So yesterday I got to shake the Greek Patriarch's hand and hear him speak on a number of topics. I even asked a few questions, though I forgot to call him "your Beatitude". He didn't seem to take offence though, and answered the questions fairly well.

The way he explained the differences between the Eastern and Western churches was very interesting. The obvious difference between the Orthodox church and the Catholics is the primacy of the Pope. Then between all the different churches come traditions (when Christmas and Easter are celebrated, etc.). The real difference between the Orthodox and the Western churches however, according to Patriarch Theophilus, is freedom. Hierarchy is very important to the Western churches, while in the Eastern churches every one is equal. The Eastern churches seem to believe in the primacy of man, that each person is holy unto themselves. People have free will and must choose to accept God on their own. Of course, I didn't ask the eternal question I don't understand: If man has free will, how can God have a plan? Though I figure the Greek Patriarch would be a very good person to explain this, the other people there might have been a bit embarrassed at my obvious lack of faith.

We decided to get the iMac fixed. It's going to cost about 700, but an equivalent monitor seems to cost about the same.

Bah! The salt and sand seem like nice things to have, and then you go and do something like try to clean your bike. I like having the sea right out side the door, but the way it was caked on to pretty much everything is disgusting. It took an hour per bike, and I didn't even take the chains off. I don't want to imagine what the bikes of people who actually ride on the beach must look like. I can see now why someone might buy that Park Tools chain cleaning machine. I might just pick one up for myself. Thick mud and sludge never messed my bike up as much as this damn sand.