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Timothy Owens, |
Phthrrt!! 110
Dear All, (Wow! Two letters in one year!)
The latest news is that Bronwyn's due for a baby next May. Not sure what our next phone bill is going to look like - we made numerous phone calls around various countries to spread the news. No, we haven't thought of a name, though "little Tim" has been suggested...
Well, we finally got up Snowdon, although it was still cloudy on the top, and we went up by train. Walked down shortly afterwards - there was nothing much to see apart from hundreds of tourists. You had to queue up to stand on the top. Never seen such a crowded mountain.
We were all still limping several days later. Nice view once we were out of the clouds, but it's a long way down. Bronwyn wants to walk up it now - I told her it might take even longer going up.
Did some busking on the way down. Dave didn't get to play the bagpipes - it was far too crowded on the top. But I got the trumpet out half way down. At this point Bronwyn decided to leave us rapidly, and began warning passers by. My rendition of Trumpet Voluntary earned me 10p from a passing walker, and Steve was asked to do the Last Post by special request.
Did the usual raid of Cane's and Ying Wah (apparently his name is Cheung Wah, and his wife's name is Ying. But his surname is Cheung. Confused me too.) as well as several tours of the slate mines and Llanberis, and a visit or two to Bangor AoG. Good thing we turned up - they were desperatly short of musicians and the extra trumpet and saxaphone came in handy.
Jesse James must be getting deaf. Dave played the bagpipes one morning and he didn't notice. Dave had already gone before we could arrange a private concert, but we gave another rendition of Trumpet Voluntary and the last post instead.
It's all go for the kitchen rebuild. The cupboards arrived last week, except we've got no pelmet and two plinths. Not that I'm intensely in need of a pelmet, but it would be nice to get the right thing now that we've paid for it. I've measured the floor and got a huge roll of cushionfloor. Bronwyn wants to put the washing machine in the shed, but there's no hot water (or indeed cold water) so we might not get far on that one. Then we've got to clear out the old ones, knock down one of the walls, replaster, move some pipes, remove the lino, fit the flooring, fit the cupboards and cut all the worktops to shape. And we're only doing half the kitchen. Then we'll be converting the small bedroom into a baby room. Ah yes, and our new lodger moves in soon...
Off to the Burnham carnival this weekend - Nick's been trying to form a church float, but had no musicians. He's been phoning us all up...
That's about all for now. Geoff assures me the photos are on their way - it must be a long way for them to walk from Sheffield. Hope they don't get too many blisters, otherwise they won't photocopy well. Another write up is being prepared, but since Geoff is typing it in a Police station, it'll have to pass probation first.
From Mickey, regarding the Bangor Visit:
Strange how we spend at most 4 years in a place in our youth, yet we still return more than 10 years later like salmon returning to the river where they were born. I pity those who never knew university and as such have no "second" home.
My thoughts are with you all.
I was thinking about Bangor whilst 1 mile out to sea off Hove in East Sussex on a wind surfing board. ( Phoenix F2 320 + 7.4 Gaastra Sail for the surf heads)
Mickey.
And lastly, A Letter From Moray:
"To
someone very good and just,
Who has proved worthy of her trust,
The cat will sometimes condescend.
The dog is everybody's friend."
- Oliver Herford
Dear Everyone,
First of all, I'd like to welcome a few new members to the select group who receive this prayer letter. And immediately alienate you by referring to how things have developed since my last letter, which you haven't seen, so won't know what I'm talking about. It was a fair time ago, though, so some recapitulation probably wouldn't hurt anyway: I was bemoaning the lack of programmers on the computer team, while simultaneously not wanting any new occupants for the OM team house where I currently reside.
Since then, we have had one team member come and go; an American who was with us on the programming team for a couple of months as part of his University course. Then there was someone else due to stay at the house, but who was working at the Christian publisher STL, not with OM. Except it turned out there were two separate people, both working at STL, and they arrived within days of each other. One was from Finland, and the other from America. This American immediately made himself firmly at home: one of the first things he did was piggy-back a second double-adapter onto our phone socket, and run a cable round the walls and up two flights of stairs so he could have a phone socket in his room. Regular readers might remember me complaining about unnecessary messing around with the telephone by another housemate? Well he, too, is from the U.S. of A.. At risk of offending my readers from the other side of the Atlantic, perhaps you could answer a question: is obsession with telephones a national characteristic, or is it just a few individuals giving the rest of you a bad name? I also have to admit to considerable jealousy of the ease with which he is able to communicate with everyone he meets, his ability instantly to find common ground and discuss issues as diverse as the nutritional value of breakfast cereal and the political history of Africa with people as if he'd known them for years.
However, thanks to some Divinely arranged timing, the week after they arrived I was able to move out on my own. Our Email Administrator and his family went to Germany for a month, while he worked in the OM office there, and he had asked if anyone would like to house-sit for them while they were away. Although the cardinal rule in the military is "don't volunteer", I did, and found it very relaxing.
I also had a sailing holiday on the west of Scotland. The sailing enthusiasts will berate me for not being able to tell them the length, weight, and make of the yacht, but it had nine berths, and there were five of us, so it was not crowded. It was very enjoyable, and very peaceful. For the whole week, the only reason I looked at my watch was to find out what day it was. We visited St. Columba's monastery at Eileach-an-Naoimh in the Garvellachs, where his mother is reputed to be buried, and sailed through Corrievreckan. Knowledgeable sailors will gasp in astonishment - everyone else will say "What?" St. Columba apparently only survived this notorious whirlpool by a miracle, but then, if you try going through it in a coracle during a storm, you probably will wind up in trouble. On a bright sunny day, light wind, slack tide, in a good solid yacht, with wind, tide and boat all going in the same direction, you get bounced around a bit, but no worse. We saw dolphins, seals and a couple of sharks as well as numerous seabirds as we watched the scenery and the weather go by.
Petra (for those who don't already know, or have forgotten since the last time I mentioned it, that's the name of the program I'm helping to work on: a personnel and financial system for OM) is now live and running in 41 offices around the world, undergoing installation in a further 8, and due to go into 49 more, according to official statistics (please excuse my language there). There is still plenty to do though, as we add new functionality (that's management for "make it do more stuff") and enhancements ("do it properly this time"). But seriously, it is making a difference out there on the mission field. The bookkeeper in one of our South American offices said that using Petra she can produce the reports she needs in half the time they took before, and know they are accurate. She now has more time to spend with her family.
The OM leaders here say my work has been invaluable (as opposed to worthless), and have asked me to stay long-term. Part of the deal is that I get to live on my own, so please pray I'll find something suitable: no more than 20 minutes walk from the office, in good repair, somewhere to park my car, good neighbourhood, not too many dogs, and enough cats. I'll also have to re-arrange my financial support. I don't have all the figures yet, so I don't know if I'll need anything for myself, but if any of you would like to join in missionary work financially, this would be a splendid opportunity to do so. We operate on a pool system here, so money coming in helps the whole team. Missionaries working in home-based offices traditionally find it harder to raise their support than those working overseas, despite the fact that many of the overseas missionaries would not be able to remain in the field without the home-based staff to support them. That's enough of that - I don't make a habit of talking about money, honest.
That's about all my news. I hope you are all well and prospering, and would love to hear from you.
Pax vobiscum (Latin for shalom)
Moray
Hi everybody, Tim's "other half" here, although as you have already heard this half will be getting bigger very soon. And I have just lost heaps of weight recently too...... Have got a book with baby names in. How about some of these names. First the girls names:- Birgitta, Blodwedd, (meaning flower form), Hermia. Or what about Digby, Cuddie, Cosmo and Woodrow if it is a boy. Seeing some of these names does make us laugh.
I really enjoyed Snowdon, my first time to the top. Would like to walk up, but after the latest change in plans I'm not sure if that will be possible for a while. My mum has already been out shopping for the baby, (currently named squiggle), in NZ, but was disappointed that she couldn't find anything she liked.
That's all from me.