As the summer games wind down, the United States may bring home the most medals since the epic 1984 Olympics in Los Angles. The US is projected to win 124 total medals but the race for gold is still a toss up between the US and China (as I write this on Friday evening). Here’s a recap of how the US has done over the last 40 years:
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The USA became the first country in modern Olympic history to reach the milestone of winning 3,000 medals on Tuesday. When the four swimmers shown above won silver, that put the total number of medals won at the 3,000 mark. At the Olympic Games in Paris the US has won 9 gold, 18 silver and 16 bronze medals; going into this week, accounting for all medals through the 2022 winter games, the US held 1,175 gold, 951 silver and 833 bronze. Considering all medals from all time gets kind of complicated as some nations have combined or separated over the years. The Soviet Union fell apart in the early 90’s while Germany was reunified. There is no other nation anywhere close to the US record but If you really want to get deep in the weeds there are multiple tables and explanations of how the data is represented on this page.
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That looks cooler than the Happy Monday truck. The driver probably has a real job though, we’re just a bunch of goof-offs and cut-ups over here.
This is Happy Monday #552.
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They don’t teach that in school – Every occupation will have things come up in the real world which the training program did not address. School teachers take courses in educational and developmental psychology but also know that bus monitor and lunchroom duty come with the territory. You went to school to learn the culinary arts but you may have to take a crash course in book keeping in order to pay your other employees. Just because you earned an MBA doesn’t mean you may never be called upon to unload pallets from a truck with a pallet jack. You may think that church pastors preach for an hour on Sunday morning then get paid to study the Bible 5 days a week. I hope no one thinks that but let’s be honest, some poor soul out there probably became a pastor thinking that was the job. Preaching sermons, leading Bible studies and counseling soon to be wed couples are what people see pastors doing. Sometimes, though, they are asked to break into parishioners homes (by the homeowner mind you) or take care of wildlife. Experience is the best teacher and I share some here.
Continue readingLet me start off by saying that I am thankful to have a group of pastor/preacher friends that met together on a regular basis. Such a group is the exception, not the norm, but there are benefits of gathering with like-minded individuals and sharing. Every Monday morning in our case, a group of 8 or 10 Baptist preachers, the vast majority of whom pastor small churches in rural northwest Georgia, meet to talk about things going on at church, share prayer requests and then hear a sermon. The speaker will be someone from our group or a guest we have brought in, sometimes a missionary or someone from the state office. After the meeting, which starts at 11:30 and lasts about an hour, most of us will go somewhere and eat together. We pitch in and buy the speaker’s lunch. Sometimes the conversation continues at lunch and sometimes it’s kind of loud and you can only speak to one or two people that are closest to you.
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It has not been a good year for Francis Scott Key. At top is the Key Bridge, part of which collapsed in March after being struck by a container ship. The harbor is open again but it will be a while before the bridge is repaired. Ingrid Andress was widely planned for what many have called the worst rendition of the Star Spangled Banner ever at Monday night’s Home Run Derby. Andress has confessed to being drunk during the performance and checked herself into rehab the next day. I expected her to double down and tell all of her critics where they could go but she has admitted to having a problem and is doing something about that instead. It is only right that we wish her well.
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Canadian eh? It’s not uncommon for Canadian coins to be mixed in with ours when giving or receiving change. Most people just ignore it, if they notice at all, and carry on business as usual. I’m sure it happens more in northern states that are near the Canadian border than it does in the Deep South. A couple of days ago I noticed one quarter and two nickels amongst my change. (Technically the Canadians do not have “quarters, dimes or nickels” those are American terms. But many Canadians use those terms, referring to American and Canadian coins, because of the contact they have with our culture.) Several years ago I found a Deutsche Mark coin. That was highly unlikely, and now they have switched to the Euro.
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The Master's Table 
