Timothy Owens,
20 Braytoft Close,
Holbrooks,
Coventry, CV6 4ED
(024) 7668 0670
17/5/2000
Phthrrt!! 114
Well, it's been a few months now, so it must be high time for another letter. A Postgrad Do has been booked for 13-16th July, at Moray's place in Carlisle. Moray will be there (Ha! you can't escape this one) as well as Tim, Dave and Nick. Geoff will turn up if we capture him on the way through Sheffield. No babies. Promise.
It's been a fertile few months. After the birth of Rachael, there was
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The House of Streete is pleased to make the following announcement.
After 7 years of marriage Mark Andrew and Katie Louise Streete are expecting
the birth of their first child in September of this year.
M.A.Streete Dip.Math(Open)
Followed by the arrival of Anna in April (sorry, I don't have the details) to Simon & Tomi Brown.
Then there was the memorable email exchange initiated by Moray:
Romps in the Hay
I think of computerised millions, Each palming a mute plastic mouse,
Tap-tapping away at keyboard, Shut up in a room in a house.
What a contrast - this wide open country! Logged on to a summer-blue sky,
A web-site of meadows and woodlands, A sunlit delight to the eye.
The view from your cyberspace window, Might seem to encompass all life -
But misses my pastoral pleasures, On line, arm-in-arm with the wife.
Well, carry on searching and surfing - But shame, if it lures you away
From nature - and flesh-and-blood people, And unprogrammed romps in the hay!
Arnold Kellett
followed by Nick:
Oo er. Perhaps we've cured him after all!
and another from Moray:
Beware of a new virus called "john or jane average user". it will take any garbage you feed it and redistribute it to all addresses in the address book -- and unfortunately, unlike "i love you" or "naked wife" it is not limited to microsoft outlook ...
And back to Nick:
Yes, I've had one of those. Very difficult to kill; I suggest wiring the mouse to the mains input.
'i love you'; 'naked wife'; er, Moray, is this 'romp in the hay' going to your head?
Well, that's enough of that for now. It's been a very long 12 months, and Rachael certainly doesn't let us get bored. She learnt to crawl in February, and is not far off walking. But she certainly has a fair amount of speed on all fours. Keys are her favourite. She can pick them out of one bag and leave them in another. Very confusing. And it's not always easy to tell where she's been, because she moves so fast. Loves wandering the streets if you leave the door open. Now has 8 teeth too, and loves to use them on unsuspecting adults. Up to nappy 1661 and still counting.
Well, here's Moray's latest prayer letter, received quite recently:
104 Broadoaks Grange
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA1 2TA
Home: 01228 599240
Work: 01228 615105
10/05/2001
Hello everyone,
I had intended to use a more cheerful quotation this time, to make up for the somewhat bleak sonnets of my last two letters, but events have rather overtaken me. At that, it is not as depressing as some I might have chosen. First, though, I would like to thank both of you who bothered to respond to the competition in my last letter. If you remember, I asked for stereotype responses you get when you tell people what you do. With such a paucity of entries, choosing a winner was not exactly hard, but this entry, taken from a caution given during a psychology course, did appeal to me (I admit I have modified it a little from the original submission):
Last weekend saw our Team Retreat at a place called Ridley Hall, near the town of Haltwhistle. Readers of Terry Brooks' Landover series may recognise that name; they may also recognise Biggar, which is a town I pass through when I visit Edinburgh, and Rydal, a village south of Carlisle in our own Lake - District. I have yet to find a village named Edgewood Dirk, though. Or Willow. Literary allusions aside, our retreat was designed, according to the brochure, to be a "time together that is relaxed and fun... to get to know one another in a relaxed and beautiful environment." Many indeed found it so; I did not, and at present am dealing with that very badly. Please pray that something positive will come out of this.
Work feels like it is in chaos. Last week the Petra team learned that our team leader, Phil, is planning to leave OM in September. We were asked to keep that quiet until it could be announced to the rest of the Carlisle team and the Petra-using world, and that just proved one extra barrier to communication over the Weekend. My other colleague, Jurjan-Paul, from Holland, has just returned from a 3-month evangelism course with another of the OM teams in the UK. Whilst I am sure this was good for him, and for those to whom he had the opportunity of witnessing, it was very hard for Phil and I trying to work on the major upgrade to Petra. Jurjan-Paul's commitment with OM ends soon, and he will be leaving too. There is one new person who will be coming to join the Petra "team" and another who we very much hope will also agree to come and take on the leadership rôle, but this means I am suddenly faced with being in an entirely new team. We are also going to be moving into a new office, which is not finished yet, and Phil's last attempt to make Petra service and support more "Friendly and Efficient" involved a stunt with the telephone system that - well, those of you who have read my earlier letters on the subject of telephones will probably be able to guess my reaction.
Fortunately (if Christians are allowed to use a word derived from the Roman goddess of luck), in about a week's time I shall be going on holiday. Mum has arranged another extended visit to Canada, and I shall be joining her for part of it: the Rocky Mountain railway and the Alaskan cruise. Assuming I get sufficiently organised to get myself to the airport at the right time, that should provide a much-needed break from office, work, and computers. Do you think I should tell people I'm a psychologist?
Shalom,
Moray
No psychologists were insulted during the production of this letter.
"If you screw something up at the beginning, it only gets more screwed up when you later try to patch it."
- Charles Petzold, "Programming Windows"
"If this sounds wacky to you, you're not alone. If it doesn't sound wacky, you're probably a mathematician."
- Charles Petzold, "Programming Windows"
Well, that's about all for now. I'll repeat what I said - we're all eager to hear about the rest of you, and how things have been going. Drop me a note to the above address!
Phthrrt!!,
Tim. (& Bronwyn, & Rachael)
P.S. Just finished a street outreach in Coventry. Played my Trombone outside Quiksave for four days, part of that in the rain. Great fun, despite the exhaustion. About 50 became Christian on the street. The chip shop owner wasn't pleased about us handing out free burgers on the street, so we all trooped in and bought up all his chips...