Ordination

I was ordained today.  The papers just make me legal again in the state of North Carolina to perform weddings but really has no effect on my ministry except to renew my efforts to serve God the best I can.  I really would like for you to visit One Way Baptist in Randleman, NC as I would love to met in person someone who reads my blogs. 

I once had someone I thought was my friend and we almost met for coffee but "Randolph is Talking" broke up so our chances of meeting lessened greatly.  I had another opportunity recently but things just didn't work out so I doubt we will ever meet. 

The only thing keeping us from meeting is you.  You know where I am and where I'll be so I'm not hiding. 

I've meet many people over the recent years that have attended services in the building we meet in but for some reason they wouldn't come in to see what is going on today.  It's just a building and has no effect of what we believe  nor does it have any relationship to what happened years ago.  Once inside one would have doubts that it is the same place as it has been remodeled.  We have indoor plumbing now and chairs with a 4" cushion instead of the short pews that were used for years. 

As much as I would like to meet you that isn't the reason I want you to come.  If you do come you will be pleased you did. 

free labor still has value.

I take care of the outside at the church, including buying the equipment and supplies.  In the past twelve months the value of my labor was around $2600.00 while I spent another $2000.00 out of pocket.  I still pay my tithes plus I contribute plenty in offerings too.  I live on social security while my wife final is receiving her disability check after going without any income since October of last year. 

I don't regret one cent of it. 

Why didn't I get hired?

I worked for Winn-Dixie but when I moved I sought a job with a competitor. I didn't get the job with Food Lion but did get hired by Lowes Foods.  After three years Lowes was closing the location I worked at so I applied for a job with Food Lion and BI-LO.  No interview with Food Lion but BI-LO hired me with a substantial pay increase.  After a few years and a promotion there I again had to move and again applied to Food Lion and to Wal-Mart (back when they had a functioning meat department) and was hired by Wal-Mart.  Lowes found out I was looking for a job and a supervisor came looking for me to rehire me.  I decided against taking the job at Wal-Mart but did accept the one offered to me by Harris-Teeter.   After I retired I did apply for a position part-time with the local Food Lion store as they were in need of part-time help.  Again, no interview. 
    Why is it that every store I applied to hired me immediately  and even rehired me but I could never garner any consideration from Food-Lion? 

 I had the same problem when I worked in the drug store business.  I started at SuperX Drugs as a receiving clerk, was promoted to merchandiser then to assistant store manager and then to store manager before the chain filed for bankruptcy.   My location closed in November and I secured a job with Rite-Aid but they wouldn't have an opening until January.  I worked for the two months for Eckerds in their photo finishing lab in Charlotte.  I liked the company so applied for their retail stores but wasn't hired.  I started as an assistant manager with Rite-Aid and was quickly promoted to manager and eventually to District Supervisor.   I left Rite-Aid after 5 years and applied at Eckerds and Revco.  Revco gave me a job but I couldn't even get an interview with Eckerds. 

It was after Revco went belly up that I switched occupations. 

It just seemed strange to me that certain companies refused to even interview me while every other company jumped at the chance to have me com aboard.  Anyone else every have that experience/ 

Public Blog

I am now taking some of my messages public, starting with the F.R.O.G. entry.  Any posts I think are really newsworthy I will send public.  I don't know if one will be able to know the difference but you need to be aware because any comments you make on the public ones will be read by many more people and not just by me and a handful of people. 

Internet shopping

I like shopping on the internet especially for items that I know I want.  It's easier to find a specific item and easy to comparison shop prices.  Often times one can get free or reduced shipping charges and so far one has been able to skip paying state taxes.  Where I find shopping via the internet to be frustrating in in looking for specialty items, particularly decorative items. 
  While shopping on the internet makes suppliers and manufacturers of those items easier to find there seems to be problems using the web pages and often suppliers won't list prices so one is forced to call and by the time they get your information they think they have a sale locked down.  Then it seems every company in the country that sells that product wants to send you an ad via e-mail touting their wares.  At least in brick and mortar stores one doesn't have that problem. 
  When companies do not list the prices of the products they sell it makes me think they are either overpriced or they are looking for people to fleece.  Maybe they sell to others cheaper than they will to you or they want to get to you in person or on the phone so they can sell you goods and or services you really don't want. 
   One thing I really hate is looking for an item and finding a good price and then discover that I have to buy a bunch of other stuff.  Like buying a set of tires for ones car.  You find the perfect set for, say, $400.00, and then you discover that rotating and balancing cost extra, plus there is an environmental fees and a fee for shop rags and extra for stems  plus taxes and the tires end up costing $477.00 plus tax. 
  One I really hate is the car dealer who has a car for sale for $9,990.00 when the cheapest price you have been able to find is $16000.00.  If you go there you will discover that the under 10 grand price includes the 1st time buyer discount, the student discount, the military service discount, the manufactures rebate, and any other incentive that is offered.  You also discover that you don't quality for the 1st time buyers discount, the student discount or the service discount or the cash up front discount or any other discount so your final price on the car is the same as the other dealers except at the competitors you could have negotiated down from their price while at the cut-rate dealership what price they quote is it. 
   If the internet company don't put prices on their products on their web pages then I'm not interested in doing business with them. 

The internet versus newspapers

I like newspapers especially for the local stuff but they are expensive, one has to recycle them, and what's inside is already old news.  Chances are good that any state, national, or world news one reads in the paper one has already seen on TV or viewed on the internet.  I have allowed my subscription to the paper to lapse.  I miss my local news but get more and better coverage of sports and other news on the internet.  However, there are some trends that I find disturbing and may make newspapers more desirable. 

A singer, a former Miss World, sang a song for the NFL.  She is a gorgeous woman  with a nice voice and her singing her song was shown in color and in video on the internet.  Newspapers are black and white and silent.  Score one for he internet. 

Then there is the story of infomercial products worth buying. Video not available.  How about the one of a great catch in a High School football game?  First you watch a 17 second commercial, then listen to a talking head for 22 seconds of a 28 second clip, see three seconds of the clip, followed by 3 more seconds of the talking head.  Want to see it again?  You have the watch the same commercial over gain. 

Your favorite star is featured in a story.  The headline promises a picture of the star in an unusual situation.  You click on the story only to find its a video of a picture and you have to watch a commercial first. 

Everyday it seems more and more stories on the web are done in video now and the videos are preceded by a commercial.  At least with a paper one can scan the page, pick out the story on wants to read, read it and then move on.  All the most important ads are placed together in the center of the paper and are called inserts. 

I was against cable TV when it first came out.  It was referred too as pay TV and its strongest selling point was that it was commercial free.  There are more commercials on pay TV than there ever was on regular television.  The internet at first seemed like the perfect place to get the news but more and more commercials are popping up in more and more stories done via video.  Even though no one proofreads the stories published on the internet anymore and the writing is done on a ninth grade level, I would much rather read a story than watch it.  That's why I never cared about TV news. 

There just isn't in depth coverage anymore: just little bits and pieces of news and almost always, it seems, preceded by a commercial.  It seems the more people complain the more determined the internet providers are to push these 17 second videos ads. 

I am beginning to really miss the quiet leisurely consumption of news from mu local paper. 

Guess what happened on 9-11

Yea, that right 9-11 as in September 11, 2013.  I viewed my first Christmas 2013 ad.  It was brought to us by K-mart. 

Watch video to see a picture

I know ad revenue is important but I believe things are going a little overboard.  An article claims their is a much see picture and when you click to see it you are shown a video with an ad leading off and probably a talking head  describing what you are about to see and then a split second view of the picture you were promised.  Yahoo is really bad about this.  It is becoming as irritating a bling expecting you to click on a link every third word. 

Preacher arrested,protest averted

Rev Jones was arrested while transporting 2, 998 Qurans soaked in kerosene which he intended to set ablaze.  He was charged with transporting fuel unsafely, an improperly registered trailer, and a misdemeanor weapons charge.  Jones is 62 and his associate pastor, 41, was also arrested. 

I understand his sentiments and I also understand his desire to protest the 9-1-1 attack ad I understand that the 2998 Qurans represented one for each death in the twin towers and I am fully aware he is within his constitutional  rights to protest and to burn the books.  There are far better ways  to protest 9-1-1.  To blame a culture and/or an entire religion for the acts of a few radicals is wrong.

Encouragement

My blog post F.R.O.G. had well over 300 hits and that is an encouragement to me.  My blog is really a personal journal of my thoughts and feelings and I share them in case someone somewhere finds them interesting or thought provoking. I've never encouragement my family and friends to read it.  In fact I prefer that they don't as it gives me more freedom to say what I want to say with less danger of hurting someone I care about.  A good example of this is a former co-worker who is still a friend today.  I would not want him to know one of the reasons I decided to retire was he was so sloppy at work that I was finding it difficult to work with him anymore.  My blog was a good way to vent my frustrations without offending anyone.

My blogs seldom get more than 4 to 12 hits and I really never expected anymore.  I did have one with over to hundred hits but that one had an odd title and was actually an interesting email that as making the rounds that I wanted to share.   What makes my F.R.O.G. post so unusual is it is one that is totally original from my own life and experiences.  I wish I knew why that one has been so popular,  If I knew then maybe I would be able to write more post that had some readership.   I think it may be a fluke but in any case I hope that someone reposts it somewhere and it gets lots of readership.  If one person decides to turn their life over to God because of that blog I would be most happy. 

I teach Sunday School and sometimes I get emotional when I talk about my savior.  Sometimes I wish I didn't because I think people become overly sympathetic towards me and miss the entire meaning of my lesson.  I never want it to be about me. 

The real reason you are unhappy at work

That is the title of an article on Yahoo and the reasons given indicate that if you have a problem at work the problem is you.  Really?  I have to admit that sometimes an employee develops a bad attitude and it is obvious to everyone that the only problem is them but when a large number of people have the same feelings about the job they are doing or the location where they perform their job maybe it is the boss, the company policy or just the nature of the job. 

Like the problem of being bored at work.  The solution given is to talk with your boss. 

When I was in the Navy stationed aboard an aircraft carrier  was assigned to a special job while I was awaiting clearance to do my regular duties.  My "assigned" job was titled compartment cleaner.  I was given a bucket, a capful of pine sol, a sponge, a steel wool pad, and a bottle of liquid wax.  My job was to go down a long hall way and scrape the wax off with my steel wool pad and then to rewax the floor.  Then I was to go to the bathroom and clean it.  When I finished that then I was to go back into the hall way and scrape off the wax with my steel wool pad and rewax.  The I was to go into the bathroom and clean it.  Then I was to go back to the hall way and scrape the wax with a steel wool pad.  Rinse and repeat all day everyday. 

Talk to my boss?  In the Navy you have to put things in the form of a request chit, or a least one did 40 years ago, so I did. I was called to the anchor room to face a panel of 5 officers and questioned for three hours about why I wasn't satisfied with my job. 

I remember the day I turned in my final notice at my regular job.  I was finishing up one assignment when I was given my new assignment.  I needed some material to finish my first job and when I went to get the stuff I needed my boss said to me "This is my bar and I decide when last call is". 
 What he was implying was that I had decided I was finished working for the day and he wanted me to know that that decision was his to make.  Well, he was wrong.  I could have been like most people and left the cleanup of the old job for the next person to do so I didn't have to push so hard to get the next job done but I'm not like that.  I want to leave things like I would want to find them. 

The next day I informed the company of my desire to retire. 

Sometimes you do work for jerks and sometimes it is the job.  For those of you in that situation my heart goes out to you. 

10 Things You Could Do To Burn More Calories

"10 Things You Could Do To Burn More Calories" is a title of an article on Yahoo.  Drink green tea and had hot peppers to food I do on a regular bases.  Green tea is about the only thing I drink other than water.  I don't get down to exercise nor do I play sports.  That is hard on us old folks.  For 5 months I walked 5 miles in an hour and ten minutes every morning while doing eight or the ten recommended things in this article.  I didn't lose a single pound.

I seem to be to the point where I have no metabolism left to speed up. 

F.R.O.G.

Forever Relying on God:

In the short time I've been going to One Way Baptist Church in Randleman, NC I've seen and been involved in some miraculous things.  I suppose the first was the limb stuck in a tree.  It was a huge limb and I had been trying to get it out of the tree for six months with no success.  I even got a former  football lineman (NFL quality player) and another big man to help me but even the three of us couldn't move it. I was afraid that when it did fall out of the tree someone would be hurt but I couldn't get it out. 

A week or so after the three of us tried to get it out and failed we were having a cookout for the community and I was really afraid of that limb.  I knew the only way it was coming down was for God to remove it.  The day before the cookout I walked over to the tree, asked God to remove it and the tree limb just fell out. 

Another miraculous thing I saw happened when I was clearing the back lot.  There was a tree stump that was so large it had eleven trunks, each at least 12 inches thick, growing from it.  I had no way to cut it up and I really needed it gone.  I almost had the entire lot cleared except for that huge stump.  One night I prayed and told God that He would have to remove the stump because I couldn't. 

The next morning a man came by and picked up all the free firewood I had cut and asked me if I had anything else.  "Just that big ole stump" I said, figuring he would just walk away after seeing the size of that thing.  "Just give me fifteen minutes" he replied and in a few minutes he had it cut up.  The next day he came back with his son and they carried the stump away. 

God healed my wife from her aneurysm which is one of the most documented cases of God's miraculous ways.  Today God helped me out again.  I have an old pickup truck and I promised my wife I would trade it for a trailer to pull the lawn mower with but I pretty much gave up on that idea.  Today I was working at the church when the preacher came by to meet some workmen putting cool seal on the roof.  I mentioned to the preacher I wanted to swap the truck for a trailer and he suggested I sell the truck and buy a trailer.  That isn't what I promised my wife so I vetoed the suggestion. 

The workers needed a caulking gun so I went back to the house to get one for them and when I returned the preacher told me one of the workers said he would build me a trailer like theirs in exchange for my truck.  "I need a trailer hitch put on my van.  Can you take care of that too?" 
He said he would. 

That is four things I needed but couldn't do or get and yet all were provided me at the time I needed them.  That's not counting the money He provided when I was faced with all of my wife's hospital bills nor the things that He has done for the church.  You can believe what you want to believe  but I know the truth. 

The atheists suing over "under God" in the pledge asked "can you imagine sending your child to school and he is faced with that ever day?"  Why yes I can.  What I can't imagine is why would one want to go to school without God or anywhere else for that matter. 

I don't want to give the impression I think God is just a supernatural being that is here just to help me out with problems.  I work hard for God doing whatever he needs me to do, going where he needs me to go, and I pray daily and read his word daily and I put my full faith and trust in him.  I love my God and cannot imagine life without him.  In fact there is no life without God. 

And that fact brings me to the greatest thing I have seen God do and that is change lives and change someone's destination.  If you don't believe in him you should and if you believe but don't live for him then your belief is for nothing  "for the devils also believe." 

If you want a place to go where the truth is preached then you are welcome at One Way Baptist Church in Randleman, NC.   

Syrian situation

John Kerry stated yesterday that the President could authorize attacks on Syria  regardless of how congress votes on Obama's  request to start launch a strike against Syria.  Personally, I think it is about time we let Russia or China or the Middle East handle this problem.  Wouldn't it be ironic for the Nobel Peace Prize winner to start another war we can't win .  I wonder how this one will become the fault of George W. Bush? 

A friend in need of help

I have a friend in need of some help.  My friend is 81 and he lives alone.  His wife, his life-long companion, died about ten years ago and my friend  is missing her badly.  I suppose as he gets less mobile he thinks about her more and more and he has become severely depressed. 

We think of depression as a deep state of sadness that makes us cry and unable to function but my friend is a man and men often handle problems differently.  Often a man with depression will be fidgety or hyper as it were and become angry, shutting people e cares about out of his life.  That is my friend now.  He ignores everyone, refuses to take phone calls and ignores us when we come to visit or pass on the street.  It's like we are strangers and he is afraid of us. 

I know the man has contemplated suicide and the last time I saw him he was trying to set it up so his life insurance would pay the funeral home directly.   He has one son and a grandson but I don't know them.  exactly what am I supposed to do? 

I'm confused part two

Yesterday afternoon my wife handled me a booklet.  It had come with her laptop and told about quick web and how to set up a network.  I plugged in my Ethernet cable, set up a brand new network, and gave the password to m wife for her computer and we were good to go.  it was very easy once I had the instructions.