{"id":1830,"date":"2009-07-24T22:38:23","date_gmt":"2009-07-25T05:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pierfamily.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/24\/24-july-2009\/"},"modified":"2019-08-21T14:52:43","modified_gmt":"2019-08-21T21:52:43","slug":"24-july-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pierfamily.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/24\/24-july-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"24 July 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

24 July 2009 \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c Friday<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

Happy Birthday to Mary\u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u00a6<\/font><\/p>\n

About 5:00 I was awaken by a noise that I at first thought \u00c2\u00a0<\/span>was a clock ticking but it turned out to be water dripping off the roof and hitting a piece of plastic. It was so annoying that I had to get up and move the plastic. It is very cold this morning and the heater barely makes a dent. If we were going to live here any amount of time, I would put A\/C \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c heaters in at least three of the rooms. I told Mary that when\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>summer comes I may remember this cool weather with fondness. <\/font><\/p>\n

We spent the morning finishing up details for the costumes and props for Esikhawini\u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u2122s roadshow. Among the things that got done: the swords got their aluminum foil blades, fishing poles got line and hooks, and the Title of Liberty got ironed.<\/font><\/p>\n

I worked on some extraction of the 1920 Texas census. It was one of those maddening sheets that when the writer took his time, the records are very clear. But if he hurried or did not leave himself enough room, the names are pretty much unreadable. That is not good when it is a given name but when it is a family name it means that they may never be accessed.<\/font><\/p>\n

I read an interesting article in Mormon Times this morning about Alex Boye. He is a former black rock star who is a member of the Church and was while be was part of a rock group. He quit because he did not like the atmosphere. He now sings in the Tabernacle Choir. Reading the comments was almost as interesting as the article. I am surprised how many people who do not have a good opinion of the Church post comments on almost any article about an LDS celebrity or situation. I would think they had better things to do with their time.<\/font><\/p>\n

Without comment from our local paper:<\/strong> – Patna India: Farmers in and eastern Indian state have asked their unmarried daughters to plough parched fields naked in a bid to embarrass the weather gods to bring some badly needed monsoon rain, officials say.<\/font><\/p>\n

“This is the most trusted social custom in the area and the villagers have vowed to continue\u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u00a6until it rains very heavily” said an official from Banke Bazaar.”<\/font><\/p>\n

I gave Mary her choice of having lunch or dinner out on her birthday and she chose lunch. So we went to the mall and ate at \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u02dcElephant and I.\u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u2122 While we were eating the Barts came by and wished Mary a happy birthday. I would guess either one or both couples are in the mall sometime around lunch almost every day.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>While we were there Mary bought some needed office supplies.<\/font><\/p>\n

Of course the wind and the rain continued right up until we were on our way to Esikhawini. However by the time we got there it was only drizzling so most of the young people came. What made the rehearsal difficult was that a few of the main characters did not come or did not come on time. But to make up for that, some who have not been for weeks or had never been to a rehearsal came. Unfortunately we had one very bad piece of news \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c Sphelele who is a new convert and was also one of the main characters came very late and explained that due to school, she could not be in the play on Saturday. All of us were very disappointed.<\/font><\/p>\n

The dress rehearsal was \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c to say the least \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c a minor disaster. Mary reminded me that it is said that a terrible dress rehearsal means a great performance. Well is that is true Esikhawini is going to have a wonderful roadshow tomorrow. But \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c as I have to keep reminding myself \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c that perfection is not the goal here. The goal is for the youth to work together and enjoy themselves. <\/font><\/p>\n

Once we had cleaned up the chapel, put the chairs back, and loaded up all the props it was again turning dark. But the traffic was light \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c which was completely different from when we were going to Esikhawini a few hours earlier \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201cand so we made good time coming home.<\/font><\/p>\n

The evening was spent getting a few props made \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c we needed 4 more swords and some more robes \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c and making sure all the bases were covered. It will be a great relief to get this over with. <\/font><\/p>\n

During the day Mary got lots of Happy Birthday notices on Facebook, through e-mail, and even by talking to Cindy on the phone. More people may have tried to call but for some reason the phone went right to voice mail. I could not figure out why this happened so I am going to have to call Vonage and ask them what to do. <\/font><\/p>\n

As President Mann has often said \u00c3\u00a2\u00c2\u20ac\u00c2\u201c Another day in Paradise.<\/font><\/p>\n