My father belongs to a Presbyterian church, here in Canada (may be called something different in the US and elsewhere) and there are 3 levels of membership. Anyone can attend but to act on behalf of the church, you need to be "approved". I can't remember the name of all 3 levels but I know that the top is called Elder (top, excluding the Pastor). My parents were Anglican when they came over from the UK in 1957 but in the last few years, they haven't been happy with the Anglican church as a whole and also, were not happy with the Ministers in the local churches so they switched to Presbyterian.

Generally Presbyterians have officers: (Elders (who comprise the session: the teaching elder (pastor) is called by the congregation, the ruling elders are elected by the congregation), Deacons (who focus on service)), and members (confession of faith approved by the session, or children of adult members by baptism). Anybody else would be visitors.

But in that form of church government, only officers are elected; members are admitted by the session. I'm guessing CO Kid is in some kind of congregational or perhaps baptist church.

Ah, got it, thanks. I was interpreting it as you had to be voted in just to be a rank and file member; I'd forgotten that deacons, elders and such were elected. We had that in our church too when I was growing up. Anyway, good job on returning the wallet. I found one on my commute one morning, just a couple of blocks from a police station I pass on the way in. It was pretty much empty, but I dropped it off anyway.

Yes, you can. I've put 700c 20-23mm tubes into 700x28 tires with no problems.

Many small church's require this but it is largely symbolic. This church in question is a Christian church located near us.

All this formality just to attend a church, I wonder how one becomes a member to go to heaven? or are all accepted whom ever simply opens the door and believes?

I agree. Hard to believe. The odds of that happening are probably in the billions to one.

I was struck by lighting too! When I was 12 in Michigan.

I was almost struck by lightning, I felt the hair stand up on my arms while watching a thunderstorm so I ran into the garage when I heard this crack and lightning hit my driveway where I was standing maybe a foot more or less from the hit before I ran. By the way, never pitch a tent under a tree for shade.

Ever play the lotto?

Hmmm... Nothing terribly interesting just enough bolts that makes me scared to be on the road

I remember when a lady had her arm broken in a scuffle over one of the those the christmas they were insanely popular. There weren't enough to go around and there were fights over them at a number of stores.

I hardly stop for stuff on the side of the road anymore, but I did pick up a small crescent wrench and a small bungee recently, as well as a nice piece of wood for a small project (all separate rides). Odd, I don't think I've picked up anything in the last year or two, and then all the sudden three things in a month. Maybe it's the new area I live in/commute from/to.

I didn't want to add that something similar happened to me because it would seem harder to believe. It happened on the beach in Daytona back in the mid-80's when I was putting my Hobie Cat away. I just bailed on the boat with the mast up and ran to a nearby hotel. My right arm hit the aluminum cross bar and popped back off with a crack of static electricity (there was a big storm over head).

Occasionally, but my wife says I should more often. I have won a bit.

BTW - as to the PO's inquiry, I did find a very nice pair of Vice-Grip pliers last week at an intersection on my way home.

Not really a find and keep story, but I see plenty of road kill. Last week was a deer, right on the edge of the road. The next morning, it had somehow been moved to about 15 feet away from the road. And it was surrounded by buzzards. Yesterday afternoon there seemed to be nothing left but some bones.

I always hate to see a squashed turtle. I tell myself if I ever see one trying to cross that I'd stop and help him.

That opportunity presented itself this morning. He was about 2/3 of the way across. It wasn't a busy road, but his chances of successfully crossing - especially since he was just sitting there retracted into his shell - were not very good. I put him in the grass just off the road and went about my business.

(sorry for a semi-repeat post, but I don't think many folks read the "How was your commute today" thread)

I've heard (or probably read somewhere on the intertubes) that (at least for some kind of desert turtle) if you pick him up in the road, he panics and pees, and loses so much water he may end up dying of dehydration because he was helped.

Maybe he pees because he is so excited that he is flying. The other thing to watch out for is getting peed on by a turtle.

The one I rescued was placed in grass near a ditch with water from yesterday's rain, so he probably won't get dehydrated. Also I picked him up from the top of his shell, so no risk of getting peed on. He was about the size of a softball, well, half of a softball.

I use to live in the Mojave Desert of CA and I as well as numerous friends picked those Desert Tortoise up and moved them because they were attempting to cross a road or highway and a few moronic drivers would purposely aim for them and run them over, the Desert Tortoise conservation people even suggested that we move them to prevent death because they were endangered, but not to take them home, so we moved them in their direction of travel and I would carry them about a 10th of mile past the road. In the dozen or so times I did that NONE ever peed, all they would do is hiss, not saying they wouldn't I just never seen or heard of it happening, I think they probably realize they could die if they emptied their bladder. The conservation people were more concerned they get off the road due to imminent danger policy placed on them then they were about them emptying their bladder, of course we weren't suppose to pick one up if found in their natural habitat because there they weren't in any imminent danger...of course just like moronic car drivers there were moronic people walking in the desert who just had to pick one up for some odd reason. Most of the time the turtles were usually crossing a road to get to water anyways.

This turtle thing brings me to another turtle story here in Fort Wayne, I was riding my bike and saw a few stopped cars on the road to what first appeared to be an accident from far away, as I got closer people were outside their cars starring at the road which then I thought great someone hit another cyclist, but as I got closer I saw this good size snapping turtle just setting on the road. So like the Tortoise I was use to picking up I go to pick up this guy and WHOA look out here comes this head attached to a long neck, much longer than the Tortoise that almost got my hand! So we all sat around trying different ways to move him and nothing worked so I used my foot and flipped him over and over until he was off the road. This action did not hurt the turtle, in addition their not on the endangered species list either, but none of us in that stopped crowd wanted to see any car to hit it either. Once the turtle got to the side of the road it crawled off into the grassy area.

I help snakes off the road, so that I don't have to pedal past their squashed little bodies later. We have lots of rubber boas around here. They're pretty mellow. The western garter snakes act like, and probably wish that they were venomous.

Snapping turtles are one of my few fears. I do not think that I would approach one. They can also get rather big with no predators.

I've thought about helping snakes, but don't feel comfortable knowing what is dangerous and what is not. I usually only see black snakes, as in they are just plain black and not that large.

How to you help them off? Use a stick or pick them up Crocodile Hunter style?

They are tired of the trails in the Big Box Store.

Yup, and this one had a shell about a foot in diameter (using my shoe as a guide) and was more than capable of defending him/her self against the unexpecting dumb human like me!

Again this stuff goes back to my days in So Calif and riding the mountains, but rattlesnakes would come out and sun themselves on the sides of roads, going up the mountain wasn't an issue because you were going slow enough just to weave outside their area, but coming down doing 40+ mph was a different story and sometimes I would actually have to run them over. The first time I did that it spooked me but after that I realize I coming so fast that I don't think the snake at time to figure out what was happening. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't kill them because I don't weigh as much as a car, but I never went back to look either figuring I probably pissed them off a bit and they wouldn't be all that friendly.

I knew riders that came down those same roads and on a very rare occasion had a mountain lion chase them, that never happened to me but maybe some may have been watching me I just never knew it. Most mountain lion attacks have been against MTB riders riding off road, very few have ventured out into roads to do that. The only real advantage a road biker has over a mountain lion is the cat will only run for about a 10th of a mile but it's raging on at up to 50 mph, if going down a mountain you could at least come close to doing 50, going up a mountain could be a major problem. One cyclist in Bakersfield who came into close contact with one was going up a mountain road, dismounted his bike and placed his bike between the cat and himself using the bike as a shield holding it at arms length, the cat eventually gave up and walked off.

A cat like that would have spooked me far more than a snake or a snapping turtle!! Thankfully I never encountered one.

I bet you'd set an unbeatable time on Strava with a mountain lion in tow.

Yi-yi-yi-yi!

The most memorable thing I can think of finding was a porn DVD entitled "The Brig: Where a man can "hole up" for days".