Stories and other stuff

For some reason this morning, I've been thinking about expectations. I made someone very angry about ten days ago.  Hey, that's nothing new.  But as I replayed the events out over coffee this morning, I wondered to myself what she expected of me.  I thought about this for a while but instead of assigning blame, I wondered if there wasn't a different way I could have handled the situation.  For the life of me, I can't find one and my question to myself kind of morphed into one of wondering what she expected me to do. And, what did I expect her to do.  Or anyone else for that matter. I think I came to the realization that my expectations of others are too high.  I expect folks that have known me for years to understand how the drastic changes I've made in some areas of my life came about.  I expect those close to me to accept some rational, Biblical explanations for some of the things I do that quite honestly at best seem foolish and at worst seem ...

I often share things I hear from the radio with y'all.  Last week, I heard this program on the book of Ecclesiastes.  The book was written by King Solomon, who is considered in many circles (with the exception of Jesus) to be the wisest man who ever lived. The program was kind of comparing this time in Solomon's life to a mid-life crisis.  It was a good program, the pastor talked about how Solomon took the time to examine things in and around his life and I thought there was some good wisdom in the program.  If you have time, read the book and kind of keep that thought in mind.  It adds an interesting perspective on what you'll read. I do want to share with you the end of the book from the New International Version translation.  From Ecclesasties vv 11-14(NIV) "The words of the wise are like goads, their collective sayings like firmly embedded nails--given by one Shepherd.  Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many book...

Today just kind of zoomed by.  I attempted to fix the air conditioner.  I changed the capacitor.  It worked. Once. Apparently there's more wrong with it than I'm capable of fixing.  Well, someone once told me that you can't beat a good man at his own trade.  Could be time for a service call.  I guess someone's gotta stimulate this here economy. I'm doing my part. We're having dessert tonight.  I bought a cake roll at the store.  When I got home I noticed that the name of the bakery is called "the Father's Table".  They donate 50% of their profits to charity.  Good for them! I'm thinking about fixing someone's little red wagon.  It's hot and I'm too lazy today to jump into the swimming pool.  Hot may finally just win out, though.  So might camping out under the stars.  That's if I can find the mosquito repellant. Maybe I'll wash my truck later.  It's overdue for a yearly coat of wax.   I'm thinking ab...

You know I love me some irony.  Here are a few of the ironic things I'm laughing about today. John Beck played college football for BYU.  Last night, he started a game for the Washington Redskins.  He has to wear a red helmet with a Native American logo on it.  Last week, he had to play against a team in blue & white uniforms (BYU colors).  This week, the Redskins lost the game.  Final score 34-31.  My die hard Utah fans will see the irony in this score. OK, there are a host of things I'm finding ironic in my life right now. But some of them will have to keep until the movie is over.  Here's the ironic thing about movies... no matter how many times you watch them, they always end the same way. Red shirt Friday today.  Remember those who serve by wearing red today (OK, kinda too late for today, but there's always next Friday!)

It's been a strange but good day.  I had to run to the Wal-mart this morning for some algaecide for the pool and had to get some bulbs for the Saturn before I got a tickie for no brake light.  Just a couple of errands on this Thursday morning. As I turned from 37th Street to Tyler (about a block from my house) I got behind a truck.  It wadn't from aroun' here and the license plate just made me smile.  Odd, seeing it today.  Just made me smile and press on with my day. At the Wal-mart, I waited patiently in line to pay for my purchase.  I never have cash, so I just took out my debit card.  Mine didn't work.  Everyone else's did.  I asked the cashier to hold my item and went over to the ATM, where the card worked fine. I went back to the same line, waited patiently for my turn again and watched as three people used their debit cards with no issues. Apparently I needed some cash today.

As I've mentioned before, my taste in music has changed and one of the many blessings in my life is that the Bible Broadcasting Network has a radio station in O-town.  (99.5 fm)  Along with the music, I find so many instructive and inspiring programs to listen to. They re-ran a little message yesterday that talked about these three things that God gives His children.  Forgiveness is for our past which helps us come to terms with the things we've done wrong in our lives.  He gives us His magnificent grace for the present, to help us stand rebuke when it's necessary, to persevere through trials, and to live a life filled with the joy of knowing Christ.  As Paul was told, God's grace is sufficient.  I can tell you that yes, in my life, it is. Glory is what we'll receive as followers of Christ.  That comes later, when our earthly walk is over and is something we have to look forward to. One other gift God gave us was His word.  There is great co...

How do people cook without gadgets?  I have tons of them and if I had more money than I could ever spend, I'd probably have many, many more.  Yesterday I used this little mechanical strainer we bought at a garbage sale and turned apples into apple butter.  First, though, you have to make applesauce and this thing worked great.  It's the first time I'd ever used it.  I have a mechanical apple peeler, too.  Had I not had this handy little device, I'd still be peeling apples. Today's gadget is a little rotisserie I picked up when I wasn't in Cyprus ten years ago.  It's a long story that some of my Guard buddies will remember, but that's another story for another day.  This little grill is cool,  It'll cook 8 kebabs or I could do a couple of chickens at once.  It has a tray for charcoal and then a rotisserie that turns with the aid of a motor that's run by a D cell battery.  I was smart and bought an extra motor, too.  The thing ...

I went grocery shopping today and I came home sick to my stomach.  I remember just a couple of years ago when a full grocery cart would cost just a little over $200 and last for the better part of three weeks.  I went to the store today and blew $180 and didn't buy hardly anything.  I bought cheap meats, some chicken wings, some cleaning supplies, etc... and that was at the Commissary.  I stopped at Maceys, and bought a gallon of milk, two pounds of butter, a package of short ribs, two bags of french fries, a dozen and a half eggs, a very cheap cut of beef for some beans I'm making this afternoon, a cheap polska keilbasa, again for the beans, and ten pounds of sugar. That came to thirty-two dollars just by itself. When I got home from the Commissary I separated things into two piles:  Things I needed and things I could have lived without.  The could have lived without pile came to just under $26. I don't see how folks are making it. Anyway, that's not...

I like this little saying. It seems like it's appropriate every now and again.  Some people attribute getting lucky to fate or just plain dumb luck, but in my case I like to use little things that happen to point out that God does work in my life.  When He does, and He still does, believe me, I like to share so that you may also know that God is and that He still cares for us. Here's my little random for the day.  When I felt better on Monday morning, I cleaned out my garage.  I have some things to get rid of.  Just junk, mostly.  One thing I'm taking to the church for the rummage sale they're having the weekend after Labor Day (shameless plug!).  But there are a few things that won't fit into the garbage can.  I was going to take it to the transfer station on Friday.  That costs money, though.  What doesn't, though is the big green dumpster we can get for neighborhood cleanup.  My neighbors did just that and the dumpster will be t...

If it started out as a headache that an 800 mg Ibuprofen couldn't put a dent in, then progressed to sweating profusely, even in an air-conditioned room.  If it further progressed into an upset stomach and the joyous things that can go with it, then this is for you. Thanks for sharing.  I got it and so did June. I have some other people I'd like to thank today as well: If your cell number shows up on my caller ID as 261, then thank you ever so much for calling at 2:12 a.m. (or 0212 for my military friends), thank you ever so much for waking me up this morning. Also, if your number is 334-387xxx1, thank you, thank you, thank you for calling at 2:56 a.m and not leaving a message.  I'm not sure which has me more perplexed, who you are or why you'd be calling me at 3 a.m. I'm thinking if I don't stop sweating, I'm going to shower quickly then jump in the pool just to cool off!

I woke up with about 23 minutes to take a shower, get ready, and get to church at ten.  I made it. I'm so pleased I did.  We had a baptism this morning and it's always fun to be a part of that celebration; to see someone make that commitment to follow Christ.  This last year's experiences helped me to understand a lot of what's involved with not just saying that, but doing that.  It would not be right not to take some time and space on the blog today to praise Jesus for transforming my life!  And to give glory and honor to our Heavenly Father who gave grace to a wretch like me! I worked hard yesterday and have the blisters on my hands to show for it.  Today though, is a day for doing nothing but enjoying the results of a hard day's work yesterday.  There are things that could be done but nothing that needs to be done right now, save for what I've done already today. So the plan for the rest of the day is, well, REST. I'm going to throw some co...

Well, I decided to tackle the back 40 today.  I've not been back there in about a month.  The weeds aren't too tall because I don't water them.  Some were tall and I have some more work to do but not today.  My neighbors are having a wedding in their back yard this evening so I decided to get the thing cleared up so they don't have to look over their fence at a mess. I fixed up the little area under the apple trees where my hammock is.  It's all trimmed up and mowed again. I usually do this every two weeks, but today I moved the tractor and the dead tiller to the far corner of the yard.  That way they're out of sight.  The weeds are trimmed down to about 5" tall now, and tomorrow, weather permitting, chemicals get sprayed.  I've been talking about doing this but seem to find some reason or other that it doesn't get done.  It's just time.  I've been doing some research on the matter and it looks like I'm going to need two sprays:  ...

I've shared this before and today it seems like a good day to share it again.  This from 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV) Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. This is one of my favorite scriptures because I think it's full of practical wisdom.  I worked quite a bit today.  I worked on the pool, cleaned carpets, got rid of some junk that I'd been hoarding (I do not any longer need three dozen black and brown tee shirts).  I'm minding my own business, cleaning my house which seems to get dusty no matter what I do or don't do, and living a very quiet life these days. There really is advice in the Bible for just about everything.  I'm telling you life is so much better when you're walking in step with God and having the goal of living life to be a shining example of the trans...

I hope that many of you had an opportunity to rearrange what's left of your 401(k)s into something other than the stock market after last Friday.  When I looked last, the Dow was down about 320 points. Sad, these changing times.  But I see something else going on here and it's a game as old as time.  It's what people like to do when they hear something they don't like.  Don't go after the message, go after the messenger. S&P is being raked over the coals because they made a choice to downgrade this country's credit rating.  Moody's didn't go that far, but placed us on credit watch "negative", which in their terms means that there's a likelihood they will downgrade our rating inside of two years.  The Chinese are calling and they're not happy. So, the politicians are, from what I've read, not attacking the problems that got us here.  They're attacking the messengers. It's not our fault that everything you say is t...

Usually my apricot tree has apricots the size of small peaches.  Not this year, though.  The fruits are very small and mine aren't the only ones.  Apparently, my tree was not the only one with fruit and the produce stand I stopped at yesterday in Brigham City had apricots the size of mine for sale. Mine aren't quite ripe yet.  I sampled a couple of them.  Several have brown spots on them, too.  Mostly, the low-hanging fruits, but they're there nonetheless. I still have quarts and quarts of apricots from last year, so the question remains as to what to do with this year's crop.  I have a feeling that jam is going to happen at Lark Circle in the next week or two.  We have plenty of jars and I'm willing to take a shot at making jam.  I might even try this:  Apricot syrup.  Maybe it's good on pancakes? Anyway, if you're in the neighborhood and you'd like to have some apricots to make your own jam or your own syrup, or just have a ...

I'd written this rant earlier,  posted it, then deleted it because, quite honestly, I'm not smart enough or qualified enough to say what I'd said. I decided to go this way to drive home my point instead.  I have this red shirt with a cool C-130 logo on it that I can wear to work on "Red Shirt Fridays". I just looked at my red shirt.  The tag said it's made in El Salvador. I don't like New Gingrich and would never vote for him to be my president but he has a point about things not being made in America.  Someone from ABC News embarrassed him  last week by pointing out to him on camera that his own campaign shirts aren't made here.  Well, neither is most of what I'm wearing and what you're wearing probably isn't made here anymore either. Therein lies the problem. I'm going to link this post to my Facebook page because I want your input today.  Here's what I'd like you to do:  Look at the tag of the shirt you're weari...

I suppose it beats the alternative of fighting with others but I've been fighting with myself the last couple of days.  Mostly it's just fighting the urge to jump into the car and drive to this place or that.  I so miss the ocean and I could be in Oregon in about a half a day. Conversely, I really want to take a trip to Yellowstone, which is just five hours away by car.  Oregon isn't doable. Yellowstone certainly is.  In fact, it's two tanks of gas in the Saturn and the only thing stopping me, is, well, me. Surprisingly, I'm doing ok with the not smoking.  We had a little battle with that this morning, myself and I, and not buying a pack won out.  It's been almost a week since I've bought a pack.  I borrowed one from someone last night and it wasn't enjoyable.  I guess that's progress. I did text the kid and see if he wants to go camping.  If I don't hear from him in the next hour, then the fight with myself will pretty much be over. ...

WOW! Guys, as I write this, the dow is down 360 points and erased any gains for the year.  There goes the 401k.  Well, not mine, mine's invested in Government securities.  Apparently I'm OK because we're willing to borrow money to pay back the money we already borrowed and as long as there's money to do that, I'm gonna be fine. Stupid system we live under. None of it is real.  It's just monopoly money. A friend of mine at work asked me last night what I would do.  I told him I'd make new money.  A new dollar would only be worth a tenth of what today's dollar is.  If you owed $100,000 on a house, on new money day, you'd owe $10,000.  Your pay would go down accordingly, so would all prices, you get the idea. Is that a good solution?  No. That's why I'm not in charge. Guys, it's gonna get a lot worse.  Be thinking about this:  Folks you know are hurting.  Make sure they know they're there for you.  Give what you...

What a nice morning.  I woke up to rain (several times) but finally decided to get out of bed around seven.  The beagle had to go... apparently she couldn't wait. My coffee ritual was different this morning.  I know you're sick of hearing it, but I did it without a cigarette.  I guess the important thing is not giving up on trying to beat this thing.  But coffee was on the menu and I enjoyed just sitting out on my patio and looking at the view.  Everything in the yard is still really lush and green.  Really, we haven't watered all that much.  It just kind of stayed that way from the wet spring.  I got a lot accomplished yesterday and I really didn't mean to.  I enjoyed my restful day.  I went for a swim, took a nap in the hammock for a bit, and long about four in the afternoon, I just started kind of puttering around in the yard for a couple of hours. That's when the rain came.  I love days like today, where it's nice and c...