Mom Shares Terrifying Story About Alleged Encounter With Human Traffickers at IKEA

  The woman explains that she was with her two toddlers and her baby and her Mom at an IKEA store when two men followed them around the store for over an hour before she and her Mom made a trip to the restroom and then contacted IKEA security.  She believes she was the target of human traffickers. 
   The incident probably happened but I seriously doubt it had anything to do with human traffickers.  They may have been interested in kidnapping the baby or looking for the children to distract her or her mother so they could slip[ off with a purse or two. 
  If, in fact, they were traffickers in the sex trade they would not last long.  First of all, traffickers don't kidnap mothers with their children present in public places.  They prefer women who are young, venerable, and unattached.  Most traffic victims go willingly because they have no other place to go or find themselves in a situation that it is impossible to get themselves out of. 
  No, I think most likely one of the guys saw something he liked and just wanted to sneak a peek.

Extra Income

I'm retired and receive enough money to replace what I had earned when I worked/  However my wife suffered a brain aneurysm 3 years back so her income has dropped significantly.  Our income is enough to sustain us  but doesn't leave much room for extras.  I had written a book a few years back but it has all but stopped producing income and the articles I had published were one time deals.  I did write some for the local paper but those were free-bee articles. 
  I thought about taking a job but I really hate the thought of punching a time clock again.  Writing won't do it for several reasons:  I don't have the great American novel inside me and the competition is stiff for paying positions  and those would probably go to the younger crowd who are better trained and more ambitious. 
   I suppose I could generate revenue by putting ads on my blog but then I would have to get wildly popular and what I am expert at  isn't in big demand.  
   I guess I'll just suck it up and deal with it. 

The case for Christ

I changed churches a month or so ago and I'm really glad I did.  I am now attending Academy Street Baptist (yes, the church on the hill near the SECU and Thomas Tire.  The pastor is young (just 29.  he is the first pastor I've ever had that uses expository style preaching and he does it really well.  The church was once community church but is now a Baptist church.  It has everything needed to be a first class facility except a baptistery.  The congregation is mall and not as faithful to the church as what I'm used to but they are good people and rather friendly. 
  The music is traditional which I really like I would like for the church to grow, become more faithful while retaining that small church friendliness.  It just seems harder and harder to get people interested in church.  More and more the church and Christians are mocked and Christ is rejected.  It seems the more we need Christ, the less people care. 
  Our country is in grave danger from our enemies yet we open our borders and welcome them in with open arms, we approve and even encourage the acceptance of decadent life styles, think that killing unborn children is our right and just an effective method of birth control, and that the one thing that America needs most is not only rejected but made fun of. 
  The older I get and the more I learn about Jesus the more I am convinced that the country needs to turn to Christ.  If we don't I don't believe this country will survive as it is today. 

spring/summer projects

 Last year I built a privacy fence but really didn't want to put much money into it.  The reason for the fence is that when we are sitting at the dinner table and the neighbors are on their back porch we are looking at each other.  It is as if we are staring at them.  I made the fence by putting 4 x 4 posts into the ground 8 ft apart and then putting sheets of plastic lattice between the posts.  The idea worked great but over time the posts became wobbly and the lattice was too flexible so I decided to fix the problem. 
  I dug new holes, dropped the posts in the hole and filled the holes with concrete.  Then I nailed strips of 1 x 4 between the posts and then attached the plastic lattice to the 1 x 4 strips.  That keeps the posts upright and the lattice from flapping in the breeze. 
   Another project I wanted to do was rebuild my patio.  I built it originally using the concrete landscaping squares one gets at the big box hardware stores.  Some were red and the others just regular concrete gray.  The finished product looked really nice but over the years the concrete grouting dried and cracked allowing grass and weeds to grow between the blocks.  I also didn't get all the blocks perfectly straight so the patio had low and high spots making the table and chairs a little wobbly.  Seems I have problems with wobbly., 
  It was time to redo the patio and I also needed to make it just a little larger.  so I added a foot to each end changing the patio from a 10 x 10 to an 11 x 11.  This time I framed the area using 1 x 4's and filling in the area with 1520 lbs of concrete (19 80 lb bags).  Not only is the patio level, it is large enough to accommodate my table and chairs and there is not way weeds are going to be growing on my patio. 
  I was rather surprised by the weeds because I did use a weed barrier under the original patio but I suppose it must have deteriorated. 
  The only other project I wanted to do was to make a new vegetable garden space.  The summers are too dry around here and with a yard of red clay not being the best medium for growing stuff in my gardens have had mixed reviews.  Last years I tried growing my stuff in containers which worked better than a regular garden but had it's drawbacks too.  This years I built a raised garden on one side of the house and filled it full of good quality garden soil.  The area is small, maybe 4 feet by 30 feet
but it is big enough for a dozen tomato plants and a few pepper plants.  The area gets morning sun and evening sun and is shady during the middle of the day plus it is close to a water source so hopefully it is the perfect tomato garden spot. 
  Except for planting, my summer projects are done.  I am contemplating coating my patio with a thin coat of cement to make it smother but for now I'm not convinced that is necessary.  Maybe I can find time to go fishing this summer.  I don't have all the church projects to do no nor nearly as many projects around the house.
  I did have a peach tree to die but it looks like I will actually have a peach crop this year.  Mu apple trees are in bloom for the first time ever so I'm looking forward to that.  H
hopefully my cherry trees with have cherries this year.  I covered my blueberry bush with a netting as last year the berries disappeared when they ripened and I didn't get any for myself.  I am also looking forward to some fresh grapes and picking blackberries for the freezer.
  Yes, I'm really looking forward to a relaxing summer.    

Another classmate gone

  I graduated from the largest class that ever graduated from Hickory High School (officially known as Claremont Central) and am at the age when classmates passing away isn't that uncommon.  It seems ever three months I get an update on a classmate dying.  The latest one was a friend of mine.  We were not the best of friends.  I really only had one really close friend but we lost touch after we went off to college and he transferred to another school and then joined the Navy.  It seems no one knows what ever happened to him. 
  I had a secret crush on one girl who eventually married the guy that was always my rival for my position on the baseball team.  He became a big star for Lenoir-Rhyne College baseball.  He died a few years back and his widow has Altzimers.  It seems the people whom I was closed to are either dead or have not been heard from in many years.  I think that is strange. 
  Still, most of them had successful lives and long marriages to their first spouses, which speaks volumes about the different values we had growing up that generations since then.  I am just about the oldest member of my graduating class as I was born at that awkward stage where I would have had to start school at 5 in order to be with my age group.  In my junior and senior years of high school that age difference played to my advantage but that is a totally different story. 
 Even though I have only run into a couple of my old classmates throughout the years as I have never been to a reunion, I still miss them when they are gone.  Rest in peace dear friends.

Random acts of kindness

  I had just finished a visit home after "a" school and was heading to Charlotte to catch an Eastern flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico  for my first duty station.  Mom was driving but two girls in a car in front of us keep waving at me.  Made me feel good but I know it was my dress blues that they found attractive.   While boarding the plane, the stewardess that checked my ticket said she would come sit with me once the plane took off  and then the stewardess standing at the entrance to the second class section told me to have a seat in first class. 
  Never in my life have I ever been treated so kind, before or afterwards.  I was really sad when Eastern Airlines went out of business but it was the kindness of those ladies who gave comfort to a sailor leaving America for the first time.  It's been fifty years now but I still feel good when I think of them.

Some disturbing facts

 Our pastor had to fly to his home state for his grandmothers funereal so I visited another church because mine didn't have services.  Some churches are full on Sunday mornings but not well attended on Wednesday nights.  And most churches  seem to be over populated with old people.  Now I like old people as I am one but when we die out who will be attending our churches? 
   Part of the problem is that churches have changed their services and programs to cater to the wants of the younger generations but it seems to have failed.  When I was young I grew up in a rural area.  The nearest town had a population of around 12,000 but the church I attended had an average attendance of over 1,000 on Sunday mornings.  The population of America has doubled and the population of the nearest town has tripled but the average attendance on Sunday morning at that very church is now around 350.  By population growth the attendance should be between 2 and 3 thousand. 
   The decline began when evolution and the women's movement began.  It seems the churches that continue to teach the fundamentals of the faith as has always been taught are aging out and the churches that that attracting young people and growing are preaching a more social gospel and appeal to the more basic wants of people. Instead of music that uplifts the name of God and praises him, more churches are playing music that entertains.  Churches are hiding their denominations by changing their names, and teach about God's love, grace and helpfulness and leave out the service, the sacrifice and the blood. 
 Christ is still relevant today.  I still believe there is a way to get the message out so it will be received but in the mean time we Christians cannot give up.   

Millennial Attitudes Toward Work That Might Surprise You

4 Millennial Attitudes Toward Work That Might Surprise You

Date: June 08, 2016

Related Content: Analysis Economy Employee Training Hiring Labor National

A new survey contradicts much of the narrative that surrounds the country’s largest labor force.

Millennials have taken over. Not in any apocalyptic sense—at least not yet—but the generation does make up the largest share of workers in the country.
This much-discussed generation—encompassing workers in their late teens to mid-30s—will make up over one-third of the labor force by 2020, according to a new report from ManpowerGroup. As working demographics change, small business owners need to adapt to the evolving pool of job candidates and employees.
THE NOT-SO-DISTANT FUTURE: WHO IS GENERATION Z? 
Below are some of the most surprising insights into how millennials view employment, job security, and what they value in the workplace.
1. Contrary to popular belief, young workers don’t like job-hopping.
Although Gallup published a poll in May calling millennials “the least engaged generation in the workplace,” ManpowerGroup’s findings tell a different story. Sixty-five percent of millennials intend to stay with their current company for at least a few years, and 39 percent of millennials define job security as “a secure job for the long-term,” according to the report. The most important factors that contribute to where they work are money, security, and benefits, according to the report.
2. Their entrepreneurial spirit is strong.
Many millennials entered the job market during a brutal recession, so it would make sense that they crave job security. But nearly one-third of survey respondents said they would consider working on a freelance or contract basis. The entrepreneurial spirit is also strong with this group, as 41 percent said they would consider self-employment as a future career path.
3. Millennials like feeling appreciated.
Don’t forget your thank-yous: Nearly half of millennials would consider leaving a job if they felt underappreciated. Authors of the report suggest that managers should incorporate more positive, face-to-face feedback to combat any perceived lack of gratitude.
4. Young employees are hungry for advancement.
Individuals just beginning their careers are hungry for opportunity, and millennials are more willing than previous generations to take initiative to learn new skills if it means advancing in their company, the report found. Forty-five percent of millennials believe that improving their skills and qualifications is necessary to get promoted.

   Benefits like health insurance were originally given as an incentive to attract workers during WWII as many men were in the military and few seasoned workers were available.  It seems that now incentives aren't enough.  People are starting jobs with the idea they are special and should be among the few that run the company.

  Once upon a time employers let you stay as long as you did your job but from this article it seems that the younger generation is saying "I'll stay as long as you appreciate me, give me benefits, and provide opportunities for me to get promoted"  Of course we all felt like that.  I liked to fell appreciated, liked my benefits, and I did receive promotions often in my working career.  I was promoted because of my work etic and my skills, not because I felt like I was special. 

   I have only taken two jobs in my life with the expectation of not staying long term     Both jobs were second jobs.  One was to earn a specific number of dollars and the other was to pay off a debt. 

I changed jobs most often due to my employer going out of business although I was fired once because I said I wanted to get more education . 

  I do believe that many employers could and should treat their employees better.  Many employees think that companies making a huge profit is wrong and that the profits, made off the backs of the working person, should be shared.  That seems right except that sometimes companies lose money.  I wonder if those same people are willing to share the loss? 

USA Gymnastic coach asked to resign

During the last Olympics I made the comment that the male coach would hug the gymnasts after their event and often the girls would look away and not act happy about the hug.  I stated then I just don't think the men should be hugging the girls.  If the coach can hug these young women in public and get away with it, then what is he getting away with out of the public eye? 
  It seems the situation has blown up now and the truth is coming out.   

Taught Sunday School

I taught the Sunday School lesson yesterday.  It was just a one time deal but I really enjoyed doing it. 
Another member is going to teach the second half of the lesson on the 19th.  We won't be having Sunday Scholl on the twelfth, I guess because it is friend's day. 

Friends Day

March 12, 2017 is Friends Day at Academy Street Baptist Church in Randleman, NC.  I would really like for you to come.  Sunday School is at 10, worship service is at 11 and we are having dinner afterwards.