Road Rage

The dangers of driving the streets of Athens with your window down. Last night I was headed home after dropping off a pickup I borrowed to move some stuff, minding my own business, when a car passed and something hit the door next to my head, sending a flurry of sparks cascaded into my car. Dazed, I looked in the back seat to see little burning embers of a flicked cigarette burrowing their way into the fabric. I looked in the rear view to note the car that I was to presently overtake once I got mine turned around, when I smelled burning paper. The mother ember wanted to join me as a passenger, but the extra Sunday School papers I had sitting there stopped it from eating its way into my passenger seat. I found the Marlboro butt sans ash on the passenger floorboard (once I got stopped, of course). I didn't get a good look at the car since it was dark. As I held the butt, DNA testing of CSIs and the bounty hunting skills of Dog made its way into my consciousness. Sure, it was the Lord's Day, but forgiveness was pretty far from my mind at that point. Revenge was the main course. Fortunately, I have neither the necessary DNA testing equipment nor bounty hunting skills, so I (eventually) let it go. My anger didn't last too much longer than the short-lived but destructive embers.

What I Learned At Work 4

1. How to apply algebra. Last week I was suddenly transported back to the 8th grade. The problem: We had to mix two liquids together in order for the product to undergo a chemical reaction so that it would harden on the concrete once it was set. The liquids had to be in a certain proportion, 1:3, and we needed 24 ounces of it. How many ounces of the two liquids do we need?

For any of you algebra teachers out there, this would be a nice real-world word problem for your students!

2. How to drive a race car on the Daytona track and the Atlanta Motor Speedway track. We got to the job site today hoping that the rain would hold off, but on hearing whispers of flash flood warnings one county over we decided to put it off until tomorrow. So, being near the Mall of Georgia and there being race car simulation at the Mall, we decided to have a bit of fun. Steve (The Boss) has been there plenty of times and told me about it before, so he decided to give me a go at it. It's pretty cool. There are several race cars in their own booths, inside the car you've got a little screen as the rear view, and there's a big screen in front and on either side of you. The simulated tracks are exactly like the real ones. The car will tilt according to the grade of the track, will be harder to steer in the appropriate places, and will bump and skid when you get bumped by another car or when you slam into the wall (like I did once).

The Daytona track was pretty easy - pedal to the metal the whole way with no crazy stuff. We started in the first two positions, but once the announcer said Go! I was last place (out of 25) on Lap 1. By Lap 2 I managed to squeeze into 17th and by Lap 4 I was in 12th, which I held until the end. Steve crashed in that one but still managed to finish 7th.

The Atlanta track was a different story altogether. What a tough run! I was 9th (out of 20) for Lap 1 but was quickly overtaken and, after some bumps, scuffs against the wall, and spinning out in the grass before heading right for the wall, I finished dead last, white-knuckling it the whole way. Steve pulled out a 4th place finish for that one.

All in all, not a bad day at work.

Worship As Sacrifice

In the book of Hebrews, Christ is described as the priest that is greater than Aaron and as the perfect sacrifice. These references, as all of the other key references in the book, are of the Old Covenant sacrificial system. We no longer need a priest to make atonement for us, for Christ as sacrifice has accomplished that once and for all. He brings the cleansing of sin that the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant order could not bring. He has entered into the Holy of Holies such that no earthly priest need do it again - and there is no more need of earthly priests to make atonement for the people of God.

Applying this to worship, we can see how Christ's sacrifice enables us to come into God's presence, his sacrifice allows us to be righteous in God's eyes. Meyers in The Lord's Service takes the notion of sacrifice in a direction that I haven't seen, though it has been around at least since Calvin: we, too, are sacrifices. Being united to Christ in his offering of himself as sacrifice, we become a sacrifice to God and Christ as priest offers us up before God "as a pleasing aroma" in worship. Christ's dual work as sacrifice and priest does double duty for us in not only cleansing us from sin (which the animal sacrifices could never do) but in making us acceptable sacrifices before God.

One of the interesting things that Meyers does with this is to suggest a further way in which the Old Covenant sacrificial system is not completely abrogated but fulfilled. True, the animal sacrifices are no longer necessary in worshipping God, but sacrifice as such continues even in the New Covenant era. Not only was the shadow OC system to point us to the reality of Christ's perfect sacrifice as the Lamb of God, identifying Christ with the animals, but it also was to identify the people of God with the animal sacrifices. Even in the Old Testament, God was not pleased so much with the animal sacrifices that were brought but with the sacrificial attitude of the one offering them. Whenever the people of God faltered at this point, whenever they failed to make the connection, God pointed out the mistake. We (or I, at least) continue to miss the connection. We typically take Christ as fulfillment of the OC sacrificial system to the point of him as sacrificial Lamb, but we do not go further. Every Lord's Day we are offering ourselves up to God as an acceptable sacrifice through Christ both as the perfect and final sacrifice and as priest. By offering up our prayer and praise to God in worship, we are applying to ourselves the finished work of Christ.

Of Brideshead and Baby Flying Squirrels

Monday night our book club met to discuss Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. I didn't really care for the style of the novel - it was hard to read and invoked a great deal of provincial language and references. Waugh famously said in a letter that not six Americans would understand the novel, and I just about believe it. I imagine he said this because of its narrow scope of references (e.g., re: Oxford, English middle and upper class, etc.). The funny thing is that it was more well received in American than in the home-base England, which really surprised Waugh.

So, although I didn't (and still don't) care for the style, I came to appreciate the structure of the novel and how it contributed to what we took to be the major theme of the novel. We didn't agree about some aspects of the novel, particularly about the characters, but one thing I think we agreed on can be captured by a key phrase of the novel (both explained by a character and used as the title of Book II of the novel): a twitch upon the thread. The novel is in first person and the narrator, a Catholic, is recounting part of his life and the transitions he went through that brought him to where he is. Or rather, the point of the novel is that God had him on a thread all along, twitching it every now and then, never letting him get too far afield. As actor in the recounting, Ryder is an agnostic throughout much of the novel. Yet no matter how he fought against God and religion, no matter how many times he went on drunken binges in college, God had him on a string and little by little drew him to Himself, using his experiences with the family at Brideshead in order to do it. The novel is a picture of how God is willing and able to work in our experiences, no matter where we think they are going or where we want them to go, in order to accomplish His gracious purposes. As SC said, this is truly a comforting thought.

Ryder says that he reached late adolescence having skipped out on childhood in his own family. It is as if he has no substantial past or sense of place to give him insight into who he is or where his life should lead. He is a passive character, looking to others for direction. His father provides none, so he turns to fellow students, particularly to the peculiar and eccentric Sebastian. Ryder is taken in by the aesthetic and hedonistic lifestyle that Sebastian and others lead at Oxford. His description of Sebastian’s home, Brideshead, is one of a beautific vision. He is enthralled, even in spite of Sebastian’s attempts to put him in check. The narrator uses the imagery of walking through a low door in a wall and coming upon an enchanting and beautiful garden to describe his first experience of Brideshead. This experience is contrasted with the stifling descriptions of his own home and his father’s bad taste in clothes and collections. But the aesthetic vision fails him, and he describes a turning point in the novel as shutting that low door in the wall, the enchantment having been dispelled. What had once seemed to him a viable direction for his life turns into a dead end.

While the Flyte family at Brideshead at first seemed to become Ryder’s surrogate family, Sebastian distanced himself from it; it wasn’t his home but instead “where my family live.” Now Ryder seems to distance himself from the family as well, moving to Paris to become an art student. The “here” of Brideshead becomes a “there” and no longer holds him in thrall as it once did. Yet he is not completely shaken of the family. He ends up returning to Brideshead, though not in the same artistic spirit as he once did but still with the same agnosticism that contrasts with the family members’ varying degrees of Catholicism. A spiritual turning point for Ryder seems to occur at Brideshead, but not as a result of his discussions with the family members or his openness to religion or, I think, of genuinely seeking after God. Yet he is moved, a movement that at some point in time matures. We are not given a point in the novel where his faith is marked, but that’s probably not the point. It seems that the point is how events in a person’s life can work toward a divine goal when that goal isn’t even in his mind.

I was the last to walk out of the bar (yes, we met in a bar) onto the downtown sidewalk. As I passed through the door, suddenly - quite suddenly - some quick, small rodent-thing jumped on the front of my shirt. Needless to say, I froze in surprise, amazement, and disbelief. I looked down on my shirt to find a baby flying squirrel looking up at me with its abnormally and disproportionately large eyes. We stared at each other for a bit, all the while I'm hearing voices of people hanging out in front of the bar urging me not to swat it or squash it and that it was someone's pet. The little critter skitted up on my shoulder, down my back, on my bottom, and only the people watching know where else. I've seen some strange things in downtown Athens, but I've never been jumped - and jumped on - by a flying squirrel.

Spain...And The Confederacy?

I'm watching the Spain vs. Tunisia World Cup match the other day and Spain had just scored their third goal. The camera pans through the flag-waving Spanish crowd and what do I see? The dreaded Confederate battle flag. You know, the one that's basically been banned from view in the U.S. You know, the one that is a symbol of slavery. Well, not in Spain I'm guessing, unless that little flag-waving Spaniard has something else up his sleeve. I haven't found any corroboration of why a Spaniard would be waving a Confederate battle flag, but I heard from someone who heard from someone else that at least one province of Spain has adopted the battle flag to symbolize their desire to secede from Spain. An interesting, and I think correct, commentary on symbolism in American history from peoples that are outside of that historical stream.

Dreaming About Michigan

What an odd, odd dream. Somehow I was in Michigan. Somewhere in the dream, it was the first day of school - high school - and I was walking around barefoot. I had met and become instant friends with some of the other students, maybe that day or maybe the day before. I was following them to class when they pointed me to an open area with desks pointing toward a TV. It was some kind of orientation film about Michigan that I was supposed to watch, to get me acclimated to the state I suppose. I sat at a desk, remembered that I wasn't wearing shoes, and looked around at other students' feet. They weren't wearing shoes, either, so I relaxed. I wish I could remember what the film was about.

What I Learned At Work 3

All about "The Florida Skunk Ape": the bigfoot of the Everglades.

Official site of the Florida skunk ape. Well, actually, I found several official sites, which is more laughably incredible than the skunk ape itself. And get this - this year is the 4th Annual Skunk Ape Festival. Geez, they've done this three other years?? I mean, the Redneck Olympics in south Georgia is fun and all, but what the heck are people gonna do at a skunk ape festival? Becca, you'll be interested to know that they'll have drum circles at the festival. I think you should go. You'd have a great time.

An article about the skunk ape. Note that the skunk ape guy, David Shealy, is called a "researcher." Looks to me like he's a redneck in a cowboy hat who likes to traipse around the Everglades with his camouflaged buddies. But then again, what kind of credentials do you really need to be called a researcher by a "writer, editor and a researcher of paranormal phenomena"?

I would include more, but I've spent too much time on this as it is.

Tallulah Gorge

After hiking down Tallulah Gorge with Oren, Val, and Thomas a couple of weeks ago, I'm finally getting these pictures up on the blog.

Not sure what Oren is doing here - stretching before the big hike?



One of the overlooks looking over (of course) the Gorge.



Once we made it down the 1,200 or so steps to the Gorge, the gate from the steps opened to rocks, rocks, and more big rocks. It was great fun bouldering for the next hour or so!



Oren is so proud of his Spandex shorts.



This was waiting at the end of our bouldering - Tallulah Gorge's own sliding rock! It was the perfect end to the hike on such a hot day. Val and Oren are on the right at the top of the falls sporting their "V" and "O."



Thomas hanging out in the pool at the foot of the falls.

Cheap Movies

This week while meandering around Wal-Mart, I found some DVDs for cheap - between $4 and $7.50.

1. Gattaca - Not a fan of Ethan Hawke, but Jude Law carries him through the film.
2. Primal Fear - Although I'm not a big fan of Richard Gere (except in An Officer and a Gentleman), being teamed up with Edward Norton is a good move.
3. Rounders - The commentary with world champion poker players Chan, Ferguson, Hellmuth, and Moneymaker is interesting.
4. Dead Presidents - The most underrated movie I can think of. This is one of the few movies that absolutely bowled me over on the first viewing. Worth the price even if my tastes have changed since I last saw it (which was a long time ago).
5. Mother, Jugs & Speed - 1976 film with, get this, Bill Cosby, Harvey Keitel, and Raquel Welch. What a motley cast. Great title, good movie. The movie set off the Wal-Mart alarm, so a nice wrinkly lady who was probably seven days older than dirt had to write it down in the Wal-Mart Greeter Book. This I expected. What I didn't expect is for her to start a conversation about the movie. At least, at first that's what I thought she was talking about, but it quickly became clear that she was talking about something completely different. "Are they still making [mumbled word]?" Yes, I say uncertainly, thinking she's referring to the film. She points to Raquel Welch on the DVD cover and asks, "Is that the mother?" No, I say pointing to Bill Cosby, that's Mother; pointing to Raquel, I say, that's Jugs. "I didn't know whether they were still together. One of them was really sick." What is she talking about? Then it hit me: she's talking about the Judds. It's good we got that cleared up, 'cause I wasn't that comfortable talking about Jugs with Grandma Greeter.

What I Learned At Work 2

1. Use of the phrase "seven days older than dirt" to indicate an advanced age, as in "That woman looked seven days older than dirt."

2. Genuine cowhide leather work gloves, when sweated in, turn your fingers an orangish-yellow.

3. Given #2, you're better off with the cheap kind.

4. One (mythical) explanation for why the ocean is so salty. (I would qualify this by saying that it contains some rather randy humor, but that would just make most of you click on it anyway. Hey, wait, does that count as a qualification?) Here is a rebuttal to the explanation. (Scroll down to the "Selected questions from 2003." The question begins, "Is it true that the blue whale....") Mayhaps I could include this in my critical thinking class when we go over explanations... I'd probably get in trouble.

Dear Alisha, Thomas Tried To Kill Me Yesterday

My first bike ride with Thomas. Here's an equation for you:

90+F Heat + Physical Exertion - Enough Water To Drink = Bad News

We left the soon-to-be-my apartment and made our way leisurely for the Greenway. We made our way leisurely down the Greenway to Hwy 441, and made our way leisurely back. Somewhere in the midst of the leisurely riding we did some not-so-leisurely racing and riding a time or two. So far so good. A beautiful, even if hot and humid, day. I'd been sipping on my water bottle off and on. But apparently it wasn't enough. We were heading up the hill on College Ave and took a right across the railroad tracks heading toward Pulaski. By the time I got across the tracks, my body had had enough. I didn't get it. I mean, we'd biked a pretty fair bit, but it wasn't THAT bad. So, I stopped to take a breather and get some water when I started to get lightheaded. You know, like right before you're going to pass out. Hmm, not good. Thomas had circled back by then and we went to sit down. I drank some water. I started sweating profusely. I started getting lightheaded again, this time with a decidely tunnel vision feel to it. Hmm, not good. I laid down, I sat up, I sweated, I drank water, I got lightheaded, I laid down, I sat up, I sweated, etc. I don't know how long this went on - 15 or 20 minutes, probably. Eventually, I was feeling good enough to continue to the soon-to-be-my apartment to return Mitch's bike. What a weenie.

We're going again today. Yep, I'm hydrating myself as we speak. Some electrolytes will be joining the water in my bottle today, too.

Teach The Little Ones

I foolishly agreed to teach K-5th grade Sunday School this summer. Why I agreed to it, I have no idea. I plead temporary insanity, which during the next 8 weeks will likely become permanent. We've had a recent change in the Christian Education guard at church, and communication between the old and the new has been lacking. Tomorrow is the first class, I have no teacher's manual, I've got a packet of "activities" that go along with the teacher's manual that I don't have, as far as I know I have no helpers, and the indefinite number "20 or so" was knocked around as the class size. Um, right.

The good news is that we're talking about worshiping God and about the worship service - at least that's what I've been told. That won't be so bad, but to keep such a wide range of (physical and mental) ages occupied will be the real challenge. And with what to keep them occupied will be an even bigger challenge. Or maybe it's the other way round. I don't know. I'm lost. I'm done for. What did I get myself into?

Tattoo You

No, not the Stones album. I had another conversation about tattoos yesterday and was asked (once again) whether or not I'd ever get one. Not being absolutely certain that I'd NEVER get one, I'm reasonable certain that I wouldn't. And it is this lack of absolute certainty that plays a role in why I don't think I'll ever get one.

My gut reaction is to be wary of inking my body in a way that, for all practical purposes, is permanent. But that can't be the whole story, for we do things all the time to our bodies that will likely have negative permanent effects and we rarely think twice about it (although tattooing is sufficiently and relevantly unlike a bad diet or lack of exercise in a number of ways to make that argument by analogy really fly). Part of the story has got to involve the permanence issue, which I think ties into the importance issue. Whatever piece of artwork I get inked on my body has got to symbolize something of the utmost importance to me and also symbolize something that enjoys the same characteristic of permanence as the tattoo itself. That there is neither nor would ever be something important and permanent enough to warrant a tattoo used to be the end of the story for me. But surely there is something that has those characteristics or that would someday have them. For instance, the discussion yesterday included a line of reasoning that matched up the symbolism in the tattoo with the person's relationship with God. Surely that is something that I believe is of the utmost importance and is permanent.

Yet I still don't think I'd ever get one because I am often so fickle in my tastes. Whatever I thought was once cool or profound in its aesthetic and semiotic nature when I got it inked on my body I might very well think foolish or kitsch later. Although I am assured that the LORD will never forsake me, I am not assured of my own attitude towards whatever piece of artwork I might choose to signify that. The sign of baptism is good enough for me at this point.

But even so, one of the interesting things I thought of from yesterday's conversation was the potential evangelistic role that tattoos could play. You can't actually see that I've been baptized, that I've been marked and set apart by God, but you could see a tattoo that signified the same thing. You could ask me about the tattoo. It would afford an opportunity to speak plainly and unobtrusively of the justice and mercy of God--after all, YOU're the one who asked ME about it. Of course, the tattoo would need to be in a conspicuous place. If it were covered up, its principal role would be simply a personal reminder, a permanent memorial to self, but why would you need an expensive piece of body art to be reminded of that?

So, what are the roles of tattoos? What functions do they perform? To publicly disclose something about ourselves? To communicate ideas? It would seem that a visible (at least to someone at some time) symbol would have to presuppose some level of intention to communicate, of some intention to disclose.

Anyway, I've got to get something to eat. And to start my Tattoo Ministry to Athens.

Just thought you'd like to know...

In the main, I can't stand my handwriting. Sometimes I like it, but I think those times are when I'm trying to copy someone else's cool handwriting. Why can't I be content in the unique but scrawling stroke of my own pen?

Channel of the Beast

Well, maybe not, but anyway...

The soon-to-be-my-new-pad has cable TV. While taking a break from moving stuff into the apartment, against my better judgment (and better judgment in general) I watched a little bit of TBN. Pat Robertson and a couple of others of his ilk were in some kind of infomercial about why Christians should give money to this group in order to provide help to and care for Jews. Christians should certainly be interested in helping others, including Jews, but the basis on which Robertson et al. urged action was completely misguided and reflected a lack of biblical understanding. The reasoning: Since God says in the bible that those who bless Israel will themselves be blessed, and since giving money to help members of the Jewish race constitutes blessing them, if you give money to this group then you will thereby be blessed. What's the problem? It certainly doesn't lie in the action urged, but just because the conclusion is agreeable doesn't mean the argument is a good one. We should combat poor arguments no matter where they occur.

The missing link in this chain of reasoning is that the blessing of the nations no longer points to national Israel but to Christ. "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying 'All the nations shall be blessed in you'" (Galatians 3:8). The blessing that comes is justification by faith. Faith in who? Abraham? Israel? No, in Christ. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us ... in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14). The coming of Christ, the inauguration of a New Covenant, was significant. It showed that the covenant promises once given to national Israel are now ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Sure, the blessing comes through (and to) Abraham and his descendents, but, as Paul argues, the true descendents of Abraham are those who have the faith of Abraham and it is this faith that brings the blessing. The blessing has its basis in Christ, not in the Jewish race.

Day of the Beast

Tomorrow is 06-06-06. Let the games begin.

Those crazy Dutch

"We believe that the plans the enemy has for this date (June 6, 2006) will be destroyed through violent worship and praise. We are inviting the entire world to be part of this huge unity project"

Party in Hell / Hell, MI website

"Everyone who comes will get a letter of authenticity saying you've celebrated June 6, 2006, in Hell."

What A Jerk

After having dropped $200+ on contacts and new glasses lenses, I was walking out of the mall when I heard a "HEY!" behind me. Not seeing anyone else around where the hailing was directed, I turned around to find that some stranger was, indeed, talking to me. He wanted to know where I got my Kelly's Jamaican Food t-shirt. Not having asked why, he went on about how he's got this friend named Kelly whose significant other calls him a jerk all the time. I was a bit confused what this had to do with the shirt until I remembered that on the back the t-shirt reads "Get some at... KELLY'S JERK". I put in a parting plug for the fabulous fare at Kelly's and we parted ways. I wonder if Kelly would wear his shirt...

Doors for Walls

Last week while driving to a job in Elberton, me and Bossman Slavedriver passed by a big building - not sure what it was, maybe a place of business - made completely of old doors. It was sooo cool. I must needs a picture of yon architectural anomaly. I've already got a door coffee table and a door computer desk. Now all I need is a door house...

Lost: Books

Here are some of the books that either have appeared in the show or have potentially relevant references in the show.

Books Sawyer reads on the beach
Watership Down, Richard Adams (1972) [1x05]

• Haven't read the whole thing and didn't pay much attention to what I happened to read. The story involves a disease that threatens different warrens of rabbits and the different approaches to protecting themselves from it (run away, dig in and wait). Connections to the "disease" (which we haven't any proof of, except for Rousseau's whining) on the island?
  

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (1959) [1x18]
Bad Twin, Gary Troup (manuscript) [2x13]

• Almost done with this work of fake fiction. A detective is looking for the identical twin of a rich Widmore brat. Talked about it some in a previous blog.
• Part of "The Lost Experience" (all of this stuff involving the Hanso Foundation website and the websites and phone numbers on the Hanso Foundation commercials during the show) involves forming anagrams in order to get passwords. People have made much of the fact that an anagram for "Gary Troup" is "purgatory," suggesting a link to a popular interpretation that the show is taking place in a sort of purgatory. The writers/creators rejected this interpretation a while back.
  

Lancelot, Walker Percy (1977) [2x15]

• Great novel. It follows the main character's reflections on his quest to discover the nature of evil and to answer the question of whether sin exists. He wants to overcome the evil of his age and begin a new and better age. Themes (and confusions) of good and evil abound throughout the novel.
  

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, Judy Blume (1986) [2x16]

• This has got to be a joke.
  

Books on the shelves in the Swan hatch
Dirty Work, Stuart Woods (2002)
A Hooded Crow, Craig Thomas (1992)
High Hand, Gary Phillips (2000)
The Turn of the Screw, Henry James (1898)

• The Orientation film was kept behind this book. Something of a ghost story, but the interesting thing about the way James wrote it is the question of whether the ghosts that the main character sees are real or imaginary. Connections with the seemingly-real sightings of dead/imaginary people by the inhabitants of the island?
  

Rainbow Six, Tom Clancy (1998)
ECG Workout

• Weird. It's a book that trains you how to read and interpret electrocardiograms.
  

The Third Policeman, Flann O'Brien (1939/1967)

• Click on the link for an interesting history of this book. At the end of this strange book, it is revealed that the main character is actually dead and the book took place in a sort of hell. Gives further fodder to the purgatory conspiracists out there.
  

The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dotoevsky (1880)

• Read it, but won't spend time trying to tease out connections to the show. :)
  

Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens (1864)

Other references (relevant to the show)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum (1900)

• Henry Gale is Dorothy's uncle.
  
• The "wizard" got to Oz by getting lost and crashing there in a hot air balloon.
  
• Will a drawing back of the curtain reveal the actual (and not very interesting) machinations behind the strange things happening on the island?

Addendum: One of the more interesting things about the books on the hatch shelf is the year in which they were published. The record collection (or at least the records we've heard) is from the mid to late 70s, which (according to the creators of the show) is about the time the hatch was built/manned, but many of the books they show are much more recent - as recent as 2002 - and although some of the books' publish dates go way back, the editions on the shelves are pretty recent. Is this an oversight? Also, the washer/dryer set is presumably much more recent than the 70s!