Ready, set, shop! 10 tips you must follow

I have never ran up a credit card debt shopping for Christmas.  I keep a credit card for emergencies and for convenience. If I use my credit card for convenience, say like at the service station so I don't have to go inside twice to fill up, then I always pay my balance at the end of the month.  If it is an emergency, like car problems, then I might have to make a couple of payments to eliminate the balance but that has nothing to do with holiday shopping. 

My wife and I usually purchase our Christmas present early, like in April or May.  For 2012 we bought a love seat with motorized recliners and for 2013 we got a set of gas fire logs.  Both pieces were purchased in either April or May.   One year we got computers, another a big screen TV.  In neither case did we use credit.  We decide then save up and purchase what we want when we want it.  Lately, we don't even bother to put up a tree. 

Our kids live far away and we haven't seen each other in years so we just order something through the internet and it is delivered, card and all.  So convenient, quick, and easy and no debt, no crowds,and no pressure.  Of course our way of doing things don't work for everyone.  In that case you might read the above referenced article from yahoo.   

I need your expertise, suggestions, and or advise.

I sold my p/u because it was old and because it was getting harder for this aging soul to load the mower into the back of it. I thought about getting a trailer hitch put on my van and getting a trailer but the place I talked too wants $375.00 to install the hitch. I can get a descent price on a 5 x 8 trailer at Lowes, especially since I get a 10% discount but what really killed the deal for me was all the taxes and fees the DMV wants to charge. I only need to tow the land mower 1/4 mile to the church. I think spending a thousand dollars to mow the grass for the church is a little more than I want to spend. Anyone have any suggestions of how I can legally get the mower back and forth without investing a fortune in the process?

Budgeting

Not so many people make a budget.  I firmly believe in them and the times when I have been in charge of the family finances I have done really well operating on a budget.  My debts were minuscule, my savings were growing, and I had the money for extras.  It seems that when I didn't use a budget debts were large and growing and it appeared to me all I ever did was work and pay bills. 

I am going to be teaching budgeting during the Sunday School time starting this Sunday so if anyone is interested you are more than welcome to come join us a ten am at One Way Baptist in Randleman. 

Fiction or not?

Cosco displayed bibles in the fiction section of their stores.  I imagine most people in the world might consider bibles to be a work of fiction and certainly some of the newer interpretations that pick and choose which verses to include and how to translate them in order to manipulate the bible to a particular point of view might just be fiction but certainly there are enough people, my included, that believe the bible is the Word of God that it would be a foolish thing to maintain that the bible is fictional. 

I'm sure Cosco is sorry that received bad publicity over this but someone thought they were doing the proper thing in displaying the bible in the fiction section and it isn't a store level or even a mid-level employee who made that decision.  I have worked for some of the largest retailers in the USA and most product selection/placement/decisions are made by committee of fairly high level people.  A poor decision can make people upset, hurt business, and cost the company money not only in sales and profits but in placement money and good will. 

I am glad that Christians don't react like some people do over alleged offenses but Cosco should be embarrassed notheless. 

church news

Three Souls Won were at One Way Baptist last night.  One of the singers, Joel, was really touched to be at One Way.  It was at the alter in that church he was saved when he was fifteen.  I do believe that the church had a fabulous time. 

It seems our expansion plans will have to be put on hold for a while longer unless God wants to move things along.  I've seen God do some miraculous things in the last year so I know if he wants us to expand then we will do so. 

We still need a few trees cut so if anyone is will to cut some trees in exchange for the firewood let me know at dsprl2000@yahoo.com and we'll make arrangements. 

I still need to sell my p/u.  It's a 1994 Ford Ranger and it's parked at the church with all the info.  I purchased a van as it is easier for my wife and Mom to ride in than my car is and neither one can ride in my truck.  I really want a trailer as it would be easier to transport my mower to the church and back n trying to load it into the pickup.  Unfortunately, being retired, I can't afford to purchased a trailer. 

Now if there is someone willing to donate a trailer to the church I'll be glad to accept it. 

Disapperaring homepage

Yahoo is my homepage.  The homepage has 5 stories with illustrations of what the story is about.  There may be 35 stories up to 100 stories grouped in 5's.  There is an arrow to the right of the group of 5 and an arrow on the left.  If you want to go to the next group of 5 just click the right arrow and if you want to go back to the previous 5 just click the left arrow. 

About a month ago, on my desktop computer, when I clicked on one of the arrows the story description disappeared but the pictures or illustrations stayed on the first 5 so if I wanted to view on the the other stories I had to go to my laptop.  Well today the same thing happened on my laptop.  Any one have an explanation?   

Chicken Dinner

I volunteered to help with the chicken dinner.  I read somewhere in order to be successful one should always volunteer.  I drove to Thomasville and helped put together 62 chicken dinners which I loaded up in my van and delivered to the church for pickup.  The pickup time on the tickets said from 11 to 1 which is more than enough time and considering that after two hours one runs the risk of food poisoning. 

At one o'clock there were still 17 dinners left.  I called T-ville to let the pastor know what was going on and that the Evangelist and another preacher had not picked their dinners up.  At 1:05 according to my wife's phone she received a text that someone was on the way to pick up those dinners.  it was a few minutes later when he arrived, about 10 after.  I loaded him up while he picked out his sodas, we chatted a minute and then he was on his way. 

I then condensed the three coolers of drinks into two coolers and loaded then into one workers car before I realized one of the coolers belonged to another so I pulled it out of the truck, transferred the drinks and reloaded the car.  I then dumped the ice, packed the remaining dinners into bags and then said our goodbyes.  I can't tell you when I left the church but I arrived home at 1:32 and I live less than a two minute drive from the church. 

Well a woman called the pastors wife and complained that when she arrived at the church we were all gone.  She claimed she got to the church at 1:14.  The pastors wife called me to ask me about the incident.  It was two thirty when she called about the lady not getting her dinners. 

Now I don't know the time lag from when the lady was at the church, her calling the pastors wife and I receiving the phone call but I doubt seriously it was an hour and 16 minutes. But to me it doesn't really matter.  The ticket said she was to pick up the dinners from 11 -1.  If she couldn't be there before one she should have called and made other arrangements. 

Billy Graham turns 95

I liked hearing Billy Graham speak.  He had a mesmerizing way of speaking .  I was disappointed when I started reading his question an answer column because he doesn't use the old King James translation. 

I believe the downfall of the church in America began when someone gave into complaints by people that they could not understand the King James translation and came up with a more up to date version.  It wasn't just another translation but indeed another version of the bible.  Words have been changed, verses left out, meanings altered,  and a belief system diluted due to the different versions being printed. 

The problem wasn't with the King James bible but people's unwillingness to study it, to pray about it, and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said when he went away he would sent us a comforter  who would teach us his word. 

I just don't understand why people can't take Jesus at his word and do what God expects from us.  Instead of conforming to what God wants us to be we expect God to conform to what we believe he should be. 

I do want to wish Billy Graham a happy Birthday.  I know he won't wish me one in return but I'm going to enjoy mine no matter who doesn't care. 

back in the gym

Starting the last week of October I'm back walking at the gym.  It's a little tougher this time as I'm a year and a half older and 20 pounds heavier than I was before and I am recovering from a bout of Type 1 diabetes which saw me lose a lot of muscle mass.  Before I walked 5 miles in an hour and 15 minutes.  Now I'm walking 3 miles in an hour,  Today I tried pushing it hard and walked 1.5 miles in 23 minutes but I couldn't keep the pace up like I was once  able too.  Still, I did finish my walk logging in 3.3 miles. 

It is hard to keep up the pace when slower walkers come to the gym, especially when friends come together and they are as much interested in talking as they are in walking.  Once stride is broken it takes extra energy to regain it.  Slower walkers is one of the reasons I quit the gym to begin with.  Walking above 3 mph increases the benefit of walking almost to the level of jogging without the stress on the body running causes. 

Of course using some of the machines causes less bodily and joint stress than walking but the danger there is people want to hold onto the machines when they try to run or walk really fast and holding on negates much of the benefit of walking fast. 

my wife ordered me an MP3 player for my birthday so I hope that will help relieve some of the boredom of exercise. 
We'll see.

Hazing: acceptable ritual or outdated practice?

I have never been involved in hazing either as a victim or perpetrator.  There were a few time though it was a close call.  The first time was in college when our school was known as the braves.  The football players would roam from room to room seeking out freshmen to give "Mohawk's" too.  A Mohawk is a haircut where the two sides are shaved leaving only a streak of hair down the center of ones head from front to back.  Needless to say, I didn't want a Mohawk but neither did I want to tussle with a bunch of football players.   I don't remember how or why I didn't get one but I did manage to escape.  I suppose it is because I'm the type of person people ignore. 

I'm normally quiet and shy but not to the point of being obvious.  I'm not a looker but not ugly either.  I kind of blend in never disliked but not one that people are drawn to either.  Unless you physically see me I'm the one that no one remembers.  You forget I'm actually there. 

Sometimes that is a good thing.

The other incident occurred while I was aboard the USS Midway during the Vietnam War.  I was still technically a pollywog and I was quite content to stay that way.  While the fat guy sat in the middle of the flight day in his towel underwear with axle grease smeared all over his big belly, more seasoned travelers were seeking out pollywogs to initiate  by rubbing their faces in the greased belly.  I suppose by that time I may have escaped the ritual because I was a few years older than most of my peers and this was my last tour of duty and second in a war zone. People believed me when I said I had kissed King Neptune's navel many years before. 

I think hazing is okay if the hazed is a willing participate wanting to have some fun, be accepted, and have some stories to tell about his right of passage into some special bond with his predecessors.  But there should be no shame in wanting to retain ones dignity and beg off from being involved in the ritual.  People who think you are a baby or a whiner or a sissy or whatever silly moniker they can think of to shame you for not being made a fool of should not be allowed to participate in the ritual as a hazer. 

The NFL football player who left camp after his teammates got up and left the table in the dinning hall just as he sat down should not be condemned as a whiner or a baby or seek help with his sensitivity issues.  He should be commended  for exercising his right not to participate and also for calling to attention this practice that humiliates people against their will. I'm willing to bet that many of the guys that hurl taunts at this player for being so sensitive would probably get angry and want to hurt someone if the incident had happened to them.  maybe not, but I've seen it happen many times before. 

It's okay to have a little fun with the new guy but it is never okay to harm a person, either physically or emotionally.  yea, that's a period at the end of the sentence.  It needs no clarification or explanation.