Yours portly is still playing catch-up this Friday, so I’m really phoning it in.  I’m actually writing this hasty post mere minutes before my usual 6:30 AM EST posting deadline, so I’ll doubtless be a tad late with this post.

There isn’t one particular reason why I’ve fallen behind a bit on posting (and several other things!).  Life is good and my schedule at work is very manageable.  It’s mostly a situation of having several things to get done at once, combined with some long days of lessons and errands.

But I am very blessed.  Wednesday evening I was out running some errands—I needed to pick up ingredients for a taco dip I bring to parties, as the teachers had a “Friendsgiving” potluck meal yesterday—and my car battery died in the Taco Bell parking lot (that wasn’t for Friendsgiving; that was for me).

A year ago, I would have been bemoaning how stressed and overworked I was, and would have railed against myself, my job, the lizard people, Boomers, floozies, immigrants, and whatever other real or imagined foes I perceived to be arraying their dark forces against me.

What a difference trusting in the Holy Spirit makes!  I had that split second of panic one experiences when one’s vehicle won’t start, but I immediately knew what to do.  I have a jumpbox in my car, and casually attached it to my battery.  I had to FaceTime my younger brother, who I believe gifted me the box, to make sure I had the correct setting engaged—the markings on the box itself are a bit obtuse—and he was an immense help (I was doing it right).

The vehicle cranked, and I made may way to the nearest Advance Auto Parts.  They only had the top-of-the-line “Gold” battery available—at a cool $240.  Not ideal, but the situation itself wasn’t exactly perfection, so I shelled out the cash without batting an eye.  Within ten minutes the AAP employee had the new battery in the car and I was good to go.

The entire time, I was praising the Lord for His Blessings.  That is not to make myself appear holy—far from it!—but to give glory to Him.  Several things cut in my favor in this situation:

• I have accidentally been overcontributing to my 403(b).  I did not go over the legal annual limit, fortunately, but I made adjustments to my November and December payroll contributions that, in effect, will see my bring-home pay increase by hundreds of dollars (while still maxing out those sweet, sweet contributions).  That means I’ll enjoy an unexpected “windfall” in my bring-home pay.
• I have also somehow way overbudgeted for my annual vehicle taxes, by nearly $800.  That meant I had a good deal of extra cash in the budget without even realizing it.
• I had the jumpbox, which I have (shamefully) not charged in awhile.  But even if it had not had any juice, I could have chilled in Taco Bell for thirty minutes while the box charged and I ate burritos.

In short, God Has Blessed me immensely—and I definitely do not deserve it.  But all of these little oversights and mistakes actually ended up being beneficial in this situation.

In other news, I hastily completed Leftovers III, which will release next Friday, 29 November 2024 on all streaming platforms and Bandcamp.  It contains the longest piece I have ever composed, “Hanging Gardens,” which clocks in at around 10:46 (ten minutes, forty-six seconds).  It also contains the shortest piece I’ve ever written, “CRAMPED!“:

“CRAMPED!” is a self-indulgent exercise in ultra-miniature piano composing. The added reverb effect adds two seconds to this three-second piece.  The piece is really only about three seconds long, but the additional reverb essentially doubles the time to a whopping six seconds.  Whoa!

Happy Friday, everyone, and to God Be the Glory!

—TPP