The things they don't teach you in seminary

There's lots they don't teach you in seminary (at least when I went) but here is today's short list:

• going to small claims court. That's what it looks like I will be doing on Valentine's Day. The church has run a nursery school as an outreach program for 32 years. The finances of this school have gotten increasingly more complicated. As a result, for a variety of reasons, we have a bunch of outstanding accounts that totals a good chunk of money. So on the 14th, I'll get to go to small claims court to initiate one of these cases.

• bleeding furnace oil supply lines. I really need to know how to do that since the supply lines to both the parish house and church freeze up every year when we have a protracted spell of minus 5 weather, as we have for the past two weeks. We'll have more of the same next week. The oil coagulates and then I have to call the furnace repair people to have them come over and bleed the line so that the oil can run again. I am sure we will be doing more of the same drill next week but I will be reading GOEs so won't be around for the fun.

• repairing cracked water regulators and then regulating them. The rectory regulator has been replaced, thanks to the generosity of a parishioner who spent two hours here yesterday, but my shower this morning was pretty feeble compared to previously.

• thinking outside of the box (!). Large rubric that covers a lot, so I can't even begin to detail this one but it's a good thing to ponder as I enter my 14th year of priesthood.