Eric Bailey's

Oh the things a bus driver hears.


Okay so it's not that racy. Actually it was a discussion among students that I wanted to get involved in but because they were not sitting very close and because I am not sure that they would be ready for a real discussion I didn't.

One person said "Christians are so judgemental." There were a few things said that I couldn't quite here before another student said the same thing. It sounded like a theoretical discussion.

The first thought that went through my mind was, "Wow, what judgemental comment." Then I laughed (it was somewhat visible but not a loud laugh and they did not seem to notice or respond).

I thought about a discussion with them over this and directing them to Christian websites that would demonstrate that not all Christians are judgemental.

I came to the conclusion later that what was needed is to discover where this comment really came from. Could this person have trouble with some specific Christians in school? Maybe someone is poorly representing Christianity in a public forum at school or maybe even in the news? Maybe this person just plainly disagrees with someone else and the quickest way to dismiss them is to label them as judgemental making the labeller better than the labelled.

I might have enjoyed a discussion about this with the students who were talking about judgemental Christians, but mostly I think I would have enjoyed a conversation. I like discussion especially ones that I can really get into and ones that touch on my areas of specialty. Maybe tomorrow they will sit near the front and talk with me...

This week I have started what will be a week long series of classes (I am taking them) on first aid. Today we learned about assessing the scene and about choking. I am not totally ready yet, but if you really want to I guess you can get injured around me now. I can't splint yet so don't break anything.

Yesterday our church went curling. The teams were just kind of thrown together at the area and so it was interesting. I played skip for the first time in my life (and curled for the 4th or 5th time). Unfortunately for Richard he was on my team and I had to teach him (it was his first time every curling - I think that's what he said). Liam and Haaken were my other two players - so it was up to me and Richard to sweep. The boys threw the stones and then they checked out everything else at the rink. The boys had a little bit different rules for their rocks, it didn't matter if they hit the sides. All the boys had to do was to get the rocks past the line. We actually tied our last game. We had fun (I hope Richard did, too).

Time for some bus talk.

Today I was talking with one of the students on my bus and she asked why I had my blog address posted. I said why not? I don't get a ton of comments so more traffic would be fun. I was also interested in who might notice it and who might comment. So far, I have only received this one verbal comment. Nothing on the net yet but who knows who else might have over heard and decided to check it out. It might not be the most exciting blog, but it is mine so I like it.

Other bus news is that I was reminded of the new parking regulations today. Buses cannot park on city streets anymore. It used to be we could park for one hour and then the bus had to move, but it has changed. I was reminded by the ticket I received. The fine was $25 and if I paid within a certain time period it would only be $20. I went down and paid it today and the cashier had to enter the information from my ticket. I was also told that since I paid it right away and since it was new legislation, the fine was reduced to $10.

The last bit of bus news is that I have been working on a seating plan for my bus. One of the other drivers was talking to me and encouraging me to do this so that the kids will be calmer. Then as you go, you tweak the seating plan to get the right combination of kids. The current seating plan is going to be by grade, but if I have to get more serious then I will go with the assigned seating. I know that nobody wants that because I have been making assigned seating sound like the worst thing that could happen to them (because I did not want to go through the work to figure out who should sit where). So I have to get up tomorrow and print some seat signs and then take tape and post the signs. I would rather sleep.

I came across another blog (http://caritas2.blogspot.com - Greg's blog), I was referred to it from the preachermike.com blog. Greg's blog is about engaging our culture (he wrote a book that talks about Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He has a post about Bruce Springstein and the lost art of lament. Also he writes about U2 and the Psalms. Check it by clicking on the house shaped thing at the top of this blog.

I have updated my flickr account with pictures that are from last year (the end of 2005) up to the boys birthdays. I know that the most popular ones are going to be the disney pics but I thought I should put these up first so I will see when I can get the disney pics loaded onto the page. I also renamed the page so that it will be easier to find.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ejbailey/

When I posted that list of places that I would like to be, I listed a place that I longed to visit but did not want to live there. I wanted to visit Estevan really badly because my parents were there. My dad was in Estevan staying with my Aunt and Uncle while he recovered from knee surgery. My parents left Monday afternoon, but the good news is that I got down there to visit mom and dad this weekend. I feel much better having been able to celebrate my grandfather's birthday and to visit with my parents all in Estevan. Not only that but I got to finish with a visit with my very good friend Mike.

I made the drive there and the drive back in one day (well I drove through the night on the way down). It was a fun trip singing lots of songs and listening to some pretty strange radio in the morning as I drove through the states.

After I arrived they put me to bed and I slept until the afternoon and then I visited until the others arrived for the Saturday night Turkey supper in honour of my grandfathers birthday. Sunday we had a light lunch at the church with cake for Grandpa and then the cake came back to the farm and we had it with supper which was another gathering of people for Grandpa's birthday. Then I took my parents up to Mike's and stayed there over night. Then I took them to the airport, visited Western Christian College, and visited with my wife's grandfather and then finally headed back to Mike's to visit and sleep for the night.

This morning I got up on my own at 6:00 and headed for home. My trip in a nut shell.

I was tagged by onesteamboatrush.blogspot.com for this survey so I will punish others as well.

1. 4 jobs I’ve had
• Grower Direct Clown
• Warehouse worker
• 7-11 gas jockey
• Preacher dude and Bus driver

2. 4 movies I can watch over and over
• Die Hard
• Princess Bride
• Star Wars (pick any)
• Galaxy Quest

3. 4 places I’ve lived
• Regina & Saskatoon
• Victoria
• Winnipeg
• Thunder Bay

4. 4 TV shows I watch(ed)
• CSI (Vegas & NY)
• 7th Heaven
• Wendy’s Friday Night Football
• Corner Gas

5. 4 places I’ve vacationed
• Africa
• Disneyland
• Disney World
• Ireland

6. 4 of my favorite dishes
• Nachos
• Chili
• Tacos
• Enchilada

7. 4 sites I visit daily
• nwpcofc.org
• tsn.ca
• google.ca
• biblegateway.com

8. 4 places I’d rather be right now
• Ireland
• Victoria
• Estevan
• California

9. 4 bloggers I’m tagging
• ekbailey.blogspot.com
• wulrich99.blogspot.com
• tulrich.blogspot.com
• reppepper.blogspot.com

Well it has been a while since I have posted. I have gotten into the routine of life quite quickly again. When I got back on the bus my first day back to driving the kids (who were all quite happy to see me) I finished the day on time without missing a beat. The kids said that while I was gone they were 5th in line, but we are usually 1st. I was told that the other bus driver was grumpy and wouldn't let them do anything.

I heard that things weren't the same while we were gone. Of course when you take 10 people out of a small church numbers alone will make a difference. It is nice to be missed. I feel like I am trying to get things back on task, but the problem is that it was not on task before we left and so there is more work to be done than just restoring things. What can we do to get back on task?

At home things are very confused because we were surviving on Wendy keeping the house going while my wife and I work. We are trying to keep things from getting too messed up, but I can feel some of the house just getting away. At least I am basically keeping up with laundry.