It Really Does Matter » Uncategorized

Two Months Later, on the Droid

David Ancell — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:39:24 +0000

I posted my review of the Droid here a couple of months ago, and now my use of the Droid has expanded a lot. I’m actually amazed at what I have found for the Android operating system and what has been made available in the last couple of months. Android is becoming a formidable competitor to the iPhone. I’m not so much interested in it being an iPhone killer as I am having the competition help each other to be better.

I’ve gotten into the world of streaming audio with Pandora. Unfortunately, it’s a battery hog that I can’t use for long without plugging in the phone. Still, it works great over 3G. Just recently, there has been an application for Sirius/XM Radio. Now, I have my EWTN radio on the go! If you are an XM subscriber, you’ll need to look on the Sirius XM site to get the app. It will work for XM just as well as I no longer have my Sirius subscription. I had been waiting for this app for as long as I’ve had my phone, especially since there has been an iPhone app available for some time.

On another note, one of my concerns about switching to Android is that my pharmacist references wouldn’t be available. Thankfully, this wasn’t an issue. You can get ePocrates from the Android market, but it is in beta and isn’t receiving clinical updates according to the company. The folks at Lexi were nice enough to move my subscription from a Palm version to the Android version without charging me. They didn’t have the Lexi Calc clinical calculations at first, but they have since added them.

Now, the only thing that is missing is a program like Pocket Quicken. As I blogged earlier, Intuit, in what has to be my least favorite business decision of 2010, discontinued it. No, the handheld version of Mint is not an acceptable substitute. I want something I can update and reconcile with bank records. I have yet to see an equivalent competitor to Quicken produce an Android version either.

Android is growing by leaps and bounds, and I am ready to see what comes next.

Struck by Lightning

David Ancell — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:00:42 +0000

My wife and I would see the large statue of Jesus known as “Touchdown Jesus” when we drove between Dayton and Cincinnati. Sad to say, it was struck by lightning and burned. Here’s another article. I hope they rebuild it because I liked seeing it on the road side.

Just before our first date, my wife sent me this picture showing the statue being just right to be part of the Ohio State cheer. I must admit I missed it the first time I drove through. Oh well, I saw it later.

We Have Been Waiting Forever

David Ancell — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:02:23 +0000

Despite not getting to blog much, I haven’t lived under a cave when it comes to following what is happening in the Church. With that being said, I just can’t wait for the new translation of the Mass and wish they would implement it right away. The language is just so much better than what we have now.

Unfortunately, I am well aware that not everyone shares my enthusiasm. There’s a campaign going on named What If We Just Said Wait that is gathering signatures on a petition. It makes no sense to me; we have been waiting for years. By the way, you can sign a counter-petition here. The donation is optional; your signature will have been recorded as soon as you leave the petition page.

Truthfully, there probably will be some kind of backlash of varying degrees when this is promulgated. One argument, which I believe to be a very poor one, is that the new translation doesn’t reflect the way we normally speak. My own view on this argument can be found on this post from 2005. And to think, the waiting had been going on for years at the time of this post.

However, the real problem that we are likely to encounter is simply ignorance of what the Mass really is and, for that matter, an ignorance of worship in general. In his last encyclical, Pope John Paul II mentioned that abuses occurred in which the Eucharist is celebrated as though it were merely a “fraternal banquet” (see paragraph 10 in this link).Vatican II called for liturgical instruction (see paragraphs 14 and 19 on this link) to enable the faithful to participate fully in the Mass, but this has never been realized. I have found that it is more difficult to find solid cathechetical material on liturgy than on any other topic. I recommend Jeffrey Pinyan’s Praying the Mass.

Our worship is not a matter of our own expression. It is a response to the command of Christ to “Do this in memory of me.” There is something in particular that we are a part of when we are at Mass. This must be brought forth in the words we use. If we do not convey the proper, accurate meaning to what we are doing, then we are not doing what Christ commanded but are doing something else. Unfortunately, in our world today, the “Dictatorship of Relativism,” spoken by Cardinal Ratzinger not long before he became Pope Benedict XVI, has taken hold of our worship just as it has morality. By providing us with a more literal translation, the Church is helping us to better understand what we are doing. The reason it may be shocking to people is because we never were taught the truth about what we were doing in the first place.

In fact, where is the needed catechesis now? The backlash regarding the new translation could easily be lessened by solid catechesis by people whose hearts and minds are with the Church. I hope we are seeing it soon.

Where Have I Been (Again)?

David Ancell — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:24:02 +0000

At one time, I was a fairly regular blogger. Now, if there is still anyone left reading, they hardly hear from me anymore. Life is much different for me these days. In most aspects, it has changed for the better by far. More on that later.

Before too much time goes by, I am hoping to rewrite my entire web page and even do some more blogging. Right now, everything is running on an application that I built myself. I probably will not have time to have a site like that again, and any blog that I have is most likely to be a WordPress blog. Whether I can keep my archives up remains to be seen. It’s little matter to me because there are many things that I still believe strongly but would say differently today.

You may know that I got married on August 8, 2009 to a wonderful woman. Because of this, I have moved to North Carolina. Married life is going very well. We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and have since made other trips. We flew back to my parents’ home in Missouri for Thanksgiving, and we took a big road trip back there for Christmas, including a trip back to Memphis to see my friends there.

My work schedule is something else. I took a third shift job in a hospital to get to this area. I work seven nights in a row and then have the next week off. This means that, for one week, I can do almost nothing but work and sleep. The next week I’m free, but I’m having to readjust to human hours. It has given us lots of travel time, but it’s pretty hard to have every other week as a zombie.

Anyway, hopefully I can be around occasionally. Married life is worth the sacrifice, but I still hope to do something on the site.

Wedding Journal

David Ancell — Fri, 15 May 2009 08:31:49 +0000

Now that the web site is online for our wedding, we’ve added a blog. Actually, we are calling it our journal. Take a look at this:

http://www.davidandyana.com/journal/

I decided to use WordPress instead of writing my own software on this site. It’s a great tool. Maybe I should have used it on this blog. You may have heard, but I wrote my own blog software for this site (as well as my own content management). I guess, as she often says, my fiancee is keeping me busy.

Wedding Web Site

David Ancell — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:52:43 +0000

Last week, I finally finished the web site for our wedding. You can find it at this address:

http://www.davidandyana.com

I Am Really Behind

David Ancell — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:55:04 +0000

Somehow, I have the feeling that I won’t be doing regular blogging much anymore. I’d like to, but I just can’t find the time to save my life. Much has happened . . .

Last month, I proposed to my girlfriend right in front of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama. She said yes, and we will be married on August 8th of this year in Dayton, Ohio. We are both very excited, and we are very busy because we have a lot to do between now and then.

In fact, it’s as I’m getting ready to write the wedding web page that I realized that I needed some updating here. Pretty soon, I plan to do our wedding web site. I’ll post here when it is done. My blog I know contains many things that I would not say today in the same way. The posts are still here for now, but maybe some changes are in order.

SSPX

David Ancell — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:02:53 +0000

I must admit that I wondered why Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication against the Society of St. Pius X. I just read this article from Catholic Culture that explains it very well. This is not a Vatican endorsement of their views. Take a look at this statement:

A handful of liberal theologians have been admonished by the Vatican in the years since Lefebvrite split, but unlike the SSPX, the liberals have not been excommunicated.

Many traditionalists have charged that it was unfair for the SSPX bishops to be excommunicated while the liberals have not been. There was an important distinction; the Archbishop Lefebvre ordained bishops without legitimate permission to do so. This was clearly defined under canon law. However, I think the traditionalists have a point in that their dissent was not tolerated while the liberals can still say they are Catholic. The move to lift the excommunication, if anything, will, I guess, put all dissent on an equal footing.

Let’s pray for the conversion of all dissenters, whatever their viewpoint.

My Grandmother

David Ancell — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:32:23 +0000

I know it has been a long time since I have written. I am not sure how much of my story my readers know, but I can honestly say that I do not know how I would ever be Catholic without my grandmother. She passed away on December 31st at the age of 88.

She had suffered from chronic pain for many years, but she always did her best to play with the grandkids when we were little. She took me to church a number of times in my pre-teen and teenage years. She also baked the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten. I will really miss her, but I know she is in God’s hands. A week ago, my aunt, my cousin, my girlfriend, and I were with her as she received both Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum. I had never seen this before, and it was beautiful.

Please pray for her soul and for my family.

Life Still Going On

David Ancell — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:10:25 +0000

In case you didn’t know, I am still alive. I’m just having a bit of trouble finding time to blog.

If you haven’t heard, I took a new job last February. I am now working hospital, and I’m enjoying it. It’s not perfect, but it’s much better than what I had. I hadn’t felt like I was going anywhere in my old job, and almost everyone whom I knew seemed to know it. I had been so specialized that I really didn’t think I could do anything else. However, I am doing quite well in a hospital job.

I am working every other weekend, and when I don’t work, I go see my girlfriend in Ohio. I love her! As long as I had waited, I’m amazed that God would bring such a wonderful woman into my life.

I joined another local parish as well. Of course, I’m still Catholic. I had been working in RCIA in this parish for a long time because they let me teach, and I thought it was time I joined.

Things are going well. Maybe soon I can post a thing or two, but time is a bit limited.

Where Have I Been, Anyway?

David Ancell — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:50:15 +0000

If you’ve been reading this blog or have stumbled upon it, I guess you have noticed that it has been a while since I’ve posted. I haven’t given up, but I’m not doing a lot on this. There are a couple of things that have been going on.

For one thing, I have a girlfriend. I was on my way home from meeting her for the first time when I had this accident that I wrote about. We met on Ave Maria Singles. After the wreck, it took a while before I could visit her again, and then, after the next visit, I ended up on crutches. However, at the beginning of February, I asked her for a courtship, and she said yes. I am so happy to have her in my life.

I also have a new job. I decided I needed another kind of pharmacy experience from what I have, so I took a job in a local hospital. So far, it has been very good. I am learning to make IV admixtures. I will be learning more things in the future.

Anyway, please do feel free to drop me a line. I may take a while to answer, but I will do my best to get back to you.

Please Speak English

David Ancell — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:27:10 +0000

I went to Geno’s and had a cheesesteak back in February. I remember seeing the sign that “This is America. When ordering, please speak English.” I had heard about the local human rights commission saying that the sign is discriminatory. Thankfully, the commission ruled otherwise. The owner, Joey Vento, even said that they won’t discriminate against people. It’s just that, if they don’t speak English, then they aren’t sure what to serve people.

I like Joey Vento’s quotes on the video accompanying this article on why this sign shouldn’t be offensive to non-English speakers:

If you don’t speak English, what’s the sign say to you. It says nothing!

If you don’t understand the language . . . you can’t speak it; you can’t read it.

Truthfully, I think the whole complaint from the city is silly. Even if Geno’s wants to discriminate, they are the ones who lose the business. If their employees speak English only, then they aren’t going to understand people ordering in other languages. What does the commission expect? You can call this bad business if you want, but it isn’t a human rights violation. I can understand where there would be a problem if this establishment were an essential service like health care, but this is a restaurant.

On Crutches

David Ancell — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:40:33 +0000

After doing some tests on me after my wreck, the doctor put me in a boot and on crutches a few weeks ago. I have not had this before in my life, so I had no idea what it would be like. I’m not so much trying to get sympathy as to try to tell you what I’ve learned from this.

First, it’s really tiring. I have almost no energy. This is really bad given that work has gotten much more stressful lately. Yes, I’m still at the same job. If it weren’t for the wreck, I’d probably have left Memphis. I never knew that walking on crutches would take so much out of someone. I get home and hardly feel like doing anything.

Second, I’ve found that holding and carrying things is very difficult, if not impossible. The crutches are in your hands, so you can only hold things that you can brace against the crutches. Even then, it’s awkward. I’ll have to remember when I see others in the future on crutches to ask if they need help carrying stuff. I can tell you that the staff in Kroger and Target have been very helpful to me. The people at Zaxby’s noticed my condition and helped me get my food to the table without my asking. Qdoba wasn’t quite so helpful; they seemed oblivious to my condition.

Third, you get sore arms. My wrists are so sore that it’s sometimes hard to pick things up around my work desk. Yes, I am still trying to work. I would suggest trying to take time off if you have to deal with this. No doubt, I’ll have the arm muscles going again once I’m done.

Hopefully, I’m almost done with these things. I know I want to try to do what I can for others I see on these things in the future. Now, I know what kind of things are difficult when you have crutches.

What’s the Big Deal?

David Ancell — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 10:09:03 +0000

Ok, so I’m a little late here. I debated whether to bother to post this. It’s hard for me to find time to update the blog these days. I did receive a bit from well-meaning people during December that could be construed as saying that it’s no big deal if people in the corporate world are out there saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” I want to address this here.

I’d have to agree that, if someone spends all his/her time writing protest letters about this, they really have gone too far. It’s kind of hard to tell someone to keep Christ in Christmas if we have done nothing but send angry letters. However, too many in the world have forgotten an essential truth of our salvation.

Take a look at this excerpt from Frank Sheed’s A Map of Life. I highly recommend this book. I got something more out of reading this article that I didn’t get on reading the book years ago.

Sheed’s writing here gives us an essential point of our faith. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Our starting point in faith isn’t the deeds we do, though we must do good deeds. We start with Jesus Christ himself. He is not some accessory to our faith, nor is he a matter of our own opinion. Without him, we have no salvation. This even applies to those who may be saved without explicit belief in him.

People who have decided to remove reference to Christ are, first and foremost, missing the very reason why the holiday exists, making celebration ludicrous. It is Jesus Christ himself that we must first and foremost proclaim. We demonstrate his love by our good deeds, but we must also remind people of his importance when he is left out of our celebration.

Sloppy Journalism on Embryonic Stem Cell Research

David Ancell — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:05:45 +0000

The New York Times reported that scientists have found out how to turn human skin cells into cells just like human embryonic stem cells. Of course, this will legitimately bypass the moral problem of embryonic stem calls. They managed to get a quote from Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk on this.

However, this line is a bit of a problem:

Until now, the only way to get such human universal cells was to pluck them from a human embryo several days after fertilization, destroying the embryo in the process.

Technically, this is correct, but it is still misleading. They leave no mention of adult stem cells that can be obtained and used to treat illnesses (and have been used that way) with no moral problems. The cells may not be as flexible as an embryonic cell, but they are easier to control. This leads me to my second point.

The article goes on to say that the method used to produce the cells could be a risk for them to become cancerous. This may be. However, the possibility of cells harvested from human embryos to become cancerous just because of the difficulty in controlling them was left out of the article.

I really wish someone who knew what they were talking about would write these stories on stem cell research. They could at least let people know that adult stem cells can and have been used. Without this, the public isn’t getting complete information.

I Won’t Go to New Jersey

David Ancell — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:04:44 +0000

I wasn’t planning on going to New Jersey anyway, but now that they’ve passed a law requiring pharmacists to dispense the morning-after pill, I’m really not going. Other sources state that a pharmacist can try to locate a nearby pharmacy that will dispense, but this doesn’t really help things. This state supposedly has a large Catholic population, but they apparently cannot or are not willing to stand against this.

The sick part of this is the senator who sponsored the bill saying that conscience “should not come into play when subjective beliefs conflict with objective medical decisions.” Uh, hello, just what kind of “objective medical decision” is this anyway? If someone told me to go kill someone on the street, I doubt I could tell the police that I couldn’t let my conscience get in the way of someone’s “objective decision.” There is simply no objective medicine involved.

I was scanning comments on Newsday (here and here), and I noticed a couple of interesting items. First, one writer seems to have forgotten what really causes pregnancy. She writes “If the condom fails to work and you become pregnant, just go to your pharmacist and all the other refusing pharmacists.” Did it ever occur to this person that one who does not want to get pregnant does not have to do that which causes pregnancy? It’s a choice, and any adult should know what they are doing. If the natural consequences occur, take the responsibility instead of expecting someone to give you a pill that may (but won’t necessarily) destroy the life you have helped create by your own choice.

Other comments that I have seen many times say such wonderful things about how people all have different opinions that are “equally valid.” I wonder if my opinion would be “equally valid” if I believed I should rob someone’s house, and I saw nothing wrong with it. If not, then how does he know? It isn’t “moralists” imposing “arbitrary values” on people that leads to “moral narcissism.” The narcissism in our society is caused by people who believe that they should be allowed to do whatever they want without considering the natural consequences.

Pedestrian Safety

David Ancell — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:42:10 +0000

I just got a letter in the mail from Honda congratulating me on my new car. In the letter, they were sure to mention crash safety, which is really on my mind given recent events. However, I got a kick out of this line in the letter:

And, did you know, you even have energy-absorbing structures in the hood and front fenders to help minimize injuries to pedestrians? That’s what we call “Safety for Everyone.”

So, if I run over someone, I guess their injuries will be minimized.

Surprised to be Alive

David Ancell — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:31:16 +0000

God kept me alive for some reason. Soon, maybe I’ll start to see what he has planned. Many of you who know me know what I am talking about.

I was driving on an interstate in the rain and fog when a car heading the opposite direction crossed the grass median. I had no way of stopping in time (though I tried), and I slammed into him. Behind me, an 18-wheeler tried to move to avoid the wreck, and he ran over my trunk with his back wheels or the back of his trailer. The authorities were right behind us immediately. My car is a total loss. I spent the night in the hospital, but I am still alive at least.

I can tell you that, if you are going to have a wreck, a Honda Accord is a good car to have a wreck in. It may not ever drive again, but it held up well enough to keep from crushing me. There were other factors. The 18-wheeler’s trailer was empty, or he wouldn’t have been able to turn so as not to crush me. If the authorities had not been right behind me, I probably would have been hit again. God kept me safe through this.

NOTE ADDED LATER: I forgot to mention that this was on Monday, October 22nd that this happened.

Pope Calls for Conscientious Objection by Pharmacists

David Ancell — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:21:24 +0000

I am grateful for Pope Benedict as it is. Now, I just saw that he called for conscientious objection by pharmacists. We should not collaborate in supplying products used for immoral intent, specifically abortion or euthanasia. It’s interesting that there isn’t a mention of contraception here. I have heard (and even read in an old moral theology text) that a pharmacist could sell contraception to those who request it to keep his job, but he could not counsel regarding its use.

I had always felt forgotten in all the talk on health care and morality. I didn’t even know that the International Federation of Catholic Pharmacists existed. Maybe this will be a start to getting some things out there about the rights and moral responsibilities of pharmacists.

How Not to Interview

David Ancell — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:11:56 +0000

There are all kinds of sites out there advising you as to what to do on an interview and what not to do. This one details the outrageous. I have to wonder how any of these people expected to land a job this way.