Monday, April 30, 2018

My Advise To Younger People

   "The Chickens always come home to roast" the old saying goes.  "You are what you eat", states another.
  What do these old saying have to do we advise to young people?  I'm glad you asked.

   I've got common health problems:  high blood pressure, diabetes, and a few others, mostly caused by improper eating.  When I was young I worked hard so didn't think much of exercising and I had bad eating habits.  Often I'd have a light breakfast if I had breakfast at all and fast food for lunch.  I had a nice supper followed by desert.   After I received a promotion and began to travel  my eating habits got worse.  Often I didn't have time for breakfast and it was almost always a burger for lunch.  But once I got home, usually late in the day, I seemed so hungry I just couldn't seem to stop eating.

    I told myself that I was still young and once I got older I would develop better eating habits.  I did get older and I have adopted better eating habits but much to late.  I thought I was fine:  just a little overweight but once I got into a situation where I had steady regular hours then I could eat properly.  I was shocked when we had a health clinic at work and I discovered I was in sad shape.
  My advise:  develop good habits now and avoid the health pitfalls later.  They will come and then it's almost always to late.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

fishing trip

Left the house at 7 am for a leisure fishing trip with some friends at a private pond.  Al got a strike before his bait had a chance to get completely wet.  But things settled down as quickly as they began.  Mark caught one then Al caught a few more, including a nice size bass.  Even the preacher snagged a couple after the fish began to bite around 10 o'clock when the weather began to warm up.  As for me, I was having problems associated with my recent medical exam and had to excuse myself from the trip just as the fishing was getting really good.  
  Still, I enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine .  Looking forward to the next trip.

Cherry tree disappointment

In 2016 I ordered a cherry tree that was a universal pollinator and GUARENTEED to produce cherries the very first year.  What I received was a five foot stick.  It did grow some limbs the first year but the tree was only an offshoot of the original after the first year and last year that shoot grew to about three feet high.  This spring that shoot was just a dead stick with a few signs of life at the very bottom of the stick.  Today I declared the cherry tree officially dead.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Apple trees, cedar apple rust and life.

  We are studying fruit in Sunday School.  Fruit, of course, is the fruit of the Spirit.  The first lesson we talked about how to plant a tree to allow the tree to develop a healthy root system.  I have observed that some people seem to be doing things right but never mature as Christians.  it seems like the sins of this world have a hold on them and they just can't seem to let go.  The cedar apple rust life cycle reminds me of what many people go through.  They may be well grounded in the principals of their faith.  They study the bible, attend church, pray, and are involved   in church activities the way they should be but they lack the fruit that a mature Christian should produce.  The cycle of sin in their lives deforms them.  it takes outside intervention and a good treatment program to help these people survive and then thrive.
   So very often instead of offering struggling Christians a helping hand we criticize and belittle them or just ignore them and they eventually succumb to the disease and die off.  The bible says that unproductive trees should be dug around, dunged, and pruned to give them the opportunity to grow.  Scripture teaches us that we should love our brethren so we should be there to love and support them and to help them conquer their sin problem so that they may mature and bear good fruit.

cedar apple rust

   The galls on cedar/juniper trees opened today after the heavy rains continuing the cedar apple rust life.  Cedar apple rust follows a two year life cycle and will severely deformed apple trees and it's fruit.    The first years I had my apple trees they were heavily infected so I have been using a fruit tree spray with mixed success.  I recently discovered the most effective methods to eliminate the disease is to spray cedar trees from August 15th through October 15 every two weeks, and to remove any galls (dark brown hard balls) from cedar trees.  The best method is to remove any cedar trees within a 3 mile radius of the apple trees but that is impossible in most cases.  Spraying the apple trees every two weeks starting in spring when the apple trees come out of dormancy until after the galls break open will control the spread of the disease.
   I removed several galls from my cedar trees but I missed one small one.  As soon as the rain subsides I will spray my trees again and then one more application in two weeks.  I hope that I can minimize or prevent a re-infection this spring.  Last years the disease wasn't as bad as in previous years and the deformed trees are beginning to recover.  Most of them have apples this year and my healthier trees are loaded for the first time.  Maybe I'll have enough fruit so that the birds and squirrels won't eat all my fruit.

prostrate Biopsy

   Monday, April 23, 2018 at 2 pm I had an appointment for a prostrate biopsy.  It was 2:40 when I was called to go back.  First thing was a urine test then the nurse had me fill out a questionnaire and then described what I was going to go through. Before disrobing I was given a hinny shot of antibiotics.  The needle was long and the syringe was a big fat tube and it seemed like the nurse had to push forever to empty the contents into me.  There was just the initial  sting when the needle was first inserted but it wasn't all that unpleasant.
   Afterwards I disrobed and place a paper sheet over me the laid on my left side with my butt hanging slightly off the exam table.  I was administered a numbing gel which I have no idea what was numbed.  A scope was inserted in me and was twisted around in circles.  I saw the nurse hand the doctor this big plastic tube, bright green.  It reminded me of the color of  a cheap water pistol.  It seemed to me it was about eight inches long and about two inches in diameter.  It help a spring, a triggering mechanism, and a long needle.  When the trigger was pulled the needle sprang forward with a loud click.
  I believe the trigger was pulled about a dozen times, then I was told to lay on my back for about five minutes.  The entire procedure lasted about 10 minutes (counting from the time the doctor came into the room and I was allowed to leave.  It took a few minutes to check out and after I left it took another 35 minutes to drive home.  It was about four o'clock when I walked in the door.
 I was returning to normalcy by that time and I felt as if I had had a firecracker exploded in my butt and then my butthole set on fire for a couple of seconds.  standing up was unpleasant and sitting down was done with caution and discomfort, to put it mildly.  I had taken an extra soaker pad from the doctors office and stuffed in my underwear and I'm glad I did ; otherwise I might have ruined a pair of pants and my car seat.
   When I go to the bathroom my urine is initially pink and I was told that for ne next month or so my sperm will be pink.
  I was less sore on Tuesday and so far I fell normal today.  I just have to be careful not to strain myself or the bleeding could increase.  I kept one bit of information from the doctor and that is the medicine I'm taking for my AMD which is a  cancer drug that prevents blood from clotting so cancer cells can't multiple.  I don't have cancer but I do have AMD (adult related muscular degeneration)   or bleeding behind the eye.  That medication can affect my ability to stop bleeding from surgical procedures.


Tuesday, April 24, 2018

The Ugly Coded Critique of Chick-Fil-A's Christianity Stephen L. Carter 4

  A New Yorker wrote an article in response to Chick-fill A's building restaurants in New York as 'creepy Christianity"  Stephen L. Carter responded by claiming that to call Christianity creepy was in
de facto calling black women creepy.  He concluded that since black women are more likely to be Christian than any other segment of society that to insult Christianity is insulting them.  He explained that since 60% of blacks that are Christian are women then black women make up the largest segment of believers.
  That rezoning  reminds me of the test questions that goes like this:  If A is true and B is true then C has to be true,  To conclude that that formula is always true is not the result of good logic.  Mr. Carter made the following application:  If women are more likely to be Christian and black women make up a higher percentage of the black population that call themselves Christian then Christianity is a black women religion.. 
   Mr. Carter ignored the fact that blacks make of 15% of the population so if there is a population of 100 women then only 15 black women.  If 60%  are Christian than that means 9 out of 100 Christian women are black.  If only 20% of the remaining women called themselves Christian we still have the fact that 17 Christian women would not be black or almost twice as many non-black Christian women as white Christian women.
  I'm assuming Mr. Carter didn't do well on the math and logic parts of his college board or  IQ tests in general.
   But the biggest error I want to point out in Mr. Carter's article is that insulting Christianity is insulting Christ not his followers.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Media crucifying Shania Twain

   She was caught off guard on a question of American politics (she's Canadian).  I couldn't give an answer if asked about Canadian politics.  We have become a nation of overly tolerant and overly sensitive people.  When this country was ruled by white men our armies were made up of white men.      Yea, it was discriminatory not to let black people into the military and it sure is chauvinistic to exclude women from combat roles and lets not let the sexually confused people fight for their country.  How closed mined of the white ruling class to only allow their sons to fight the wars and die for our country.  Since being white, male, and Republican seems to be the lowest form of life in the United States of America in the 21st century many the population of this country that feels discriminated against should serve in the military and let the white boys stay home.  Give Miley Cyrus an M-16 and put her on the front lines in Iraq.  Why should it be that straight white men be the only ones allowed to die for our country.
  If there isn't enough to fill the ranks, then round up the gang members, drop them behind military lines and tell them whatever territory they capture is theirs and once they toppled the government they can make whatever laws they want to.  maybe while we are at it we can sent all the ones who think drugs should be legal to support the gang soldiers for three squares and all the pot they can smoke.
  I fought my war and I think it is about time all those who don't like my idea of what America should be to take their turn defending this country.  I was willing to die for them.  They should be willing to die for me.  

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Tennesse Statue and 14 baby boys

Odd headline I agree but the headline is composed of two stories in the news I found interesting.  Some in the state of Tennessee want to erect a statue in honor of all the children who lost their lives via abortion.  Sometimes life deals us cruel circumstances and we don't always get a do over.  In fact more often than not we have to play the cards we were dealt.
  Apparently a lot of women become pregnant who didn't want to be pregnant or who changed their minds after becoming pregnant.  Raising a child is a serious responsibility as well as an expensive one.  Few people today get pregnant by accident.  If a woman feels so strongly that "It's my body"
that they use that as an excuse for an abortion and rationalizes that her quality of life would suffer because she gives birth then perhaps she should have given more careful consideration to having sex,    I doubt that it's a secret as to where babies come from and as to how they are created.  There are so many birth control methods available to women and men, I have a hard time understanding this unwanted pregnancy thing.  I also have a hard time with believing it is a woman's right to kill her fetus but after the fetus is born she can be charged with murder if she kills it.  What's the difference?
Whether inside of her or outside of her it's the same being with the same responsibilities and expenses.  The father has no say so if the woman wants to kill her child while in the womb but can be held liable for care of the child after birth.  That's not exactly fair either.
  Oh, the other story?  A couple just gave birth to their 14th child, all of which are boys.  That brings up an interesting question.  How come we say that "they are pregnant" but only she gets to determine
what happens to the baby before birth?  Any way, at the end of the story the couple comments "It's about the baby."
   Yea, that's it.  It should be about the baby.  

Yard Sale

While our yard sale was a success and there is still money to be made from other sources, there was a lot of stuff left and the goal of $1500.00 wasn't meet.  We have as lot to donate to good will, some  furniture that needs   a little refinishing to make someone a really nice addition to their home, and hopefully a antique store will take some of the home décor items, especially the lead crystal items.
    We still have a dresser, a bunk bed set, several bed sets and an assortment of bedroom furniture
for sale.  If interested check out pictures at the church websites (Academy Street Baptist) or give our pastor a call.  

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Walmart steps up battle with Amazon

How you feel about Walmart is your business but I am personally not a fan.  I do like Amazon.com though.  Walmart says it allows customer to pickup and return items ordered on line at a store.  Big Whoop.  If I wanted to go to Walmart I wouldn't be shopping on line.  I live in  a small town so I either go to Walmart, go to a larger city or shop on line.
   I'm not going to order my toothpaste, mouthwash, or morning glory seeds on line so I will make that trip to Walmart for those kind of items.  For just about everything else, there is Amazon.  They drop things off at my house and if the item isn't what it should be then I ask for a return label print it off and ship the package back.  I don't have to make a special trip.  There are plenty of drop off points on my way to just about any where I'm going.  Walmart acts like they are doing me a favor by letting me pick an item up at their store but they are making me drive to a location to retrieve a package so they don't have to pay an outside carrier to deliver the package and as a way to get me to buy something else while I'm there.
  The place I would have to go to retrieve a package is conveniently located in the back of the store.  To return an item one has to get in a usually long line.  No thanks.  I go to the gym every other day and to the swimming pool on alternative days and there are drop off boxes near each location, each much closer to me than Walmart.
  There is one company that should have been Amazon and that is Sears.  It started off as a mail order company almost from the beginning.  It could have been an easy transition for them to switch from catalog sales to an e-commerce business but they had their head stuck up their own rear and missed a golden opportunity.  Walmart wants to dictate to us how we shop and to me have proven to be a greedy uncaring company.  They don't care about their employees or the communities in which they are located.  Walmart is going to have to change more than their website before they gain me as a customer.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

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Now Ministries

Faith in Action April 15. 2018

up coming yard sale.

Academy Street Baptist is having a yard sale next Saturday,  That's April 21, 2018 and it will happen between the hours of 7 am and 2 pm.  If you want it we probably have it.

New Doctor

  My eye care has been outsourced for the past 15 months is now being done in house.  The procedures followed were different and I received two shots instead on one but my eye has bothered me less than the other shots.  Only problem is my eye ball is blood red.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Where science, evolution and Scriptures agree.

Some people believe that science proves the scriptures to be untrue and that evolution and creation are opposed to each other but that isn't exactly so.
  Science and theory and scripture all agree that everything that was created was created in a brief period of time, that the earth was created first (for if plants and animals were created first, there would have been nothing for plants to grow in or animals to stand upon), and that man came last.  If man didn't come last then evolution would be devolution.  So science, theory, and scripture all agree as to the order of creation.  

Monday, April 09, 2018

Trumps cutting food stamp program

A savings of 130 billion dollars is expected over the next ten years and stricter guidelines of who is eligible to receive assistance is proposed.
  While working on my book I got to know the workings on the streets.  I also worked in a grocery store and dealt with the food stamp program from that angle too.  It really bothered me to see people come in buying jumbo shrimp and crab legs  and pay for them with food stamps.  It was also disheartening to see prostitutes paying for some one else's groceries with their food stamps in exchange for cash.  The customer gets $100.00 worth of groceries for $80.00 and the food stamp recipient gets cash to spend on drugs and or alcohol.  Before the EBT card one just traded stamps for drugs.  Going to the EBT cards didn't stop the fraud; it just made the crooks get a little more creative.
  Often the homeless mothers would have multiple children and would have several hundred dollars a week for food yet they didn't have custody of the children.  Legally, they were the primary care giver but often it was family members or close family friends who actually took care of the children but the irresponsible mothers collect the money.
  It might be a good idea if recipients were required to bring the children into the office and also to pass a drug test before being issued their money credits.  A large percentage couldn't do either I believe.
       

Friday, April 06, 2018

Observations from the news

  Even famous people have a hard time communicating in English.  I guess that should rather be especially famous people have a hard time communicating in English.  Who refers to their four year
by his first and last name four or five times in the same short paragraph?  It seems statements by sports stars and celebrities are full of grammatical errors and short, choppy incoherent thoughts.  Who would have thunk it?

  Our revival services are over at Academy Street Baptist and it remains to be seen if we are really revived or not.  We met our attendance goals and our spiritual goals.  Maybe we can still get our five converts if we are really more dedicated to service to our Lord and savior.

    It seems the news is full of violence this morning:  a pro fighter attacking a bus, a homeless man attacking a car with a four year old inside,  an explosive device in a Sam's club, a women shooter at "You Tube", a young man sentenced to 63 years in prison stemming from an incident of a robbery gone bad.  Maybe we should change our focus in reporting news.  Instead of saying "one killed in robbery" we should report 5 survived violent incident.  Anyway, the news is crazy and depressing this morning.

  Another interesting story is a lady is suing for the right to give "the finger" to the President of the United States.     I think it is a terrible idea.  Why do we act like spoiled brats when our candidate loses an election/  The members of the other party are not your enemy:  they just have a different idea of where we should be heading and how to get there.  We are not going to solve our problems by displaying a severed Presidents head or flipping the President the bird, or calling each other names.

  There are some hot button issues we are never going to compromise our views on but most of our differences can be settled by honest, open dialogue but we will never get to that point by calling each other names.

  A lesbian has sued her ex-wife for shared custody of their child.  First, the child isn't "theirs' because only one of them had been pregnant and the other one didn't have anything to do with the child's birth.  The father is a sperm donor.  I believe sperm donors should share in the cost of raising their children because they are the biological parent.

   On a more personal note, I had a craving for a bowl of ice cream and some pineapple.   I gave in to my cravings yesterday.  I'm paying for my indiscretion today by way of an extra high blood sugar reading.