Long day + $1 corkscrew = fun.

Just finished a 14 hour day and still running on adrenaline. On the way home, I figured a glass of wine would ease me into sleep better than a cool bottle of beer, so I stopped by Beverage City. Not a wine connoisseur by any means, I picked out a safe looking Barefoot Pinot Grigio. I hopped in my car, ready to finish the day, then hopped right back out. I have no corkscrew at home.

Now I have had terrible adventures with wines and corks. In one instance, a few friends and I ripped the cork so bad, we just gave up and pushed it in the bottle. In another, a guy was trying to teach me how to use a fancy corkscrew and I was embarrassed by my lack of strength, so I let him yoink the cork out. Oh! And let’s not forget when I watched a friend literally pop open a bottle of champagne as it burst in half.

The store attendee had nothing to offer me except for a cheap $1 plastic pocket corkscrew. I did not want to waste my time wandering in Wal-Mart for a fancy one, so I bought it and began hyping myself up to open up the bottle. I got home, checked my e-mail and junk, and even googled “cheap corkscrew” “wine bottle” to see what came up. People opening wine bottles the lame way, punching the cork into the bottle, and also some crazy innovative, yet time consuming ways.

Still high on adrenaline and eight hours away from another shift, I took the plastic corkscrew out and proceeded to screw it into the cork, no problem. But I knew the problem would be pulling the screw out and I was right. I rested and tried several times and the cork would not budge.

Then!

I pulled out an adjustable wrench that I bought for no particular reason one day and proceeded to tighten its grip on the corkscrew’s coil. Using the bottle as leverage, I was able to ease the cork out, then POP!

Thanks Stanley Tools and cheap plastic corkscrew! I will sleep easy tonight.

p.s. - It had gotten to the point that opening the bottle was not just so I could drink, but it was the principle of the thing. I would not rest until I got that bottle open. Fitting conclusion as it was the theme of my day. I’m hella stubborn.

Have you turned water into wine lately?

I’ve been desperately desiring the Truth lately, but I haven’t been feeling like a sponge. More like a wall in which everything I learn bounces off. All these hours in a car for work has spurred me to continue digging in and I’ve been listening to sermons again. The past two days, I’ve listened to Rob Bell and his sermon, Wine and Heaven.

Rob has been my wild card in the midst of all the podcasts I listen to — primarily Matt Chandler from Highland Village’s The Village Church and Mark Driscoll from Seattle’s Mars Hill Church (not to be confused with Bell’s Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan). There’s quite a few criticisms about him and how he tends to emphasize experience over Scriptures, but when I listen to him and read his books, his love for the Jewish culture and the Hebrew language makes it hard for me to believe all he says is junk. His teachings encourage me to learn more about culture during the times Scripture was written, to fully understand why the writers wrote the words they did.

Anyway, Wine and Heaven was a fairly long sermon for Bell and it was fairly scattered (although I was scattered making sure I didn’t get lost in Dallas during work). Towards the end, Bell hit a home run when it pointed out something in the Gospel of John… Read more »