04:59 pm: 25 years
On Sunday, I celebrated 25 years as a Reader in the Anglican Church. In January 1988, on a cold night in Birmingham, +Mark admitted me as a Reader and licensed me to the Parish of St Giles, Sheldon, in the Diocese of Birmingham and the Province of Canterbury. Since then, I have served as Reader at St James, Mahora in the Diocese of Waiapu and in the province of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and most recently at St Andrew, Bebington, in the Diocese of Chester and the Province of York.
It has been a privilege to do this, and I hope to continue for most if not all of the next 25 years. If anyone reading this does not understand what it means, broadly a Reader can do most of the things a vicar can do, except for communion, weddings and pronouncing the Absolution, a particular prayer. But to continue for anything for 25 years is apparently an achievement these days. I am pleased to have done so, and also pleased to have had the support of my wife Viv for all that time too.

06:02 pm: You need hands
A man in Leeds has just had a hand transplant. This is a truly remarkable achievement for the surgeons concerned and will make his life far better. Nothing in what follows detracts from my admiration for this triumph of medical science.

But what of word play that is possible?

Leeds man visits second hand hospital.
Leeds man gets second hand hand.
A big hand for the surgeon.
You have to hand it to him.
Thumbs up after successful operation.

Any more for any more?

07:57 am: Happy New Year
It's been a long time since I posted here at LiveJournal, but I have been active on the other big social networks of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Find me at Twitter as @ringbark - of course!
There have been many changes since I posted here regularly. I worked at a bank in London till mid-2011, then worked for a different part of the same bank till later in 2011 but in Edinburgh, then for a Spanish bank till the end of last April and I'm now back with the same bank I was with from 2007 to 2011, but in a different part of the bank and a different part of London.
David has graduated, spent a year working in Canada and come back. Matthew has graduated, spent a little while in a temporary job and now joins his brother in seeking work in the New Year.
Christopher successfully finished his leukaemia treatment in September 2011 and is now at Manchester University reading Middle Eastern Studies.
Viv and I are still doing much the same as before. We celebrated our silver wedding in Toronto and Niagara Falls last September. We also visited a number of other countries, often for England football matches, often not.
Will I posting here more often? Who knows? Certainly I don't.
You can catch up on our family news in summary form at http://halliday.co.nz/ if you wish.
If you don't recall seeing me here before, welcome! If you do, welcome back. I haven't been posting, but I have read my friends' page LJ almost every day, though it seems to be more and more RSS feeds and fewer and fewer people.

08:08 pm: I was working in London for just over three years to the end of June this year, but I am now working in Edinburgh. This means that I am safe and unaffected so far by the recent riots.
I will be visiting some friends in London briefly tomorrow evening, however. This trip should have been to watch England play Holland at Wembley. The game was called off this morning but I still propose to make the trip, as I have non-refundable fares and no other accommodation in Edinburgh for tomorrow night.

07:21 pm: Signal Boost: Return of the DDoS
Originally posted by frelling_tralk at Signal Boost: Return of the DDoS

10:04 pm: Ian's party, just in case anyone is still reading...
ringbark is having a party and you're invited. Two parties, actually, one in London on 30 June and one in Wirral on 2 July.
For details, please visit http://halliday.co.nz/50.html which also has links to the FB pages concerned.
Purpose of party: to celebrate being

50

Tags: #ian50

07:03 am: post
Originally posted by clari_clyde at post

09:26 pm: Pray for Japan?
A friend of a friend on Twitter retweeted a comment that we should not pray for Japan:

RT @lowercaserho Don't #prayforjapan. Prayer is the ultimate in slacktivism. If you want to help and are able to, then giving your time or money is better.

I responded with

@lowercaserho I respectfully disagree. Prayer is the most important thing, but while you pray you should also be asking what else can I do?

( Theological content followsCollapse )

07:39 am: I'm on the train
Good morning from Chester station.
A fairly quiet weekend. On Saturday, I bought some new shoes. This was
long overdue as there was pretty much no grip left on the old ones.
Yesterday was quiet too. After the morning service, lunch at home, a
turkey roast, and to watch the game. It's hard when the referee seems
to be playing for the home team.
Also, apparently Dalglish spoke out against this in no uncertain
terms. I expect he'll be fined for it.
By far the most exciting game was Stevenage 3 Newcastle United 1. This
was a fascinating game and an amazing result, especially a goal at
each end in the dying minutes.
But now it's up early, back on the train and the regular cycle of bank
regulatory reporting again.
The other thing to note is that I really should finish reading To Kill
a Mockingbird this week.

07:12 am: Festival of the Epiphany
20 + C + M + B + 11
Christus Mansionem Benedicat

See http://www.liturgy.co.nz/blog/epiphany-chalk-house-blessing-2/4942 for more details of the blessing of your house at Epiphany.

Also: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilmccormick/100050328/why-gerry-raffertys-baker-street-is-the-perfect-pop-song/

Also: UK readers who used a debit/credit card on New Year's Eve should check statements carefully that they were not double charged. A processing error suggests that you may have been. If so, talk to your bank, not to me.

As for me, it's cold and dark and I don't feel very festive yet.