Most of you will recall that I spent 6 months of 2007 living and working in New Zealand in the town of Waimate. It was a great experience in a fantastically beautiful country. I worked 4 days a week and did call every Wednesday and every 4th weekend, responding to ambulance calls and occasionally having to do something like an IV or intravenous injection. I traveled about half the weekends and saw most of the south island and a bit of the north, doing things like sperm whale watching, walking on a glacier in crampons, luging, jet boating, riding a helicopter, and the highlight, bungy jumping at the incredible Nevis site from a height of 424ft with a fall over 400ft long (the BEST!). Otherwise I did some great hikes and found some unforgettable places to run. I stayed in good shape, going back to iron-pumping at the Waimate gym, and I made some new friends as well as seeing some old ones. I also spent a lot of money on various types of merino wool garments for myself and my family (so comfortable). The only drawback to NZ is that they don’t know how to heat a home (or gym), so I needed the wool and then some. I’m now working in Williamsport, PA at an occupational medicine clinic (easy!) and will be in this area into next summer at another job. I may head back to Africa (Namibia?) next fall. Otherwise I have been spending some money of late, getting a new Apple laptop (mixed reviews so far), iPod, and irons (my golf game is still terrible). I hope you enjoy the entertainment, which I had to outsource to Bangalore (I cut out the big musical numbers).
Better on Paper than in Reality
- Reading out in nature
- Spending time with me
- Going to rock concerts
- Suffering for your faith (non-Catholics)
- Short flights
- The new alternative rock bands
- More TV channels
- Pain medications (when taken for pain)
- Every job I’ve ever had
- Hair loss treatments
Things to be more afraid of
- Cell phone radiation
- TV’s effects on young children
- Dick Cheney (pssst – he’s evil)
- In-ear headphones
- The medical-pharmaceutical complex
- Xenophobia
- That creaking sound. Yeah, THAT one.
- The reproductive rates of the intelligent
- Distracted drivers
- A wrathful God
Armchair philosopher:
- While there may be 3 billion women in the world, I have come to the conclusion that there is not one that would make my life any better than it is now.
- No one’s life has ever been improved by feeling sorry for one’s self.
- Self-fulfillment is most likely to come from self-denial
- The quickest way to improve your life is by spending more quiet time with God.
- Computers don’t eliminate mistakes. They just allow for different ones.
Headlines:
- Oil Barons Find New Concern With Global Warming: It May Thaw Dick Cheney’s Heart.
- Teenage Boy Takes Out the Trash Without Being Asked: “It, like, kinda smelled funny for a few days…”
- Reliable American Car Found in Southwest Oklahoma: “It’s never been in the shop and it runs great!”
- Enterprising Young Man Tries to Get Government to Declare “War” on His Bank Account: Hopes It Will Be As Successful As Wars on Drugs, Cancer and Iraq.
- Cell Phone Photo Shows Man Taking Cell Phone Photo of Another Man Taking a Cell Phone Photo
- Only 22 People Left Without a Reality Show
- Communications Prof Gives Bush Speech a D+: “His Best One Yet!”
- Astronomer Reports “Dog Years” Are Only 365.25 Days Long
- Pakistan Voted “Most Dangerous Nation Other Than The USA” in UN Poll
- Coveting Thy Neighbor’s Wife No Longer Sinful: As Long as It Only Involves Her Ability to Keep Her Mouth Shut During the Game or Park the Car Without Denting It.
Many people (well, one or two) ask me what I think about the candidates running for president. I would vote in a heartbeat for Hillary despite her flaws, but I think Obama is the stronger candidate and the only true leader.
Although I am a pacifist (0 drunken brawls lifetime), there are a few humans that, if presented with their faces in the crosshairs of a high-powered rifle, I might find it in me to smoothly squeeze the trigger:
1. Nancy Grace (is there a more annoying person? How can anyone watch?) 2. Rush Limbaugh/Glen Beck/Sean Hannity (could there be bigger chumps? They must know that in their hearts) 3. Dick Cheney (isn’t he on everyone’s shoot-em in the face list?) 4. Pat Robertson (too late for J. Falwell, now getting shot in the face in Hell) 5. Bin Laden (so it isn’t only American fascists getting shot in the face).
Music: Great CDs by The Fratellis (Costello Music), the Manic Street Preachers (Send Away the Tigers), Silverchair (Young Modern), Grant Lee Phillips (Strangelet), Son Volt (The Search), and Idlewild (Make Another World).
The best thing about my current job (other than I get paid well to email, read magazines and do crosswords) is the hospital chapel. It is a big Catholic church where I go every lunch hour to pray a Rosary while kneeling in front of a very life-like (I can only presume, though it is a little short) statue of Jesus. Keeps everything in perspective (I pray for many of you!). The worst thing: hard to get the smell of truck driver belly off my hands.
Books: Anna Karenina is a great book (spoiler alert – she makes Britney seem sane), and Arthur and George by Julian Barnes is a very interesting tale well told. Stephen Colbert is making me laugh with I Am America(and so can you). I read a lot about and by the saints, with the best being The 33 Doctors of the Church by Fr. Christopher Rengers, and the St. Alphonsus Liguori compendium The Twelve Steps to Holiness and Salvation.
For those with extra free time who want to see some nice photos, go to www.flickr.com and search for TerryO’ or Terence O’Rourke. I spent a good bit of time uploading photos from my trip to New Zealand and writing captions for same JUST FOR YOU!
Before I close, I’d like to take some treasured space and thank my sponsors. If you get a chance, they would like you to patronize them. The Garmin Forerunner 205 – “Makes running more precise but even less interesting to talk about.” Cleveland Golf Clubs – “For professionals and those for whom a river on fire is an apt metaphor for the state of their games.” “Giant” store brand peanut butter and yogurt – “They’re good enough, I guess.” Vancouver Tourism Board – “Not as pretty as New Zealand but we have central heating.” America’s airlines – “All the inconvenience and discomfort of a 3 day stagecoach ride compressed into only 5 sleek, ultramodern hours.” Summer in Minnesota – “The best two weeks of the year!” New Zealand’s lambs – Cute AND tasty.” The Bush Administration – “We are also lying about how much we love Jesus.” The DuPont Country Club – “A great place to play terribly.” Lister Home, Waimate – “A friendly and caring place to be pronounced dead by an American doctor.” Crystal Body Deodorant – “Your only hope when BO meets persistent armpit rash.” GCFK Insurance – “Be very, very careful as we probably don’t cover that.” Online and iPod TV viewing - “Why watch TV shows on your new, expensive TV when you can watch them more slowly on a tinier and blurrier screen?” The Weak American Dollar - “One more reason to avoid contact with the rest of the world.” Dilettantes and Cynics – “What is out there worth knowing a lot about? Seriously.” Attention Surplus Disorder (ASSDis) – I hope I can find others who “suffer” with this blessing/curse so I can listen to them intently while also reading a magazine and watching the game.
Thanks again to my parents for all they did and do to make my life possible, my hosts in my travels (The Thorntons and Longs in NZ; D. Metzer, the Pellers and the Morehouses), K. Cooper for getting in touch, and especially Greg and Kathy Wright and Jim Roberson for coming to New Zealand and being a part of my best vacation ever.
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year