandfather. The procedure took about an hour longer than was expected, but fortunately, he got through it all OK. I was really really really happy to hear that he was up and joking with the nurses. He'll be recovering over the Christmas break. I, for one, am glad he's going to be alright.
This past Friday I went out to lunch with my good friend Eamonn. While happily chatting away another friend, Amber, happened to stop by to say hello. Unfortunately she was sick. I also got a flu shot that same afternoon. So, now I'm not sure where I got this miserable sinus thing from, but, I have a completely miserable sinus thing going on. Yuck. I hope it goes away, sooner rather than later.
Finally, today my friend Amanda cooked a baked ziti dinner for finals week up at the NC. It was most delicious. I even got a quick game of ping-pong in with my other friend Bemate. Unfortunately, a homeless gentleman stopped into the church looking for a bit of shelter for the evening (it's nasty out). This, naturally, freaked out the NC residents, the females in particular. Cena provided him with a bowl of macaroni and cheese and I got tapped to stay and chat with the fellow (read: keep an eye on). I ended up calling police dispatch; thinking that they would be able to transport him to the local homeless shelter. While waiting for the police officer to come we had a highly interesting conversation involving how he was fleeing from a murderous politician. Also, he wanted to create a "food printer" similar to the replicators on Star Trek. He actually had some interesting thoughts. Apparently, so he said, he was in Logan to use the library.
When the police officer showed up the gentleman was most congenial and provided his ID to the officer. It was at this time, however, that we were informed that, to my surprise and many others, there is no homeless shelter in Cache Valley!? WTF? Here I honestly thought I was calling this guy a ride to some shelter and instead we find out there was nothing. However, the officer was quick to point out that this gentleman-drifter had been coming to Cache Valley since 1998 and had been involved in several "purchases" of an illegal nature in the past. I was quite a bit saddened to hear about this as we had already had to send the fellow on his way. Really, I just don't feel good about how the whole thing went down. On the one side there is the compassionate part of me that wanted to be able to give this guy a warm meal and a sheltered place to stay. Then there's the part of me that says this guy is choosing his way of life, had known there was no shelters in Cache Valley, had participated in some quasi-legal things, and was still perhaps doing them. He also did turn down the officer's offer to have him sleep at the lobby of the jail. Not under arrest or anything, just staying there.
Where does one draw the line? I definitely feel conflicted about how the whole thing was resolved. My "defend the tribe" side feels vindicated that a possible threat was removed yet my "charity to all, malice towards none" side feels really really crummy for taking a guy who was out on the road and making his day, perhaps, a bit worse. It just seems wrong that we have a beautiful new church, and yet, we can't provide something so simple as shelter to someone in need. Even if it wasn't at the NC, surely we could get a cot or something somewhere at the new church? This just doesn't seem right.