Well, the erosion control conference in Bentonville is over. I delivered my paper today to rave reviews. Well, one rave review, which I heard about later from the guy’s girlfriend, both former employees of our firm. I gave my site visit talk yesterday, to rave reviews. Well, two or three people complimented me on it. That’s all behind me.

Now I just have the church parking lot rehab project to fill my time. I’ve made at least one trip a day to view the work (2.7 miles each way from my office), even with a full time, volunteer inspector to assist me. Still lots of things I need to make decisions on. And the work has really just begun. The next two days they will be putting a temporary gravel finish to the part they have repaired so that on Easter Sunday the lot will be reasonably serviceable.

Then there’s the parking situation. I decided to arrive at church an half hour early last Sunday, to make sure parking attendants were present and knowing what to do. Only one was there (we need five to do it right) and he really wasn’t able to figure it out. So I stayed out there all the first service and a short time into Life Group hour, working the lot mostly by myself. Tonight it turned out we had the same thing. Two guys had responded to the call for volunteers, but they just stood together at the drive we didn’t want people to come in and chatted, occasionally waving people down to the alley entrance, while I worked the whole parking lot alone.

And I don’t mind helping in this way. But couldn’t those guys understand that their ministry was to help people park their cars, given that the construction has caused us to use unfamiliar entrances and traffic patterns? We didn’t need two guys standing together. We needed them spread out, helping people. It seems no one knows how to serve, no one knows how to use their common sense.

Oh, well, I shouldn’t write when I’m frustrated, nor when I’m emotionally and physically tired. I think I’ll go upstairs and read. If I can concentrate. I guess I’ll get to Easter Sunday services an hour early, cause the two things I can be sure of is a) the volunteer attendants won’t get there early enough, and b) once they do show up they won’t have the common sense to spread out, work together, and minister to those who only want to park and enjoy Easter services.