Mark's Notebook

One day to go ...

OK! We leave tomorrow! We leave Thursday, November 17 around noon. We must be at the CityTeam offices at 10:00 am. We return on Friday, December 2 around noon. Kathleen and David Brandt are giving us rides to and from the CityTeam office. Thanks, David and Kathleen!

Our schedule has been really cramped. We visited Mary's family in Vacaville on Monday afternoon. They were having a birthday party for Brenda Boston. We couldn't stay into the evening because our on-again-off-again C3 tape group was meeting in Concord at Gail's house. On Tuesday evenings, I've been taking a quilting class for men only with instructor Kathleen Crittenden at Fabrics 'n' Fun in Milpitas; Mary attends the ladies bible study at Calvary Chapel San Jose. I will attend the men's Bible study after the quilting class is over. Last night was the final session of the current class, but they might start a second class for men in January.

Right now, Mary and I are at Network Appliance in Sunnyvale. Mary makes hand-stamped cards and silk scarves, and she occasionally sells them at holiday boutiques. We are selling them in the NetApp lunchroom. Well, Mary is selling them, and I help set up (read: drag stuff in from the truck into the building). They set me up with a blue cable and here we go. (They have WiFi in the cafeteria but it is password secured.)

We also had an appointment with our financial advisor Michael Hubbert on Monday morning, and my truck was in the shop at Piercey Toyota all day Monday and half the day Tuesday. It needed major service, an oxygen sensor, and a new timing belt, which is always expensive. The truck has 105K miles, and its original timing belt was really living on borrowed time. The total came to almost $1000, but that was after a "coupon discount" they gave me because a friend of mine works there.

On Sunday night we were shopping at Wal-Mart for strange things like flat sheets, work gloves, and insect repellent. These are all among the items CityTeam asked us to bring to Mississippi. CityTeam suggested getting a mosquito repellent with DEET, but Don Schottman said Mississippi has a new strain of mosquito that is actually attracted to DEET. He suggested we find something called "advanced formula" or something like that, but we couldn't find anything except DEET.

Yesterday, Mary spent all day getting ready for today's boutique, and I spent most of the day making sure all the bills are paid up through the time we return.

SO, we haven't really had to be anxious about this trip. We still really don't know what to expect. Some things they covered at the training meeting:

• How to deal with the media, who might try to interview us while we are there.
• Expect the living situation to be "like camping but even worse."
• Bring a celll phone, but expect that there will be no signal and no power for charging the phone.
• Southern culture: "Miss," "Mister," "Sir," "Ma'am," how not to offend.
• Pack small; you need to be mobile. You might have to move several times.
• Banks and ATMs may not be available, but don't carry cash anyway. CityTeam will provide for all transportation, lodging, and meals. Also, don't wear jewelry.
• "If you can't afford to lose it, don't bring it."
• How to detect if someone is using drugs or alcohol, so you can pass them off to someone trained to deal with that.
• There will be no TV! (What about my weekly fix of House and Crossing Jordan? (and should I even admit to watching South Park?)
• How to do counseling, evangelism, discipleship, and bible study.
• The necessity of multi-tier "debriefing" upon return.

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008