I'm working on the Hispanic Ministry budget. The easy part was meeting with Lourdes and Lola, deciding what events we expected to have from July 2025 to June 2026, and making a guess of what those would cost. We've asked for the same amounts from 2021-2 to 2024-5, and we kicked it up a bit because of inflation since 2021. And I made a clever little Excel spreadsheet.
The occasion of mortal sin, don't let me near any sharp implements part is dealing with the Finance Council. They sent Lourdes a Google spreadsheet that was formatted differently from my Excel one. Okay, no problem, just re-enter ... but no. It has questions. It has categories.
"Call the Business Manager if you have any questions," say the instructions. So I did. "What does this question, 'Reimbursement: Yes/No' mean?"
"I don't know. Nobody else has asked that."
"If we want to get new costumes and treasure boxes for the Three Kings at Epiphany, is that 'Capital' or 'Event'?"
"I don't know."
"Suppose we reasonably expect that we're going to need some stuff for an event, but we don't know, a year in advance, whether we'll need color copies, plates, or the rental of a propane heater. Do we ask for 'Administrative' funds, 'Event' funds, or what?"
"I don't know."
Then, you don't just turn in the Google spreadsheet, once you've figured it out. There's a form on a system called Alchemer, where you have to, again, refit all your information into a different shape, as well as explain how your stuff fits into vaguely worded "mission" and "vision" categories. I just wrote a three-page essay, because I'm an A student, but I'll bet it won't fit in the Alchemer form when I try to copy it from Word, and then I'll call the Business Manager again, and she'll say, "I don't know," again, and then maybe ... knives ... stop me ...
And, "Are you holding fundraisers?" is on there, even though FOR SEVEN YEARS, I've been writing, "We are not allowed to have ministry fundraisers, as far as I know. Is there a ministry fundraising policy?" with no response, just the question every year. The "new and improved" Finance Council has been working on this for 9 months and counting, but you'd think, from the form, that it was all squared away.
We're asking for $3,075 for the whole year, for a congregation of over 1,000 people (and growing). If they give me any crap, I think I'll say, "Forget it," pay for everything myself, and stop contributing to the parish. Life's too long to live like this.
Thank you. Lourdes, Lola, and I are going to a meeting the Finance Council is hosting on Thursday evening. As the person who speaks English fluently, I have prepared a list of questions. I will try to ask them without sounding like a total howling maniac, but one more, "I don't know," from the people who originated the whole snafu, and I may snap.
I have deep trauma with the Business Manager, but not the current one, and peripherally with the Finance Council, which also has some new members. I will try really hard to maintain a Professional Manner.
I wish someone had explained to them that their predecessors were (redacted), and there are long-time parishioners and volunteers (not just me) with zero trust and +10 mortal sin rage. Maybe they would have decided to be more transparent and prepared, and less, "I don't know."
I'm guessing that there were pre-built free templates involved in the creation of the spreadsheets you were forced to interact with. Did they at least have nice formatting and graphics?
I forgot to mention that, after seeing the "Events" sheet that included space for Event 1 and Event 2, I asked the Business Manager where I was supposed to put the information about Events 3 through 9.
"I don't know about that," she said. "I didn't make that worksheet."
My husband showed me how to copy the section so I could put in all the other events.
The really sad thing is that this actually is better than what we got from Finance and the business office in previous years. Maybe sometime today the person who made the sheet will respond regarding what "Reimbursement Yes/No" means. It seems to me that, if someone is requesting a budget amount for an event, then, tautologically, they would expect reimbursement for amounts up to the budgeted amount, but what do I know?
Pardon me for being so late. Started out this morning at the Lowe’s looking for a box of screws, but got waylaid by ICE, cuffed, shackled, sent to a Latin prison or other. Sort of an upholstered shithole, you might say. There, I had the opportunity to join this interesting men’s group…MX 12 or somesuch… Great camaraderie, though the induction was tougher than expected. Lots of tats now. Finally feel like one of mis hombres, tho, ¿know’m sayin’, jefe?
Thankfully due to DOGE cuts, that particular prison program got canceled and I was rereleased here into the gen pop. So things are looking up again.
Ms. Pinki and were at 5am. We tend to get up around 5, 530. 5am is her change time, no dinner.
I'm taking her to the airport for her mid day 2hr flight to Dallas. Brother and sis in law picking her for a nice fabulous 10 day visit. With a weekend retreat with her sis in law, and couple friends Ms. Pinki made at brother's church.
She worked a few works making her designed lingerie bags, beautiful hand embroidery for the 2 nieces. And lovely comfort kinda of tv /evening lounge dressy silk for sis in law.
With Gumbi gone, house will very empty. Very rare times. Camel and donkey are scared silly I'll forget to feed em. The donkey wants you to believe 2 things.
A. He's starving and has not been fed in days
B. As you feed him, he knows thinks this is his final supper as he relaxes and enjoys his grain.
I finished a must do, unfortunately, and pretty serious closing of my clients facility. Looking for a buyer. Lease was up. CEOs wife gravely I'll but recovering (i think). Twisted stomach. Numerous surgeries. CEO was, politely, out of his mind and depth with the incredible number of types of chemicals he had and was I guess, going to abandon. That is wrong in so many ways. Fortunately, I've managed 3 businesses and operations, and have a long (1 of like 5) careers in plastics, ie chemicals. So for the registration and right hazardous waste company to take them, hold them, and send them to the various types of incinerator, etc, every single chemicals name for every single bottle, container, has to be listed. Then pre-approved prior to pickup. About 140 containers. Some very nasty stuff.
But. It got done. Done right. Was totally unpaid and not what I was doing for my client, ie customer and market development.
Yes. Actually some people are fortunate I have operations experience under RCRA, and know proper work. Unfortunately I also took some minor health and safety risk as I had no idea and was shocked what I discovered, beyond normal things like Hydrochloric, Nitric, Sulphuric acids and sodium and potassium hydroxide. Not the worst stuff actually. By far
"Generalizations about Puritanism become especially difficult after 1620".....
Nah. I'm an EOFTG...Equal Opportunity Full Time Generalizer when it comes to Puritanism, especially when it's of a Calvinist bent. Although, I'm generalizing.
Beautiful creatures. My husband is on a golf trip with the guys in NM so I’m painting our bedroom. It’s presently a Tiffany blue color, don’t ask me why I chose that because have I no answer. It’s going to become a taupe color. I let you know if he notices.
You are not wrong about noticing. Good chance I would vaguely notice something different, but not sure what the heck it is. I see that as a dispiriting reflection of too often walking through the day without awareness, lost in thought of the next thing to do. A short cut like speed reading that misses out on too much. Something to work on.
Good morning. Clear and cold, 25 degrees rising to the 40s today. Winter is trying to stick around.
The mothership is reporting on cuts and firings at HHS, and RFK Jr’s current views on health. The FP opines that Donald Trump is repeating what it calls “Nixon shock”. And in general, Substack’s reordering of the inbox has reached my iPad. Very annoying.
That's my iPad Substack app trying to "correct" my spelling, or maybe replacing what I type with what it thinks I'm going to say. I'll have to see if that can be turned off, especially since this is the second day in a row this has happened.
I like it. Sadly I think such a grand idea would be ruled by SCOTUS as infringement of free speech. By AL'S inalienable rights!! Perhaps Silicon Valley 🥨🥨🥨
Well, they eat 40-65 lbs of stuff every day, which suggests that they probably produce a lot of a product that would put them in direct competition with the Trump family.
To look at indigenous people as a lesser sort of human, or not human, is wrong. It is also wrong - though more accepted in society - to view them as magical beings, categorically different from "Westerners".
In the modern era, the latter is much more common than the former. And not just hunter-gatherers, but any "indigenous" people, which is just shorthand for "the people that happened to occupy a patch of land when Western civilization discovered them."
Both views are, of course, wrong. It seems surprising that you expressed that sentiment out of the blue, as it were, leading me to conclude it was on your mind.
It was on my mind because one of our Current Environmental Issues is "traditional ecological knowledge," a focus on the ecological experience of people who have lived in a place longer than me.
As a scientific topic, it has a lot of practical relevance in some environments. However, many of the articles we read included smug and smarmy evaluations of native people as, in effect, magical, or a different kind of being from the writers and their universities.
Yes, viewing as lesser human is of course the sort of thinking that allowed us to rationalize slavery. Viewing them as magical beings... I'm having to think about that. If the "magic" is conveying something of dark nature, as with witches or sorcerers then yes. On the other hand, if by "magical" we mean to express wonder at the connection to the natural world we've lost in the West, that is more defensible? I guess different people may mean one or the other, or sometimes both. I'd be pleased to know hobbit like people exist in the world. :-)
Well, before "magical" connoted a general sense of wonder and specialness, it denoted the manipulation of supernatural forces or abilities. Some cultures view this more negatively, others more positively.
It complicates matter because if one draws a Venn diagram of "gypsy" and Roma, the two overlap, but have distinct areas as well. So by calling all gypsy Roma, we include non-Roma in that group, which offends those who feel they should not be identified with Roma.
In German their groups’ names have changed to “Sinti” and “Roma”. I’m guessing Sinti is what we used to call gypsy.
The German word for gypsy is Zigeuner, which is much worse than the English derivation. It’s a shortened form of “vagrant huckster” (ziehender Gauner).
Equally wrong is to view isolated peoples as living pure, ideal, natural lives, in utter harmony with their environments and uncorrupted by practices and ideas that afflict other societies.
I'm working on the Hispanic Ministry budget. The easy part was meeting with Lourdes and Lola, deciding what events we expected to have from July 2025 to June 2026, and making a guess of what those would cost. We've asked for the same amounts from 2021-2 to 2024-5, and we kicked it up a bit because of inflation since 2021. And I made a clever little Excel spreadsheet.
The occasion of mortal sin, don't let me near any sharp implements part is dealing with the Finance Council. They sent Lourdes a Google spreadsheet that was formatted differently from my Excel one. Okay, no problem, just re-enter ... but no. It has questions. It has categories.
"Call the Business Manager if you have any questions," say the instructions. So I did. "What does this question, 'Reimbursement: Yes/No' mean?"
"I don't know. Nobody else has asked that."
"If we want to get new costumes and treasure boxes for the Three Kings at Epiphany, is that 'Capital' or 'Event'?"
"I don't know."
"Suppose we reasonably expect that we're going to need some stuff for an event, but we don't know, a year in advance, whether we'll need color copies, plates, or the rental of a propane heater. Do we ask for 'Administrative' funds, 'Event' funds, or what?"
"I don't know."
Then, you don't just turn in the Google spreadsheet, once you've figured it out. There's a form on a system called Alchemer, where you have to, again, refit all your information into a different shape, as well as explain how your stuff fits into vaguely worded "mission" and "vision" categories. I just wrote a three-page essay, because I'm an A student, but I'll bet it won't fit in the Alchemer form when I try to copy it from Word, and then I'll call the Business Manager again, and she'll say, "I don't know," again, and then maybe ... knives ... stop me ...
And, "Are you holding fundraisers?" is on there, even though FOR SEVEN YEARS, I've been writing, "We are not allowed to have ministry fundraisers, as far as I know. Is there a ministry fundraising policy?" with no response, just the question every year. The "new and improved" Finance Council has been working on this for 9 months and counting, but you'd think, from the form, that it was all squared away.
We're asking for $3,075 for the whole year, for a congregation of over 1,000 people (and growing). If they give me any crap, I think I'll say, "Forget it," pay for everything myself, and stop contributing to the parish. Life's too long to live like this.
Praying for grace and forbearance and a miraculous outbreak of common sense.
You have my 🙏.
Thank you. Lourdes, Lola, and I are going to a meeting the Finance Council is hosting on Thursday evening. As the person who speaks English fluently, I have prepared a list of questions. I will try to ask them without sounding like a total howling maniac, but one more, "I don't know," from the people who originated the whole snafu, and I may snap.
I have deep trauma with the Business Manager, but not the current one, and peripherally with the Finance Council, which also has some new members. I will try really hard to maintain a Professional Manner.
I wish someone had explained to them that their predecessors were (redacted), and there are long-time parishioners and volunteers (not just me) with zero trust and +10 mortal sin rage. Maybe they would have decided to be more transparent and prepared, and less, "I don't know."
I'm guessing that there were pre-built free templates involved in the creation of the spreadsheets you were forced to interact with. Did they at least have nice formatting and graphics?
No. It is, at best, workmanlike.
I forgot to mention that, after seeing the "Events" sheet that included space for Event 1 and Event 2, I asked the Business Manager where I was supposed to put the information about Events 3 through 9.
"I don't know about that," she said. "I didn't make that worksheet."
My husband showed me how to copy the section so I could put in all the other events.
The really sad thing is that this actually is better than what we got from Finance and the business office in previous years. Maybe sometime today the person who made the sheet will respond regarding what "Reimbursement Yes/No" means. It seems to me that, if someone is requesting a budget amount for an event, then, tautologically, they would expect reimbursement for amounts up to the budgeted amount, but what do I know?
Pardon me for being so late. Started out this morning at the Lowe’s looking for a box of screws, but got waylaid by ICE, cuffed, shackled, sent to a Latin prison or other. Sort of an upholstered shithole, you might say. There, I had the opportunity to join this interesting men’s group…MX 12 or somesuch… Great camaraderie, though the induction was tougher than expected. Lots of tats now. Finally feel like one of mis hombres, tho, ¿know’m sayin’, jefe?
Thankfully due to DOGE cuts, that particular prison program got canceled and I was rereleased here into the gen pop. So things are looking up again.
Is that a true story or "truly a story"? 😉
Es una historia de peces.
Rodando por el suelo de la risa.
Sounds exciting. You seem like the kind of person I should take with me to the church budget meeting.
Ms. Pinki and were at 5am. We tend to get up around 5, 530. 5am is her change time, no dinner.
I'm taking her to the airport for her mid day 2hr flight to Dallas. Brother and sis in law picking her for a nice fabulous 10 day visit. With a weekend retreat with her sis in law, and couple friends Ms. Pinki made at brother's church.
She worked a few works making her designed lingerie bags, beautiful hand embroidery for the 2 nieces. And lovely comfort kinda of tv /evening lounge dressy silk for sis in law.
With Gumbi gone, house will very empty. Very rare times. Camel and donkey are scared silly I'll forget to feed em. The donkey wants you to believe 2 things.
A. He's starving and has not been fed in days
B. As you feed him, he knows thinks this is his final supper as he relaxes and enjoys his grain.
I finished a must do, unfortunately, and pretty serious closing of my clients facility. Looking for a buyer. Lease was up. CEOs wife gravely I'll but recovering (i think). Twisted stomach. Numerous surgeries. CEO was, politely, out of his mind and depth with the incredible number of types of chemicals he had and was I guess, going to abandon. That is wrong in so many ways. Fortunately, I've managed 3 businesses and operations, and have a long (1 of like 5) careers in plastics, ie chemicals. So for the registration and right hazardous waste company to take them, hold them, and send them to the various types of incinerator, etc, every single chemicals name for every single bottle, container, has to be listed. Then pre-approved prior to pickup. About 140 containers. Some very nasty stuff.
But. It got done. Done right. Was totally unpaid and not what I was doing for my client, ie customer and market development.
Happy Tuesday!
I had the same thought as CW: Donkey sounds fun. You and Trosino should compare notes.
The proper disposal of chemicals sounds tough, OTOH…
Yes. Actually some people are fortunate I have operations experience under RCRA, and know proper work. Unfortunately I also took some minor health and safety risk as I had no idea and was shocked what I discovered, beyond normal things like Hydrochloric, Nitric, Sulphuric acids and sodium and potassium hydroxide. Not the worst stuff actually. By far
RCRA - I haven't heard that one in a while. My first job out of college was with NC Hazardous Waste Permitting.
It must be fun having a donkey.
Yup. Sweet. Also the Guard Donkey!
Here is an interesting piece on the origins of "Puritan" and "Puritanism."
https://karenswallowprior.substack.com/p/was-john-milton-a-puritan?publication_id=1774198&post_id=160524219&isFreemail=true&r=73eks&triedRedirect=true
#procrastination
"Generalizations about Puritanism become especially difficult after 1620".....
Nah. I'm an EOFTG...Equal Opportunity Full Time Generalizer when it comes to Puritanism, especially when it's of a Calvinist bent. Although, I'm generalizing.
I'm being directed in how not to think about the Mbuti. What does it mean where people feel they have to instruct folks how to think about others?
It's a mom thing.
Right. My comment is an unruly child thing.
:Unruly child" explains a few things. 🙂
Online is my alter ego.
In the best sort of way :-)
In the anti-authoritarian spirit of CSLF, you can totally have your own point of view.
I often go for a point of view that's NOT total, leaving openings for continued needling. It's a component of the unruly thing.
If I hold my head just right and squint a little I can get that to line up with the generalizer claim above.
You sound like Thor the Son.
Maybe. We'd have to settle it with a needle-off.
Very good TSAF today. Thanks for that.
You're welcome.
Not a cat. It counts as a giraffe, even if it has a different look.
It's a giraffid.
There should be a tech product or app called “gGiraffID”.
Sun today! And almost 2 inches of rain yesterday.
Something about the combination of yesterday's thunderstorms with new spring green on the trees lightened the load.
Beautiful creatures. My husband is on a golf trip with the guys in NM so I’m painting our bedroom. It’s presently a Tiffany blue color, don’t ask me why I chose that because have I no answer. It’s going to become a taupe color. I let you know if he notices.
Which Taupe?
In my next career, I want to be a color namer for J. Crew. "October Mist".... "Putty".... "Tanglewood".... are a few of my signature naming efforts.
Stone Hearth.
Oooooh.... There should be a J. Peterman type shpiel to go along with our color names.
I remember the J. Peterman catalog. We even went to their outlet once. I think it was in Chattanooga.
And they had those overlong literary type descriptions in clothing soft porn language in the catalog. Maybe I can be a color namer for J. Peterman.
I think they went out of business.
You are not wrong about noticing. Good chance I would vaguely notice something different, but not sure what the heck it is. I see that as a dispiriting reflection of too often walking through the day without awareness, lost in thought of the next thing to do. A short cut like speed reading that misses out on too much. Something to work on.
I think he will notice the rug that I removed from the bedroom and that might cause him to look around more.
Good morning. Clear and cold, 25 degrees rising to the 40s today. Winter is trying to stick around.
The mothership is reporting on cuts and firings at HHS, and RFK Jr’s current views on health. The FP opines that Donald Trump is repeating what it calls “Nixon shock”. And in general, Substack’s reordering of the inbox has reached my iPad. Very annoying.
It’s 22 here but feels much warmer than the 36 degrees yesterday morning because the wind has subsided.
I'm trying to decide if "RFK Jr's current Jews on health" is a typo. Somehow I can see it fitting with something that RFK Jr. might have said.
That's my iPad Substack app trying to "correct" my spelling, or maybe replacing what I type with what it thinks I'm going to say. I'll have to see if that can be turned off, especially since this is the second day in a row this has happened.
Fixed in original post.
You've just given me an idea for a third requirement when it comes to AI:
1) AI-generated content must be identified as such.
2) Users must be given recourse to a human to resolve any problems AI is causing them.
3) AI in software on personal devices must come with an option to turn it off.
Too bad there are no options to turn certain humans off. Well, none that are legal, anyway.
One can learn to ignore those types. I get practice in this on the mothership comments.
You can send them to their room and say, "If you come out before I call you, meals will be nothing but bean casserole until Thursday."
Well, that might work on *them*, but I like bean casserole.
I like it. Sadly I think such a grand idea would be ruled by SCOTUS as infringement of free speech. By AL'S inalienable rights!! Perhaps Silicon Valley 🥨🥨🥨
Maybe you could ask Victoria Davis Hanson to complain Substack managers about it; maybe they'd listen then?
I would probably have better luck with Edith “Edit” Burton. 🙂
Cynthia: https://time.com/7274542/colossal-dire-wolf/
I saw that this morning. What could go wrong?
A certain movie franchise, something like "[something] Park" comes to mind.
Yeah.
Nothing. Except, when they are released in the wild, for me to make the "wolf in Jeep's clothing" pun again. Now THAT would be wrong.
Lucky for you, I missed that.
It was epic.
I have no doubt you're a legend in your own mind. 🙂
More like a rumor.
It would certainly be dire.
Mark Knopler is certainly hoping he can make a comeback too! His career has been in dire straits for quite awhile! 🤦♂️
I prefer “Sultans of swing” or “I want my MTV” to puns — 🚪
I do love "Sultans of Swing."
Really, John? Not very creative, are you? 🚪
Canis do better? Try to find more shades of grey and then lupus in
OUT!!!
You’re on a roll, John.
Very cool looking animal. I wonder what tariff has been levied on them.
Donkeys and Camels are on revolt and protest
They are protected from trade by CITES.
Well, they eat 40-65 lbs of stuff every day, which suggests that they probably produce a lot of a product that would put them in direct competition with the Trump family.
+1
Good one.
Excellent point, sir!
Don’t tell Trump they exist, or he’ll come up with one for them.
Good morning, everyone. It's dark here. Happy Trash Day!
Good morning Cynthia. I sense a certain sympathy for hunter-gatherers.
To look at indigenous people as a lesser sort of human, or not human, is wrong. It is also wrong - though more accepted in society - to view them as magical beings, categorically different from "Westerners".
In the modern era, the latter is much more common than the former. And not just hunter-gatherers, but any "indigenous" people, which is just shorthand for "the people that happened to occupy a patch of land when Western civilization discovered them."
Both views are, of course, wrong. It seems surprising that you expressed that sentiment out of the blue, as it were, leading me to conclude it was on your mind.
It was on my mind because one of our Current Environmental Issues is "traditional ecological knowledge," a focus on the ecological experience of people who have lived in a place longer than me.
As a scientific topic, it has a lot of practical relevance in some environments. However, many of the articles we read included smug and smarmy evaluations of native people as, in effect, magical, or a different kind of being from the writers and their universities.
Are they noble as well?
I've noticed many of those who discuss their magical being mean it as a compliment, when it is not.
I feel like the point is to point up the inferiority of people like us.
A (probably now disfavored) phrase, “noble savages” comes to mind.
Yes, viewing as lesser human is of course the sort of thinking that allowed us to rationalize slavery. Viewing them as magical beings... I'm having to think about that. If the "magic" is conveying something of dark nature, as with witches or sorcerers then yes. On the other hand, if by "magical" we mean to express wonder at the connection to the natural world we've lost in the West, that is more defensible? I guess different people may mean one or the other, or sometimes both. I'd be pleased to know hobbit like people exist in the world. :-)
When I say "magical" I mean having spiritual abilities or, so to speak, extrasensory perception that people from other groups don't have.
Yes, and I appreciated the intent in the original comments. A part of me still wishes cool words like "magical" could be used without the baggage.
Well, before "magical" connoted a general sense of wonder and specialness, it denoted the manipulation of supernatural forces or abilities. Some cultures view this more negatively, others more positively.
Seeing another human as “magical” will either lead to worship or exploitation.
It can't be just wonder? Well dang-it.
I’m surprised they’re still called “pygmies.” I found out today the Gypsy moth was renamed the spongy moth.
Regarding the moth, a silly instance of “white guilt”. Even sillier, I’m pretty sure the Romani are white.
It complicates matter because if one draws a Venn diagram of "gypsy" and Roma, the two overlap, but have distinct areas as well. So by calling all gypsy Roma, we include non-Roma in that group, which offends those who feel they should not be identified with Roma.
In German their groups’ names have changed to “Sinti” and “Roma”. I’m guessing Sinti is what we used to call gypsy.
The German word for gypsy is Zigeuner, which is much worse than the English derivation. It’s a shortened form of “vagrant huckster” (ziehender Gauner).
Oy
They changed it to the spongy moth in our forestry manual this year.
I realize “spongy” comes from “sponge” + “y”, but the dropped “e” looks quite spong-y, which leaves me wondering what being like a spong might mean.
It would look dumb if it were spelled "spongey."
Equally wrong is to view isolated peoples as living pure, ideal, natural lives, in utter harmony with their environments and uncorrupted by practices and ideas that afflict other societies.
Yes, anthropologists' search for people living in perfect harmony with nature and one another has proved unsuccessful. People are people.