4 Wheels, 2 Kilts, 1 Country

Once more I would like to draw your attention to a new blog.

4 Wheels, 2 Kilts, 1 Country is the blog of two friends from my Aberdeen student days who are soon to embark on an epic 2-3-month journey across America.  Knowing those two, I know there will be thrills and spills, excitement, adventure, and quite possible an evil villain!  It’ll be like reading a novel as it’s being written!

They are both new to the blogging scene, so be nice and read their posts from time to time, won’t you?  And write wonderful comments.  I’m sure they would appreciate a few tips on where to visit!

Their blog can be found by clicking HERE

Stage 2: Complete

Stage 1 was fundraising, which is still ongoing!  On that note, because of various things, my last Sunday service at East Calder will be on 28 February.  Could you please give me sponsorship money before March please!

Stage 2 was booking my flights!  They are done.  I took the plunge and clicked on “Purchase”.  I’m leaving on Wednesday 24 March and returning on Wednesday 30 June.

Let the adventure begin!

Compassion

Some of you for whom your memory serves may remember me writing about the Christian charity Compassion.

It first came to my knowledge at a fundraising worship event in September.  Since then it has come-up a second time.  A couple of months ago when Laura told me that her project in Brazil was being visited by Compassion to see if they can provide funds for it.

Today it has appeared a third time.  This time in Rachael’s blog.  Does this mean something?  Because not only does it keep appearing, I’m noticing it doing so!

I wonder if I’m supposed to do stuff with Compassion in the future?

Also, my Gran asked me an interesting question last night: If you’ve raised all this money to go to New Zealand, can’t you use that to go and help in Haiti? My answer is that God has called me to New Zealand, not Haiti.  But it made me think though.  My work only require a week’s notice for me to leave, I have a small amount of useful medical knowledge*, and I’m young, fit and able to help.  How else can I be better-suited to going?!!!

* For the vast majority of what I know is useless outside of a lab

Obesity

Last year, the NHS funded 4,300 gastric band fittings.  Which, apparently, met only 2% of need, forcing 98% of patients to pay for private health care.  Read the rest of this story here.

To be honest, I wasn’t aware that the NHS funded these operations at all!  Perhaps if the obesity was imminently life-threatening, but are there really 4,300 actively dying obese people out there?

Anyway, I would like to focus on the word “need” for a bit.  Need, according to dictionary.com, is defined as “a requirement”.  I don’t think many people (certainly not 215,000 people*) require gastric surgery to control their weight.  Want is a much better word for it.  I can believe that 215,000 people want gastric surgery.

However, I am not obese, and never have been.  So my views are probably biased and very cynical towards the difficulties of maintaining one’s weight and health.  Don’t worry though, one day I’ll be 50, with a beer belly and then I’ll say to myself, “I wonder if I can get that gastric band on the NHS…?”

What’s your thoughts?

* If 4,300 = 2% of need, then 100% of need = 215,000

Post 200: A Simple Update

I have found myself in the unprecedented habit of not blogging.  I apologise!  I’m going to make a special effort, perhaps even a late resolution, to get into the habit of writing again.  After all, I enjoy writing!

My concert went well.  No major disasters and people even attended despite the snow!  Thank you to those who came, and to those who performed!  It raised just under £300!  This means I will have enough to go to New Zealand!  I will be booking my tickets in the next couple of weeks, once I get the ceilidh money and the concert money from the church.  Current rates are around £1100, but I’m going to STA Travel in Edinburgh on Saturday to see if I can get a deal.

The St Columba’s dance show was a marvellous event.  Though I was only able to sneak through to the wings to watch one song*, I very much enjoyed being a part of the backstage team.  I especially enjoyed being a celebrity again!  Life in East Calder church is strange because none of the kids know me.  So when I was joyfully received on Friday night, it was wonderful!  I’m trying to stay humble, but it’s true - the kids love me!  I hear rumours of a kids and youth weekend away in March……

I’ve also been looking into ways of getting paid to have a laugh with youths.  It’s easy to do this for no financial gain, but getting paid for it is a different matter!  I’ve been looking at courses at the Christian College in Glasgow, but tuition is around £4,500 per year.  This is way out of my budget, especially with New Zealand approaching!  Something will come-up though.  I think that, even if I get a PhD, I’ll try for youth work afterwards.  My thinking is that if God wants me to be in Aberdeen from 2010 to 2013, then He’ll get me a PhD!  If not, then I’m going to be more useful elsewhere!  But we shall see…

* Boomin’ – my favourite song of the show

T-Minus 3 Days

The latest with the sponsored cycle to Newcastle is that I’ve loaned an exercise bike, and I will be doing the equivalent distance in one day in my living room on Friday 8 January.

The concert organisation is going rather well.  There have been no disasters as yet!  Even the manual duplex printing that I’m doing for the programmes is proving easier than expected!  Though I’ve just used-up my last black printer ink with 19 programmes to go.  Hopefully I’ve got enough for everyone!

Tomorrow’s big challenge is to fold every programme!  I can’t do it on Friday because…well…have you ever tried folding paper while cycling???  Perhaps I should’ve been sponsored to fold all the programmes in a single day instead…

Sponsored Cycle

Due to the snow staying around for an extra cup of tea after the meal, I’ve decided that cycling to Newcastle on Sunday would be stupid.  I wanted to make this a challenge, but risking getting stuck in the snow in Northumberland is just dangerous!

I don’t know how many people from Kirknewton and East Calder read this blog, but I am now organising Plan B.  This is to do the same distance (114 miles) on exercise bikes in East Calder Church Hall on Sunday.  Therefore you are welcome to come and watch.  Hopefully I’ll have a spare bike, so if you want to cycle for a bit and keep me company, then you can!

But remember that this is still unconfirmed, I still need to organise the bikes and getting access to the hall at 6am!  Hopefully there’ll be lots of people at the Hogmanay ceilidh!

Let It Snow

Having to work at 9am has its advantages.  The main one, in part-time employment, is that you finish earlier in the day.  However, when it snows, this is overtaken by its disadvantage: having to get to work during rush-hour!

People abandoned their cars on the M8 and in Kirkton Campus – a place where it apparently mimicked a vehicle graveyard!  According to my manager, “there’s nowhere else that would make its employees come to work in such weather”.  Eh…Canada?

I think this is a Canadian’s favourite weather.  It’s the one time where they can look smug and make comments about the shambolic way in which we prepare for winter, and about our constant moaning about our commute that morning.  There is one major difference though: snow is expected in Canada.  Here it is not.  Here we don’t buy tonnes and tonnes of grit to tackle the possibility of snow*.  We choose to spend our money on important things.  Like trams.  However, I agree this is indeed nothing compared to the snow that falls in Canada, and we really shouldn’t describe it in ways which make the book of Revelation look like a slight hiccup.

Even so, we are not taught to drive in an untreated road, and so driving in the snow is dangerous.  But this didn’t stop Livingston from driving to Almondvale Centre to purchase that must-have Christmas present!  But I ask you, is it really that important?  To be honest, I’m sure the recipient would cope without it.  And if the recipient would hold it against you, then perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate that friendship.  For a friendship that is reliant on presents to be maintained is hardly a worthwhile friendship at all.  In my humble opinion.

I would like the snow to melt though.  I have a sponsored cycle to Newcastle to do in ten days, and I have yet to train!  And, no, my bike would not stay upright in the snow!  Hopefully it’ll rain soon so I can practice!

* West Lothian ran out of grit today.  It seems the council didn’t bother buying any

InFocus

Kirknewton and East Calder Church’s evening service is called “InFocus”.  Sometimes there’s a sermon, but more often there is a speaker giving a talk about something, such as a mission, or their experience as a Christian doctor, or about a 24/7 prayer event.  This Sunday, I was given the opportunity to give a talk about my upcoming mission to New Zealand.

I gave a talk, using my much-loved powerpoint and a DVD of the latest kids camp, and then answered questions from the audience.  The talk could have went better, but people praised it afterwards, so I suppose I may be being a bit over-critical!  The DVD was very well received though, with audible reactions from the congregation when the Hydroslide was shown!  Much thanks to Bret Maunder for sending me the DVD!

Also that evening, playing in the band was easily the most fun and worshipful it’s been since I started!  More-modern songs were chosen because I was speaking – and I don’t know any traditional hymns!  Basically, we gave it laldae!  Also, there was one of those ‘alright-on-the-night’ moments with me and the drummer not finishing Blessèd Be Your Name on the same beat.  But during the service we aced it!  Booyah!

As a final point, I must publicise the sheer generosity and kindness of Kirknewton and East Calder Church.  Having only been attending the church for a few months, I didn’t expect, as a relative outsider, to get as much support and help as I have been getting.  I couldn’t have asked for a better church to “replace” St Columba’s!

A Thought

Thinking a sin is just as bad as physically doing the sin.  So if pornography is sinful because one is thinking ‘I want to have sex with that person’, then are violent video games sinful because you are thinking ‘I want to kill that person’?

Just a thought.