FRIDAY
+ I'm not the only one who thinks that for numerous reasons OpenOffice trumps Microsoft Office. OpenOffice is a free application.

+ I've been aware of the fact that I've been missing some email over the past few days. This morning someone, somewhere along the way, fed the system a dose of exlax, and suddenly all that mail from two and three days ago seems to be flooding my mailbox. It's not a pretty sight. It's going all over the place, back filling by date and time stamp, getting lost behind some of the mail that did come through correctly. It's a mess that I have to sort through. So, if you've been expecting a reply from me, I should get to it once I get it all sorted out and figure out what's there.

+ Methodists in Britain are inching closer to re-union with the Anglican Church.

+ Immigration is fueling the growth of Mennonite churches in SoCal where 94% of the members now are Asian, African or Latino. See the LA Times article which also has a brief history of Mennonites.

+ I'm going to need a little more dental work and I'm thinking of something along this line. I may need some help deciding. Input?

+ In case you're wondering, the names Emily and Jacob are still the most popular baby names in the US. Based on social security records, the top ten names for girls are Emily, Emma, Madison, Olivia, Hannah, Abigail, Isabella, Ashley, Samantha, and Elizabeth. The most popular boy names are Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan, Andrew, Daniel, William, Joseph, and Christopher. Brad is now the 827th most popular boy name. When I was born in 1956 it was the 142nd most popular boy name. Do you need more proof that society has been going down hill for the last 50 years? Check out the SSA's chart.

+ Since the Crusades showed up in the theaters today it is time for a primer on the real thing.