Stories and other stuff

I thought you might like to see some photos of the basement.  The before photos are photos of the flood.  I thought about sharing the photo of the toilet but I'm not going to.  I had to send it to the insurance company today.  I'll bet they're sorry they asked for it.  I was sorry I had to send it.  I didin't share it with you, though.  Thank me later. The demo photos are the pictures of how it sits today.  I'm waiting to hear back from the insurance company about how much more this is gonna cost them.  As I said, I had a really bad day yesterday.  Today was better because they're going to cover, under the protection I have for building law and ordinance coverage, framing and insulating the cement walls properly.  It's just another thing. This will give you some idea of what the basement looked like before:  This is a view of one of the partitions that used to separate the big room into three smaller rooms. The ...

If you were curious, or creative, you may have figured out what the worst thing that happened to me yesterday was. And I remembered to give thanks. I opened my Bible to the book of 1 Thessalonians and then the dogs started barking.  The mailman came and I want to share this with you. The content belongs entirely to BBN Radio and is lifted from this month's copy of their newsletter, The Voice.   I don't think they mind me sharing it. The headline says:   How do I give thanks in spite of my circumstances? 1.   Give thanks to God from our will and not our feelings.   2.   Remember to be obedient to His will "in all things give thanks for this is the will of God for you" (1 Thess 5:18) 3.  Be assured that "all things work together for good to them that are called..." (Romans 8:28) 4. Choose to see God's hand in the circumstances you are in and to focus on the promises of a mighty God. (Phil. 4-19) Like I said, I made some choices and thes...

It was a fight just to get there.  And the whole time I was there, something was nagging at me that I wasn't where I needed to be.  I would figure out what that was at first break tonight.  And to tell you the truth, I'm not so sure where I'm at is where I ought to be. I just know that I was all done with being at work tonight, and after the day I've had, I don't think anyone would blame me for just wanting to take the night off. At twelve-thirty, I received the long awaited check from the mortgage company to pay the contractor.  At twelve-thirty-two, I found out that when the folks that used to own my house, when they finished the basement, glued the furring strips that held the paneling up to the concrete foundation.  Where there were outlets or switches on these walls, they chipped out the foundation so the switch boxes would fit.  As the paneling came off, so did most of the furring strips. The insurance company will have to be involved again, becau...

It's very noisy around here today.  Noisy is a good thing!  That means that there are people in my basement making things happen.  The old is coming out! We haven't quite got to the picking things out stage, and I'm thinking that it's probably going to be, at least for me, one of those "Well, what do you suggest?" types of things. I don't really have anyone to help me pick stuff out, so I'm kinda hoping this guy has a feel for what's popular and nice in basements these days. The contractor is big on pictures and I actually have a camera phone these days, so maybe I'll take some myself of the progress.  I have some before pictures, but they're really pictures of the damage the eeewww did. and I don't want to share them.  As he shares the photos with me, I'll share them with you. My poor dogs aren't groovin' to the noise, though.  For the life of me, I don't understand why they're not as happy about it as I am. ...

I had to get a new phone the other day and am pretty happy with it so far. it has a full keyboard which iis handy for writing a blog and at the moment all there is for internets @ the ranch , which means no blog posts for a few days. this keyboard is too small for big posts. i'm learning to live withi my means. sometimes that means sacrificing this or that and doing without. surprisingly it's not bothering me as much as i thought it would. have a blessed week gang! i'll be back to normal(?) on friday.

I don't make idle threats.  I've learned that it serves no purpose so when I talked to my mortgage company about my insurance claim, I told them I'd done some research online and that maybe I wasn't the guy to be difficult with.  I told them I had a bad taste in my mouth over the loan modification process where it took them three months to tell me I didn't qualify.  In the mean time, I had to fax paperwork, refax paperwork and get around a system that would not allow me to return the phone calls of the person that called me.  This really happened to me:  Their phone system would transfer me to the person's extension every time I called and then hang up if that person didn't answer.  No chance to leave a voicemail, no chance to talk to someone else.  As soon as I entered my loan number into their automated system, this happened to me. So I read online that my mortgage company has a tendency to do the same thing with insurance claims.  I called th...

I didn't own the cheapest cell phone on the market.  Pretty close, though.  It had an itty-bitty screen, didn't do much, and was only so-so even as a phone.  My phone wouldn't talk to certain other phones, either.  I could text a friend of mine, but not call him.  It's the oddest thing. Anyway, a couple of days ago, I got an e-mail from my carrier informing me that starting next month, my bill was going up $10 a month to use this phone, but here's a $50 credit toward a new telephone.  So I purchased a new telephone.  it cost me $10 out of pocket and it does all kinds of things my old phone wouldn't. I have a keyboard.  My phone will check my e-mail.  It'll take movies.  My old phone didn't even have a camera on it.  My new phone will do lots of stuff my old phone wouldn't.  I think I can even put music on my phone if I put a memory card in it.  Not so sure how that's going to work out with my mac, though.  I have ...

One of my co-workers is a locked in Romney supporter and I love listening to him.  It's like I get the whole talking points for the GOP.  And he really believes this stuff.  I mean that.  Really. Me, I'm a skeptic.  So I try to think things through and here's what I think about Mr. Romeny's tax cut proposal.  20% across the board tax cuts.  That's a great catch phrase but here's some basic math.   I found the tax rates I'm using for this article from  Forbes  magazine.  I would have just copied them but you know the whole copyright thing.  If you're curious, please take a look because I'm going to use this chart to make a simple argument for the Affordable Care Act at the end of this. The top income tax rate is 35%, factoring in the bush tax cuts.  Under Mr. Romney, that rate lowers to 28%.  If you're like me, your income tax rate is someplace between 15-25%.  My rate is 25% because I have to file marr...

The more I do, it seems, the more there is to do. Here's a snippet of what my day has been like.  I went to bed sometime after two a.m.  I got out of bed about eight-thirty.  The dogs had to go!  I had things to do, so I got up. My to-do list today included getting the truck safety and emissions inspections done.  After that, there was a trip to the DMV.  While I was at the DMV, I put the canner on to boil.  My BBQ sauce didn't thicken like I wanted it to, so while I was getting ready to go get the truck done, I emptied the jars and boiled some more of the liquid off.  It's got a great texture now, but a little pulpy.  We went from two pints and seven half-pints to 6 half-pints. The recipe told me it made 3 pints, which when it thickened up like it should, is what I got. While things were boiling, I cleaned up part of the house and made my bed.  On my way to work, I have to stop and fax another document to the mortgage company so I...

To start off today, I'd like to share with you James 1:17 (ESV)  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. I had some pretty good gifts over the weekend.  I shared with you the story of how God met my needs on Saturday.  Later that day, I had the chance to be there for someone else which was pretty cool.  It was just a small thing, but it was cool to be a part of it.  That's how God works sometimes, though.  Sometimes He uses other people to answer your prayers.  Sometimes He uses you to meet someone else's need. Saturday night, well, technically it was after midnight, so Sunday morning, I heard a wonderful verse of scripture before I went to bed.  It was 1 Corinthians 13.  I'd first heard that verse read six years ago.  I never in my wildest dreams think it would become such an important part of my life. Sometimes, it's just ...

I have an incredible story to tell you.  I feel, though, that I must tell you that it's not a pity party story.  It's a story about trusting God. Some of y'all know that I'm on a very tight budget and understand why.  Because of that very tight budget, when things break or go wrong, it has a disastrous effect on the family budget.  This month would be that case in point.   We have plenty of food to eat because June was wise to stock up when things were cheap, but that stockpile is starting to dwindle.  So it goes with our bank accounts, too.  I got the bail notice for me from when Buck ran away last time.  $135.00 for the wondermutt's ride from Weber State to home again.  Ouch.  And then, when money runs out, borrowing more is just not a possibility, so when it's gone, it's gone. I got to work on Friday because I bought an extra gallon of gas when I bought gas for the mower and tractor.  The dogs were out of food, but Ju...

I thought this pretty much sums up where I'm at.  I know some of what I'm holding out for doesn't make sense, but I have enough faith that I know I'm following God and that it makes sense to Him.  It's like I've said, if I'm not following where I'm being led, surely the good Lord of Creation would show me a different path. I have faith that whatever outcome, it'll be to my good and His glory, the latter being much much more important than the former.  It's right and good to praise the Lord and on this glorious fall day, I do! I'm thankful for the blessings He's given me.  God is GOOD!

1 Peter 1:6-9 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD! 1 PETER 2:19-25 19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an ...

I know it did.  Like I've said before, when I don't write what's on my heart, the posts often do.  It's like things are contrived and I'm just trying to take my own attention off what I really wanted to share.  I still can't find the mixer meat grinder attachment, but writing a whole post about that was pointless. Here's what's on my heart. Sometimes it's hard to follow where God is leading me.  If I didn't say that, I'd be a liar.  There are times I want to just be done with this whole mess and up until last Thursday, I'd spent the better part of a week trying to figure out just how to make that happen. What stopped me was that little video I mentioned.  I shared it on my Facebook page, so if we're friends there you can check it out for yourself.  The last line of that video really hit home.... Obey God and let Him worry about the consequences. Even that, reassuring as it is, isn't always the easiest thing to do.  It'...