This will not change anything but...........

  A story about the million women march denigrates into comments about how a man let his wife have knee pads and another claiming he gives his wife a day off each month.  People calling each other idiots and Republitards and Demorats and all kinds of disgusting names and terms.  Have you ever really listened to men discussing their favorite teams? 
  My team is going whoop on your team and your coach is a fool and your quarterback can't hit the broad side of a barn and a bunch of other useless, derogatory, and inflammatory statements that only cause hurt feelings and accomplishes nothing. 
  When I was in "A" school we were told if the commander asked us a question that we better be prepared to give reasons for our onions.  If the Captain wanted to know how we liked the cafeteria don't just say the food sucks but be prepared to tell him why it was bad and what could be done to improve it. 
  One man expressed his opinion and someone commented he was wearing his 'tinfoil hat" too high.  He never did express why he thought the guy was wrong or what he was wrong about and why he thought he was wrong.   One woman wrote in favor of the MWM and said it was for women's rights.  Which rights did she think she needed she didn't have?  Or was she fighting to keep a right that she thought was threatened. 
  I didn't learn a thing about what the purpose of the march was but I did learn that people had strong feelings about it but they could not or would not articulate their concerns. 

This is just wrong

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky woman was fired and interviewed by the Secret Service after she posted a tweet about assassinating President-elect Donald Trump, according to WAVE.
Heather Lowrey’s tweet read, “If someone was cruel enough to assassinate MLK, maybe someone will be kind enough to assassinate Trump. #bekind #trump #lovetrumpshate.”
The tweet has since been removed and her account deactivated.
After the tweet, several employees decided to fire her, including the Va Va Vixen’s burlesque group.
Their statement read:

Please, know that we, at Va Va Vixens, do not condone the behavior of Heather Lowrey. She was dismissed the moment we were informed of this incident. We have a zero tolerance policy for such. It’s no secret that we are in the midst of a divided nation. With so much hate and anger in the world, our hope is to be a sanctuary that welcomes all walks of life with open arms. We do not condone hate by any party and will not partake in it. We in no way support negative behavior or malicious intent from anyone.

American Income Life — Travis Moody Offices Kentucky-Indiana also posted a statement the incident on Facebook.

Heather Lowrey is no longer contracted with the Travis Moody Agency. The Travis Moody Agency, its agents and its staff do not share the same views, nor opinions as Heather Lowrey. We have a zero tolerance policy and would never condone this behavior.

  The first time I ever heard about something like this I was a Junior in college and a fellow student said that someone should shoot that man, referring to MLK.  I told the guy that nothing MLK had ever done warranted a death penalty.  We just can't go around shooting people we disagree with.  She should indeed be dismissed for such a tweet as this.  Advocating the violent out throw of the government   (Trump is the executive Branch) is a serious offense. 

Confrontation near parade route escalates, pepper spray used

Some people view themselves as liberal meaning that they ae tolerant of differing viewpoints and view solutions to problems with a wider field of solutions yet it seems some of them only tolerate ideas  that they agree with. 
  In reading comments on various topics it seems people on both sides of an issue resort to name calling and insults to make their point which is that the other side is wrong.   I can understand the viewpoint that what a man earns should be his to keep and just because you are in need should not give anyone the right to take from you and give to another.  Yet, there are those in need, some through unfortunate circumstances that really need a hand up.  Then there are those who have contributed for years but due to a medical condition are not capable of taking care of themselves. 
  The argumenr should not resort to name calling but to sit down and have a reasonable discussion to work out a solution. 

10 Betty White Moments That Prove She's a National Treasure

I like Betty White, or at least I liked some of her comedic work like what she did on the Mary Tyler Moore show and the Golden Girls.  Saw her in a movie once.  I had no idea she could be so foul mouthed. 
  I read the article with the title the same as the headline.  Didn't prove she was a national treasure to me.  All it showed was that she drank too much and was a smart aleck .  A couple of the lines were funny but most were just mean.   

160 million Americans can't afford to treat a broken arm

The headline is the title of an article outlining the results of at. study.  The conclusion is that unexpected financial events are harder on poor people than on people that are more financial secure. 
The average cost of fixing a broken arm was reported to be $1400.00. 
  I thought that was what Obamacare was supposed to take care of. 

real entertinment

Went to church last night.  Actually I went to another church but ended up going to my home church.  It was youth night/snack night.  We had a guest speaker , some singing then the guest preacher was introduced. 
  I believed he talked louder than anyone I've ever heard, sweated like a stuffed pig, was highly animated, singing arms and flailing about  like a prize fighter shadowing boxing.  I believe half the congregation found him entertaining but I found him a little frightening.   

Diasppointed

I wanted to visit another church tonight but apparently the church must have called off services.  it sure would have been nice if the church had posted that information but I guess they assumed that no one interested in coming except members.  I wonder who they put their faith in.

security system a bust

I purchased a DVR and two security cameras and wired everything up and I can see everything just fine on my monitor.   I just haven't been able to set up e-mail  notification nor have I succeeded in getting the video to my PC. 
  I just purchased a wireless camera for the front and so far I haven't been able to even get a signal to my DVR.  I am giving the manufacturer until 5 pm on Monday to help me get the problem resolved or I am sending the camera back. 

Racist or no

    Just read a story.  A women sees what she thinks is a man prying open a car window, getting into the car and driving off.  She follows, dialing 9-1-1 and reporting the man for stealing a car.  The police stop the car.  The man steps from the car, hands in the air and with a cell phone in one hand.  The police gives him an order which the man doesn't comply with so he is tackled, handcuffed and mirandized.  The man then informs the police he was fixing broken window trim on his own car.  Turns out he was telling the truth.
  Another incident.  A mans pulls away from a service station in the wee hours of the morning and drove about a block when a policeman pulls him over.  He places his hands on the steering column and waits for the policeman to approach.  When the police get to the car he lowers the window.  The cop asks him who the owner of the car is and he informs the policeman that he is.  When the policeman asks for ID, registration and proof of insurance, he hands the policeman his license and a folder containing the requested documents.  The policemen checks in the information, hands all the documents back to the driver, apologizing for punching in the last digit of his tag as an 8 instead of the "B: it really was.  With an 8 the tag comes back as stolen.  Have a good day and please accept my apology.   
   Guess which driver was black. 
  

Pursuing My Ministry

    My pastor removed me from my position as deacon telling me he believed I should be pursuing my ministry.  He was shocked when I resigned all my duties at the church and gave him my keys.  The only thing he was really concerned about was the changing of the message on the sign which I had done for several years.  I had given that duty to another member but he neither knew what to put on the sign he wasn't motivated to get it changed in a timely fashion.  I had just volunteered to take it back but if being a deacon took too much of my time so as to prevent me from pursuing my ministry then so did each and every duty. 
   The truth is that there are some things we disagreed on and neither of us was going to back down.  He has this humongous ego and he concerns himself right on every issue.  For example, I was teaching a lesson from Revelation where Jesus separates the sheep and the goats.  The sheep were Christians and the goats were lost.  The pastor said he disagreed, that no one would be saved during the tribulation period. 
   Again, teaching from Revelation I made the remark that the new earth and new heavens didn't mean new as in another of the same kind to take the place of but the old remade into something totally different.  but still like unto the first.  I used three baseballs as an illustration.  One ball was dirty and represented the present earth.  The second baseball was brand new but was exactly the same as the first.  To replace the old ball with the new ball was just replacing the dirty with the clean and was really not new but just the old cleaned up.  But neither is the earth and heavens to be replaced with something different, like replacing a baseball with a softball or tennis ball or golf ball or any other kind of ball.  No the new earth would be like the third baseball, brand new but while still a baseball like the old it was different: the same and different at the same time.  The third baseball was a promotional ball printed with the team logo and team colors.   He didn't like that. 
  I made the statement that in the Jewish bible, the phrase "spirit of God' was replaced by the word Wind.  I said I liked the term because it clearly illustrated the nature and character of the Spirit of God.  He didn't like that.
  He didn't like the fact that he couldn't answer my questions in Sunday School.  When we were in the "little church" there were several members who often stated that they loved my teaching.  I think that hurt his ego. 
  Be that as it may, I am venturing out to find opportunities to teach and preach where I am needed and appreciated.  I cannot serve my savior where I am oppressed and hindered.

Amazing barn finds

It seems that there is a story about amazing barn finds .every month.  One time it was a building full of "vets, another time a Camaro and now today a mustang.  I believe most of us would like to discover something old and valuable that would suddenly change our lives.  One also wishes to understand how someone could lock away an old car for so many years.  Well, I know one story.
    My uncle Frank was an illiterate man who was married to my Mom's sister.  She was a big fat woman but I loved her anyway.  Frank was tall and lanky and worked in cotton mills.  I'm not sure what he did but he wasn't ever anyone boss.  He was the sweetest old man and laughed at everything.  He called by older brother "doc" for his own reason.  He was 92 when he was diagnosed with cancer and his funereal was attended by his 5 older brothers and sisters.  Frank and his wife only had two kids, log ago deceased.
   The girl was the first to die.  She was a pretty thing but wild and an abuser of things best left alone.  She had been at home in the bathroom and on the phone with her mother.  She called as soon as she got home from her stay in the hospital.  Her death was ruled a suicide.
   The boy had been an alcoholic and every day he would find himself in more trouble than the day before.  One day he decided to change his life.  It was his birthday and Frank told him if he would clean up his act that Frank would buy him a new car.  That was the summer of 1954.  For one year the boy lived clean and sober, held a steady job and for the first time seemed to have direction and a little happiness.  I think the death of his twin daughter at the age of two may have been the motivating factor in him changing his life although it might have been his wife leaving him.  Anyway, it was his 25th birthday and he went over to "Pops" house for cake and ice cream and a day with his parents.  That was the day that Frank handed him the keys to a 1955 Chevy, red with white interior,  It was brad new and had only been driven the  two miles from the dealership to Pops house.  Pop backed the car into his garage and covered it up. 
   It due time the boy kissed his parents goodbye, got behind the wheel of his bright red car and drove down the driveway, stopping only long enough to be sure no traffic was coming before pulling out into the street.  Frank heard a horn blowing and thought maybe his son had forgotten something.  Frank walked the short distance to the car which was stopped next to his mailbox.  His son was dead, slumped over the steering wheel, his chest pressing the ring that blows the horn.  Dead of a heart attack. 
  The Price men were a stubborn lot, preferring to do things on their own.  Franks son was no different but if he had just gone to the doctor a time or two maybe the doctor could have warned him that the stress on the body from alcohol withdrawal could lead to a heart attack about a year recovery, he would still be alive to enjoy his new car.  As it was, Frank backed the shinny red car back into the garage and covered it up once again, not to be uncovered for the next 50 years.  When Frank died one of his nephews inherited the car.   

God does not exist sentiment alive and well

It is sad the number of people who claim that they do not believe God actually exists.  I'm afraid too many people have bought into the evolutionary theory.  The most that theory has been able to produce is adaptation which is a far cry from evolution.  The headlines of a recent article claimed that mankind was on the verge of the first evolution change in hundreds of years.  What the article claimed was an evolutionary change was the introduction of bionics to the body.  I'm sorry but providing an amputee with a bionic limb is not evolution. 
  The big bang theory actually began as a joke.  Scientist were talking and one of them made the comment, "Well I guess it was just a big bang" and everyone liked that so they ran with that and now our children are being taught the evolutionary theory.  Creation is now considered religion and isn't allowed to be taught children are growing up to believe that God is just dark age superstition, forgetting that evolution is just a theory, not fact. 
  According to theory , there was nothing .  Scientific law says that something cannot be created from nothing but that is about to be changed.  Two things, forces, powers, or whatever they be collided and everything in existence was instantly created and even more miraculous, this new creation was in perfect harmony and was able to not only exist but to evolve.  The theory doers not explain two things that didn't exist was able to collide. 
   Humans have been causing things to collide every since and all we have been able to produce was either a mess or an explosion and that explosion generally results in a mess.  I'm not sure how two things that didn't exist  was able to collide and create something of value.  Now if a single cell being had no enemies, was able to have sex with itself, and had the perfect environment to exist in, then why did it need to evolve?  Or was evolution the result of that entity pursuing a food source?  The ameba ate some algae and the algae got tired of being eaten to it changed itself into grass and got out of the water so the ameba changed itself into an animal and crawled out of the water to eat the grass so the grass decided to change itself into a tree so the creature decided to develop an enzyme that developed into a disease that caused the tree to fall and die so the animal could eat its leaves but decided one day to change itself into a monkey to it could climb the tree to eat the leaves,   Then one day the monkey decided it was tired of swinging in the trees so it got rid of its tail which it needed for balance, and its fur, which it need for protection from the elements, and climbed down from the tree, which it needed to be in for protection from predators (which wouldn't have been necessary if it had been satisfied as an ameba) in order to stand on two legs and a brain, which should have made life easier but only turned the monkey into the most dangerous animal in existence and will eventually destroy itself and everything around it and we called this evolution and a good thing and them remembered we had invented this thing called a period and could stop and take a breather from time to time. 
  Gosh, that makes perfect sense to me. 
   Now if you believe that two things that didn't exist collided with each other and that collision resulted in everything that is came into existence at the same time should not have a problem believing that the things that existed that couldn't have was God and that the things that were created that couldn't have been were created by this God who wanted the things created to be. 
  When one looks at creation from a realistic point of view, the existence of God makes a lot of sense.   And if God created everything then He has the right to make the rules. 

Big Egos

I know a man who's ego is so big that if isn't number one he won't let you play.

First snow day of 2017

    Todays snow has been the main topic of the news, FB posts, and conversations.  Every year we are told to stay home unless we absolutely need to get out.  What constitutes that absolute need varies from person to person.  To me, an absolute need who be a medical emergency or many the house on fire but to others it might be "I've got another hour to wait until something I want to watch comes on TV". 
   In my working days I always went to work.  Sometimes it was difficult and some time it was nearly impossible but I always got there.  I missed one day due to illness in all my years of working so I'm just like a postman in that old saying.  Snow brings back memories of some funny things that happened. 
  Once when I was a district manager for a chain of retail pharmacies I supervised a location in Elkin, NC.  I lived in Hickory and was greeted by six inches of snow when I left the house.  I'm very reluctant to close a pharmacy because people need their meds and some people lives could be endangered if they can't get them.  I know one will say "Well the people should have anticipated the snow and got their meds a day earlier".  But that isn't always the case.  Sometimes a script can't be refilled until a certain day, sometimes the refills expired and the patient is waiting on the doctor to authorized additional refills, sometimes a pharmacy will be out of a particular med and has to wait on a new order.  There are other reasons a patient can't get their meds a day early.
  I drove from Hickory to Elkin only to discovery the store closed.  B y the time I arrived there was close to nine inches down but the snow had quit falling.  I drove to the managers house and called them.  The manager said she was unable to get to the store.  I told her to just walk outside as I was parked in her driveway.  I know she was shocked. 
  But if I could drive from Hickory to Elkin in the snow in a Chevy Celebrity then she could have made it 1/2 mile to where she worked. 
  I wouldn't recommend people doing that unless they have to.  I certainly wouldn't do it now.  There will be plenty of people driving around that would be hard pressed to give a good explanation of why they are out.   So, if what you say "sounds stupid" when said out loud, the don't go.

Decision time

  After a thoughtful time of reflexing on my life, the situation at church, and my wants and needs I made my fateful decision.  I know the pastor was glad I decided to resign my teaching position as he has been trying to oust me for years but the congregation kept re-electing me.  But with a big shift in the makeup of the class, the pastor thought he had enough power to get me out.  At first he was going to have voting by secret ballot but was afraid he still might lose  so he just flat out said that Rick would teach half the time and I would teach the other half.  So much for free and fair elections. 
  The one thing I was not expecting was to be removed as deacon.  But the pastor had a good excuse for that one to:  he said it was his belief that a preacher ought not to be a deacon but to devote his  a member of the board of trustees, time to developing his ministry.  Using the same logic, I resigned from being the teacher, and my jobs as sign maker, videographer, printer of church bulletins, and my membership in the planning committee.  I turned in my keys so I will not be responsible for regulating the temperature in the buildings prior to service. 
   It wasn't just that the desirable jobs like deacon and teacher should be taken away and the jobs that no one wants or is capable of doing remain.  I told the pastor that if a preacher  couldn't be a deacon because it took time away from his ministry that it was also true that all the other things I did around the church also took time away from my ministry so they would have to go as well. 
  No wonder the man doesn't like me.  I beat him at his own game. 
  From time to time this man offends someone to the point that they leave the church.  There are just a few people from prior congregants that he has not offended.  In fact he upset two people last night.  He emphasized in his message last night that he considerers anyone who works on Sunday a backslidden Christian.  Not only that but he referred to a specific job: a janitor in a nursing home, as examples on people who should not work on Sundays.  While he was specifically targeting this one poor lady, he inadvertently hit another lady.  She had to work on Sunday a day during 2016 and 4 times in 2015.  She was upset too. 
  The pastor has the biggest ego of anyone I've ever meet and I've 70 years old and have encountered plenty of cocky people in my life.  He thinks he is an authority on everything.  If, in a lesson, a mention something he disagrees with, he will take time in his next sermon or two to belittle my point f view.  He has even quoted non existent scripture before.   I doubt that anyone could convince him the scripture doesn't exist because he would claim it existed in principle if not in fact, which it doesn't even do that. 
  I mentioned one time in a lesson that in Hebrew the word for "spirit of God" in the creation story
is wind.  I said I liked the concept as this wind is a capital W and describes a n entity that covers everything everywhere, has power to move and change things, is invisible, and works by design with intelligence.   "God is not the wind" he exclaimed in his next message.  Well, I liked the concept as it is easier to visualize the Holy Spirit that what one normally thinks of ghostly figures and his exclamations and declarations against the idea in no way changes the fact that in the original Hebrew text the word used to describe the spirit of God was Wind. 
  Sometimes he is just an idiot and he will sooner or later offend the newer people too. 

business meeting

  I have been moved to the inactive list as far as being a deacon and we are electing a co-teacher.  The preacher is walking a fine line to get me out of his way without encouraging me to leave the church.  He doesn't like my teaching and we disagree about several scriptures and he wants to be in total control of everything.  Just hope it doesn't come back to bite him.

Losing control

Blood sugar reading this morning was 177.  After months of steady decline I seem to be losing control.  I started out 7 months ago with a A1c of 8,4 and an average reading of 435.  After starting insulin there has been a steady decline in my weekly average reading.  My average for the entire 7 months was 133 with a 6,7 A1c.  The last month my average readings were in the 117-120 range.  Last week thing took a turn for the worst with an average reading of 147 and this week was bad with todays reading being 177. 
  I think my sinus problems and the medicine I've been taking may be causing me serious glucose problems.  At least I hope that is what is wrong.  Anyone experience this?

Evidence of Evolution

On todays MSN homepage was proof that evolution is a fact, not just a theory.  It seems some are touting mechanical devices implanted into humans as evidence we are on the verge of a new step in the evolution of humans.  Gosh, in that case cable TV evolved from antennae. 

Resolutions

     I never have been one to make resolutions, especially for the New Year,  Change is not something that occurs because you will it to be or because it is a certain date.  The last time I made a resolution I failed miserably,  nevertheless my failure did not prevent me from becoming accomplished in my ultimate goal.  Things just took a different twist than I thought it would.  I'm sure that I will eventually be able to do what I had once resolved to do but not because of the effort to do it but as a by-product of other efforts. 
  The gym's will be packed Monday as people begin a new weight loss regime.  Weight loss doesn't begin in the gym and people expecting to go to the gym for a few minutes for a half-hearted workout a couple times for a few weeks in January are soon disappointed when they don't lose weight or feel better. In fact, they probably go home sore, eat to comfort themselves, feel worse and weigh more, get depressed and give up.  No, weight loss begins at the table and has little to do with how much or how little one eats.  It has more to do with what one eats and drinks and how and when that food is consumed. 
  Going to the gym has more to do with shaping and strengthening our bodies  and actually very little to do with weight loss. 
  As far as quitting smoking goes, good luck with that one.  If you focus on what you are losing then you will never quit.  Focus on what you are gaining.  Use every aid you need to and you don't have to choose just one.  It is a nasty, unhealthy, expensive addiction that can be beat and you will be so proud of yourself that all the smokers in your life will hate you for it. 
    If I have something I would want to change it is how I spend my time.  Since I retired I have spent time fixing up my yard, taking care of the church property, helping my Mom, studying and learning, and doing many things for other people.  Starting now, I am going to spend more of my time being attentive to my wife  and doing things with her and for her. 

Double lesson on Sunday

  We did not have Sunday School on Christmas Day so this coming Sunday, January 1, 2017 church will begin 15 minutes early so we can teach the lesson from the 25th as well as the less for the 1st.  
I don't mind teaching two lesson at one time but these two lessons are radically different.  Glad I'm not the teacher.  I have secretly been looking for my replacement for a few years now and have not found anyone knowledgeable enough to teach an interesting class or someone I could stand to  listen to for even half an hour. 

  The only person qualified to teach the adult Sunday School class thinks Sunday School is his opportunity to deliver a mini-sermon.  I did manage to get another person elected as my substitute teacher and he has taught a couple of times.  His first lesson was awful.  He was intimidated by my style and try to over teach but needed up reading to the class the onions of learned men which was not only dry and boring but well over the understanding of the class.  His second lesson was much better.Still, he isn't the person the class needs.
 
   Not one to give up, I looked to one of the new members and he is teaching this Sunday.  If he is well received by the class then I will take steps to turn the class over to him.     

letter to brother

Today I wrote my brother a letter letting him know that I still love him in spite of his transgressions
but I still expect him to do the correct thing, especially since a great dishonor was done to our mother. 
  I understand his motivations for doing what he did but not his justifications nor will I tolerate his denials or his blame shifting.  The best thing to do is own up, make right and then move on.

Dishonesty in the Brotherhood

    I have two brothers, one older and one younger, and we have never been close.  I may have mentioned a time or two that my brothers, particularly my older brother has not only never warmed up to me, he often has been hostile.  I have always believed that a person tends to kick against his own evils.  How often does one read about the President of the local substance abuse agency get pulled over for drunk driving, or the local bully who singles out gay people to harass and then gets caught in a homosexual act.   I think that is true of some preachers who rail against one particular type of sin only to have it discovered that was his vise. 
   I mentioned preachers because they tend to be more vocal and have speaking opportunities that most of us do not have but I believe this truth crosses all lines of work.  The policeman that takes bribes, the law and order politician that is caught embezzling, the husband who constantly accuses his wife of cheating while he is having an affair, and the murderer who attempts to aid the police in solving the latest murder. 
    All these many years my older brother has accused me of trying to scheme to deprive the family of their inheritance when Mom passes away and has blocked every effort I have made to help her up until a year ago when she ended up in a rest home.  Of course over the years he had convinced my Mom that I was untrustworthy so both .he and my younger brother have financial power of attorney but I was left to handle her financial affairs with no access to the necessary information. 
  After I had successfully gotten Mom qualified for Medicaid  older brother took over paying the bills except that he never really paid them.  Each month I wrote the checks and had Mom sign them.  Mom has been on Medicaid for a year now and she is broke.  It shouldn't be but she has $24.00 left in her account.  She receives $90.00 a month from the VA which cannot be used to pay bills with but there it is, gone too. 
  I asked my younger brother for help.  Fortunately he is a CPA and he discovered   that my older brother has taken out over $4,000.00 from Mom's account to pay his own bills with.  I'm going to give him a little while to make good then I'll let the law take over if he continues to say he isn't responsible for all of it, implying that I was dishonest too.  This time I have proof. 

double success

ration   This is being posted from my new computer.  I successfully access my blog.  The only disappointment for the day was that both the banks and post office are closed today b meaning some important documents will have to wait a day or two longer to get mailed. 
   I hope you had a Merry Christmas.  I did.  Our Christmas play went well and we had two ladies get saved.  I visited Mom and discovered her in good spirits in spite of her having double pneumonia.  Even though yesterday was Christmas it was still Sunday and we had a handful at church.   It seems to me that if there was one day a Christian would want to be in church it would be the day we celebrated the birthday of Christ.  I realize that there is a lot of preparation to be done for Christmas dinner and the kids want to open and play with their presents.  It reminds me of the time that Jesus stopped by to visit some friends.  One busied herself in the kitchen making dinner and trying to make everything just so so while her sister just sat at the feet of Jesus.  Jesus reminded the lady that the one who sat at his feet did the more needful thing for He wasn't always going to be with them. 
  I believe dinner can wait, the toys aren't going to disappear, and the children aren't going to die before church services are over.  To me it just goes to show where our hearts really lay. 

Success

Everyone likes to succeed.  I got a new computer and but my old desktop in the living room.  It seems I could not connect to my wireless network so I worked all day yesterday trying to figure out how to connect my computer wirelessly.  Last night I had an idea so I tried it this morning.  It worked. 
   Now my next project is to get my blog up and running on my new computer.  It seems I forgot to record the address and I didn't run cables between the computers to load info from one to the other.  Hopefully my next post will be from my new computer. 

Not what I wanted for Christmas

My wife and I usually don't exchange gifts at Christmas time.  We seldom even put up a tree.  We do love the Christmas season and are normally busy doing things for others.  We prefer to get something expensive sometime during the year.  One year we purchased a gas fireplace insert, another year it was living room furniture, another time it was new computers.  This year we didn't need anything really so I bought something special for her and she did the same for me.  We even put up a tree, howbeit a 2 foot desk top model with lights but it is big enough for us. 
  We never have friends stop over and family lives to far away.  I'm glad because this way no one is disappointed when we find other things to do so we don't have to see each other.  Well, that last statement isn't exactly true.  I do have some family members that I care a lot about. 
  Anyway, my wife and I had not planned on anymore expenditures this holiday season but our heat pump started acting up again.  Some kind of part was not working properly and had to be replaced.  The part itself was inexpensive but the labor to replace the part would be almost the amount of the entire bill, estimated to be around $1100.00.  The unit is almost twelve years old and we have spent  a lot of money keeping it repaired.  Enough. in fact, to be enjoying a new one so instead of repairing this hold unit once again enjoying a new one is exactly what we are going to do. 
  We were told it would be installed by Wednesday.  Our present unit is a Trane and I really didn't want another one.  Our new unit is going to be a Coleman.  The kind I'd really like cost almost twice as much (and maybe cheaper in the long run but there is never a guarantee).  I think the Coleman is a pretty good unit.  I sure hope so.      It's not exactly what I wanted for Christmas.

Christmas Program

The church had its annual Christmas program today and, although short, it was highly effective.   Two ladies got saved tonight.  If you don't know what that means, I'll explain.  It means that a person admits they are a sinner (which doesn't mean they are bad people) and acknowledges that they need a savior and accept what Christ did on the cross and agree to live the remainder of their lives under the leadership of Jesus. 

My semon went well.

  I preached Sunday night and my message was well received.  At least I made my point.  I know the pastor doesn't much care for my lessons or my messages.  Almost every time I preach he has an off handed commit to make the next time he preaches.  Just because the preacher doesn't agree with me doesn't mean I'm wrong.  He claims he studies all the time and I don't doubt that buy his study methods and mine are different. 
  His father pastored for 47 years and saved his message outlines.  I'm almost positive that the pastor selects and outline, copies and pastes the supporting scriptures , and then studies the message to insure he can deliver it properly.  I don't have message outlines.  I do sometimes read a book or listen to a message and develop my own outline from that but most often I originate my own message.  I study by reading commentaries, books by preachers,  reading the scriptures, or listening to preachers on the radio.  I try to stick to things that I can validate through study of a wide variety of opinions and not just by telling others what someone thought or what I think. 
  I will never say things like "once saved, always save, If saved always saved, or you have to get right in order to live right in order to die right.  If those phrases were found in scripture then I would have no problem using them but those phrases never occurred so I don't.  Even the idea that one of those phrases could be correct does not occur.
   Yes, salvation is a simple process and it is true that one can be sure of ones eternal destination, but there is something lacking in those canned phrases above.  I also know after salvation we are freed from the penalty of sin but we are not freed from the obligation to obey the Law.  Christ fulfilled some of the requirements of the law and paid the penalty of disobedience for us but we are duty bound to surrender our selves to Christ and live our lives as if he is living his life through us.  It is neither as complicated as it sounds nor as simple as some people make it. 
  In any case I support my pastor in his efforts to do God's will and will not undermine his efforts even if he does that to me. 

computer problems

   From time to time we all have computer problems.  My internet security expired and didn't renew because I had changed my credit info and didn't update my info.  I'm not saying I got hacked but my system became unstable.  I had to purchased a new router so I could have a secure connection and then I had to do a system restore to stabilize my system.  It seems to working fine now.
  I know I had been working with an unsecure network and north state was no held in remedying the situation.  Until 2 weeks ago there had been no problem.  I decided to ley Windows Defender take care of my internet security which I suppose was a mistake.  It may have been that my problems began after my security was cut off and before I restarted Defender. The program worked good when it was Security Essentials. 
  Even so, I ordered a new computer in which there is no tower but it is consider a desktop and has the touch screen technology.  I need a better computer in the living room ( I have one connected to by big screen TV ).  The one there is so slow. Gosh we have lots of computers.  I have two desktops and a laptop and my wife has two laptops and is getting another one.  I don't use my laptop for much; just to make a DVD of the church services on a Sunday afternoon. 
  I need a reliable computer to print the church bulletins and to find information on to help me prepare lessons.  I don't know how we did it without computers.  Well, I do and we didn't do it quite as well. 

Advise Not Taken

In an earlier post I talked about a man that was about to receive a large settlement from disability and what I thought should be the best way to handle his new found gains.  I don't believe he followed my advise because he paid for Christmas dinner for the entire church at the Pioneer last night.  He has been driving a "rental" car the last week which I believe is the "new" car (2016 model) he was thinking about buying. 
  We had another man get a lump sum from disability about 3 or four months ago.  He purchased a picnic shelter for the church and bought some new clothes and a used pickup truck.  He didn't attend the dinner last night because he was broke.  Two years ago a family won a large settlement from an auto accident.  It seemed like they traded cars every three months and were all the time grabbing the check at church functions.  It was youth night and the youth director was taking the kids to Sir Pizza.  It was the mans daughter's birthday so he picked up the tab for all the pizza.  There was the preacher and his wife, the youth director, his wife, and two kids, this guy, his wife and his four kids and the oldest ones wife, his brother and his wife, and his ex-wife and her husbands and three children plus eight kids from the youth group and then some other folks I have no idea who they were. 
  The group had ordered eight individual pizza and 8 extra-large pizza's plus salads and drinks.  The bill was in excess of $300.00.  Any way, the man and his wife are now separated mainly because he spent thousands of dollars and had little to show for it.  She has her money and a new guy and he has a run down trailer, an old pickup truck medically problems, and no real job. 
  Getting a lot of money is not a cause of celebration.  For my birthday a friend gave me a lottery ticket (a $10.00 scratch off) which cashed in for $1000.00.  I gave a tenth to the church, a tenth to my friend and a tenth to my wife and purchased some new clothes with the rest.  A thousand dollars is not new found wealth
  I retired six years ago and I still have most of my retirement fund and all of my pension.  The total amount of my retirement fund was only four thousand dollars more than one mans back pay on his disability yet several months after receiving it he is too broke to go to a church dinner. 
  Most people are poor because God can't trust them with money. 

bLACK sHOOTER KILLS TWO OFFICERS, SELF

     In the comment section of the articles I've read about this incident, the sentiment has been mostly complaining that the articles do not mention the shooter was a African-American  and complaining that if the shooter had been white that being white would have been the central focus of the article. 
   When I was a college student in Huntsville, Texas I worked for the local newspaper.  One day the paper published a story about a young boy that was struck by a car and killed when he was out riding his bicycle.  The article mentioned that the boy was a black kid.  As it turned out there were two kids the same age with the same name and the one killed was not the black one but the white one.  Of course the parents were upset that the paper misidentified their child.  From that time on the policy became to never mention a person's race unless it was crucial to the article.  I've adopted the same
philosophy for my own speech.  I hear so many people tell an innocent story and if it involves a person of color that fact is always mentioned no matter if  what the person did was good, bad, or indifferent.  I now always leave the race part out.  What difference does it make?
   It is true that when one drives through neighborhoods at night that in predominately black neighborhoods one will see people standing around while one seldom sees this in white neighborhoods.  Seeing this makes one think that everyone in the neighborhood is a thug but if one were to travel overseas and drive through poor villages late at night one would see much the same thing.  This behavior is indicative of boredom with fewer social activities and not ones character. 
  I also realize that where there are young people gathered together with not much to do the likelihood of those young people to commit a crime increases but that is due to boredom and the mob mentality
rather than then color of ones skin.  The truth is that there is very little difference between the races besides the color of our skins.  That should be seen as a distinguishing s characteristic and not a defining one. 

Trump lied about Carrier deal

A Union official said Trump lied about Carrier deal.  Sorry people but being a tattle-tale, protesting, and whatever else losers want to complain about Trump will still become a sitting President.  Roy Cooper lied about solving the problem at the SBI crime lab but he is still going to be the Governor of North Carolina.  Hillary lied about a lot of things but people still voted for her. 
  Studies say the average American lies 70 times a day.  Don't know if that is true but one lie a day is probably one lie too many.  The fact that someone lies is not news.  What is news is when that lie hurts someone or is perjury. 
  The worst lie that anyone can tell is when they lie to themselves about their own relationship to Jesus Christ.  You are playing with your eternity. 

big look Da Nang

Anyone a part of this effort?  Big Look Da Nang that is.

BAD DECISION OR NO?

I have a friend who has fallen on hard times.  He lost his job after a series of mini-strokes and his wife was already out on disability. His car was reposed when he couldn't keep up the payments.  But now things are turning around for him.  His disability was approved and he will shortly get his first check along with back pay of around $20,000.00.  His plan  to purchased a used vehicle.  The one he has picked out is $12,500.00 of which he plans to pay $10,000.00 and finance the rest, the pay off the remainder of his bills.  That would leave him essentially broke again.  Then there is the matter of his reposed car.
   I suggested that he get his old car back which would cost him $750.00 (two payments and the towing/lot fee)  the have fixed anything that is wrong with the car.  I then suggested he open a checking account and an investment account with an automated draw of $200.00 per month to a max of $300.00 a month.   At an average draw of 7% interest  over the long haul he would make $1050.00 a year in interest  on $15000.00   and draw down $2400.00 at a draw of $200.00 a month.  The interest would pay for half his car payment, he would still have a nice nest egg in case of an emergency
  Once his car is paid off (three years, I believe) maybe his credit score will have improved enough to afford him the ability to purchased a car at a lower interest rate.  He could get a credit card with a low ceiling and pay it off every month to build his credit faster.  Six years ago I could not borrow a nickel even if I had a dime as collateral ( a situation created because someone embossed $30,000 from my business and left me in debt).  I now have a credit score of 806 and a small car payment.  I did finance the building my church is using.  I could pay the loan off and carry the debt and make a little from interest but then I would have to pay federal income tax on the amount of the loan which would cost me more than the current plan is. 
  I think my friend would be better off investing the money instead of buying something that will depreciate.  I know the newer car is nice but it isn't needful.  What do you think?

being hungry has nothing to do with it.

  People, especially dietician and those who think they know how fat people should eat think that it is about being hungry.  It's not.  Sometimes it stress, sometimes it's boredom, and sometimes it is just because we like the way something tastes and just want more.  It is seldom about being hungry. 

military discounts

Both Home Depot and Lowes Hardware give veterans a discount; however, Home Depot only gives discounts to disabled veterans while Lowes honors all. 

How to survive post-election Thanksgiving

Ellen Degenerate is making a TV show about how to survive Thanksgiving after the election like the election would really spoil the turkey.  I have no interest in what she has to say.

anti-trump protests

  Sitting the elected President seems more controversial this year than ever; even more so than George W. Bush in either of his elections.  I can understand why but it's the Democrats fault that Trump won.  I'm not sure what they are protesting for or protesting against or whether they are protest for or against anything. 
  Protest in the 60's didn't stop the Vietnam War.  All those protests accomplished is bring in the drug culture that has plagued our country ever since.  Trump was elected President because he had certain policies and he will be sat as President in spite of any and all protests.  I'm not even sure if it is he the protesters object to or his policies but the time to protest was at the ballot box. 
  I'm sure that the protesters were so confident that Hillary was going to win that they didn't think it was necessary to get out and work for victory or to even insure that their party had a viable candidate.  This election was not about which person was best for the job.  It was about policies that have been driving a wedge between us for years.  Black versus white, citizenship rights versus illegal immigrants, English versus Spanish, and states rights versus federal control. 
  With the mandate that we must purchase health insurance many feel that the federal government has overstepped it's boundaries in order to force us to spend money in a certain way but to force those with a descent income to pay more for the same things and to supplement those that cannot or do not choose to pay for their own. 
   Some feel to allow undocumented immigrants to stay in this country and provide them benefits is akin to having ones home broken into and then have the law not arrest them but to actually force you to let them stay and require you to feed, clothe and educate them and then shame you for not honoring their traditions or honoring your own.   I can understand why people are feed up with this system.  What makes matters even worse the government them charges you two to three times as much for health care as you once paid while providing the people that broke into your home healthcare at no or little cost. 
  Hillary Clinton claims to be a child advocate

Unwanted Touching

   It's hard to believe that someone would walk up to an obviously pregnant woman and touch her belly but it does happen.  What would really be bad if the woman wasn't really pregnant but the point is not pregnancy but unwanted touching.  I think it is rude (and it is actually illegal) to touch someone without their permission. 
   I worked in retail most of my working life and occasionally someone would touch me to get my attention.  That really irritated me.  It was my desire to touch them on the nose with my closed hand. 

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act by MSN

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act
Trump has repeatedly pledged to repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a high priority, and the Republican-led Congress is likely to agree. So far, details about any possible replacement program are scant, if there will even be a replacement.

   I watched an interview with Mr. Trump yesterday and he said that when the ACA was repealed there would be a replacement in place.  We would not even go two minutes without a replacement in place and it will be cheaper.

  It's a shame the news media can't report the facts but instead choose to spread fear. 

Establishment shocked,

     The headlines read "Establishment shocked as Trump wins.  I understand there are protest against Trump in parts of the country.  Apparently some people just don't understand how a democracy with free and fair elections work.  Majority wins and the minority goes along.  The Democrats had the Presidency the last eight years and the country is the worse for it.  I'm not saying I liked George Bush but in reality his biggest problem was he was to loyal to Donald Rumsfeld. 
  I did not vote for Senator McCain for President so don't think I am a died in the wool, die hard Republican.  I am a free thinking American that votes what I believe to be right.  I wanted neither Clinton or Trump to win as neither is the type of leader this country needs.  Hillary is constantly making bad choices and Donald is a bad choice.  But Donald Trump was elected and he will serve his four years and then we get to vote again.  Until then don't tear the country apart because you don't agree with the majority. 
  In a way it's funny because the Democrats view themselves as open minded yet time  and time again they prove themselves to be open minded about ideas that go against the norm but extremely closed minded about the ideas of people who disagree with their ideas.  Some are now acting like spoiled little brats who are having a fit because they didn't get what they wanted.  No one did you wrong, protesters.  It is just most people did not see things your way this go around.  Many people had to suck it up under Obama for the last eight years. 
  I am not saying that Trump is going to be a good President. Probably not.  I don't think Hillary would have been a good President either.  Presidents don't make policy.  Congress does.  Don't like Trump then defeat him at the voters box by voting overwhelmingly Democratic in two years.  Very few Republicans are scumbags and very few Democrats are either.  Name calling never solved any of our problems.  It is time to work together to find solutions to the real problems of this country.  The fact that our President is a Republican is not a crisis any more that our President being a Democrat has been the last eight years. 
   If Democrats want to prove they deserve having their candidates in office now is the time to provide that leadership rather than complain like spoiled children that didn't get that object of their desire. 

stitches

Monday, on the 14th day of hand surgery, I had the stitches removed.  Since I can't rejoin my water aerobics class I decided to walk.  For my birthday I hope to walk 4.5 miles in an hour or less.  I almost made it Monday but my time was one hour and eight seconds. 
  A little woman was walking in front of me for 3 miles and try as I may I could not close the ground on her.  I was amazed such a small person could walk so fast. 

Miley Cyrus and the Election

  I'm a registered Republican but don't vote a straight ticket.  Sometimes I vote Democratic and sometimes I vote Libertarian.  I did vote Republican for governor because Roy Cooper bragged about fixing the backlog at the state crime lab and I know for a fact that there is still a huge backlog. 
  I had not planned to vote for Trump until Miley Cyrus stated she would leave the country if he won. 
  Today I facebooked her and asked her if she needed help in packing.

Where are his accusers?

    Tiger Woods, Herman Cain, Bill Cosby, and Donald Trump are but a few of the men who have had women coming out of the woodwork claiming they were sexually harassed or worse by these men.  This behavior is not limited to women accusing men.  Piling on is a phenomenon that happens a lot.  When a man in position of authority is accused by one person it seems accusers start coming from every where.  We saw this with the Catholic priests,  with the famous football coach (Sandusky), and in other cases. 
    I am not claiming any or all men are innocent but few of the claims have ever been proven.  Where are the accusers of Herman Cain now that he dropped out of the race?

I voted but I'm not happy

    Yes, I voted early this year but I'm not happy.  The Democratic and Republican candidates are both unqualified for the job.  I almost voted Libertarian but then Miley Cyrus said she would leave the country in case Trump wins.  I said I hoped she would chose North Korea.  A friend of mine said that would be preferable to living under Trump.  I told him he couldn't really be serious. 
  Yes, I am a registered Republican but I do not always vote for the Republican candidate.  Sometimes I vote for the Democrat and sometimes I vote for the Libertarian.  But I always vote and not just in the Presidential elections. 
  This is just the one time in my life I hope neither candidate wins.   

Still Recovering

    I'm still recovering from hand surgery.  As I have mentioned before I suffer from Dupredrenes Contracture, a disease that affections a small percentage of while males in which the little and ring finger of either or both hands will begin to curl towards the palm.   Even though one can feel little pricks now and then the process is slow and non painful.  My little finger on my left hand had been locked into one position  for so long that it can no longer be straightened.  The surgeon did manage to free it from my palm; however, he said that if it pulls down to the palm again that it cannot be operated on the third time.  I will definitely lose the finger I was told.  What he doesn't understand is I wanted the finger removed the first and second time this operation was done.  It is so inconvenient to have ones little finger stuck on the palm of their hand.
   Last week I was supposed to get my third shot for macular degeneration but the doctor said that giving me my "eyeball" shot would interfere with the healing of my hand.  I discussed this with my hand surgeon and he has given his okay to continue the eye treatment. 
  Because of my hand surgery I have been unable to go to the pool so yesterday I decided to walk the 1/2mile track at the Y.  I made nine laps in 61 minutes.  I tried my best to do it in an hour but my shoe became untied.  I don't know if that slowed me down or not but it sure didn't help.  Anyway, my distance and time means that I walked at a pace slightly under 4.5 miles per hour.  That's not a bad clip, especially for a person 5 days away from their 70th birthday.

you can't be serious

  Miley Cyrus said she would leave the USA if Trump won the election and I said maybe she should choose North Korea. A friend of mine said that may be preferable to America under Trump.  Really?
  I can't believe he said that, even in jest.

I voted

    I voted early this year.  I wasn't sure whom I was going to vote for but Miley Cyrus said that if Trump wins she would leave the country.  I hope she chooses North Korea. 

My Last Day

    We have many last days during our life time.  Last day of school, last day on the job, last day in your home or apartment, last day you will ever see a close friend, last day in the military, etc. so this being a last day for me is really no big deal. 
  I have a disease of the hands that cause my fingers to curl, particularly the little and ring finger of each hand.  Tomorrow morning I am having both hands operated on so today will be the last day the tip of my little finger of my left hand touches the palm   and cannot be moved.  I know it will be a painful recovery and really inconvenient having both hands operated on at once but I would just like to get it over with.  My fingers are stiff so it is hard to grip things.  Typing is hard, clapping is impossible, and I cannot put one but one glove. 
  Well, today is the last day I have to put up with the inconvenience of curled fingers and stiff hands.  Soon, my fingers will be straight and more flexible. 

Sign in place

The preacher and I got the new church sign in place Monday morning.  Another man was supposed to build the sign put after 3 or 4 months I figured he wasn't going to build it so I made one.  After I finished my sign and let the preacher know the other fellow called and said his sign was ready.  The preacher thanked him then told him it was no longer needed. 

Numbers don't lie?

  Two weeks ago I weighed before going to my MOVE class and I weighed 215.4.  My weight at MOVE was 219.5.  Yesterday I weighed before going to MOVE class and it was 217.0 and at MOVE it was 219.4.  What gives?
  Yesterday I tried to follow my diet plan and stick to my calorie count and this morning I was .6 pounds heavier than I was yesterday morning.  At least my blood sugar reading is the lowest it has been this week even though I did take a pill with a swig of juice two hours ago.  I'm not supposed to do that.  In order for readings to be accurate there is supposed to be an 8 hour fast window (fast like in nothing to eat or drink except water).  So 133 is acceptable. 
  

blood sugar readings and weight

     Last week was a disaster for my weight loss goals, what with a trip to the state fair and my low blood sugar readings.  My average last week was only 105.  That normally would be a good thing but when ones blood sugar is low a person feels hungry.  When one feels hungry a person often times grabs an unhealthy snack to tide the feeling of starvation.  Something sweet will quickly rise the blood sugar level bring back the feelings of normalcy but what happens when the sugar high wears off?  One feels hungry again. 
  Of course a high blood sugar reading can leave a person feeling hungry also but its still a different kind of feeling.  A person needs to be careful with either extreme.  The secret to a healthy life, especially for a diabetic, is a steady blood sugar reading.  Not only does the quick fix to low blood sugar reading throw your body out of kilter but it leads to weight gain. 
  I woke up a few minutes ago and took my glucose readings and they were slightly elevated yet I feel like I'm about to die of starvation.  Even if I consumed a large meal I know that in an hour or less I would be hungry again.  As I understand it, when one's blood sugar drops too low at night one's body can convert fat to sugar raising one's glucose levels.  One is normally hungry in the morning so in ones mind, the feelings one has in the morning from an elevated level is similar to those when ones glucose level is depressed.  Without taking a reading it is difficult to know if ones level is too high or too low.  That's why it is so important to keep ones level's steady.  Failure to do so can lead to an unhealthy weight gain and/or other health problems.
  

EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Lee Curtis Says She's Spoken to Lindsay Lohan About Donald Trump's

Well now, since Lindsey Lohan is now informed I think the election should just be called off.

We tried McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King's signature burgers — and the winner is unmistakable

The headline was taken from an MSN article about which chin serves the best burger:  McD's, BK, or Wendy's.  The article claimed the single from Wendy's was soggy, the big Mac was the perfect combo of burger to condiments, and the Whopper had too much bread.  Too much bread?  The Big Mac has a 3 piece bun.  Every time I've tried one, all I can taste is that secret sauce. 
  To tell the truth, the only thing I ever buy at McDonalds is a breakfast biscuit and coffee and I only buy the Carolina burger or chicken from Wendy's.  The burger at BK has that grilled out flavor which I like.  My favorite burger of the big chains is one from Hardees but they hire the dumbest cashiers and I don't always have time to wait. 
   Wendy's has the best customer service by far.  Often Burger King employees make you think you are an interruption of their bonding time. 
  As far as competition goes, Five Guys is always voted best burger but it really is the overwhelming amount of fries one gets that endears people to the chain.  My favorite place for a burger is Highway 55, formerly Andy's.  There one can get a burger anyway and in any size one wants.  They even have a shrimp burger.  I once ordered a burger all the way:  lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, jalapeno peppers,   slaw, and chili, with a side order of Texas Pete hot sauce. 
  Sometimes we eat at the closest place, sometimes we make a conscience choice.   Some like things one way and some like it the other.  I'm just glad we have choices because we are not all the same. 
Therefore I make the bold claim the best burger is the one you like the best. 
 

Trump asked to resign

That is a good idea because Trump is unqualified to be President of the United States.  He may be a billionaire but he seems to be immature and unstable.  But if he resigns that means Hillary would be President by default and she is unqualified to be President  and more dangerous.  I call a do-over. 

The first anything

I'm rather tired of hearing about a person being the first black, female, Spanish, Asian, homosexual,
or whatever they happen to be, to do a particular thing.  We wonder why we cannot heal the racial divide in this country yet in everything we say and do we want to divide, even in the groundbreaking things and good things.  "He/she is a role model for people" or "He/she is an inspiration" or He/she is the "first of their kind" to do or win such and such. 
  If the fact that we are different is constantly shoved in our face then how can I ever accept the fact that we are all equal?  The fact that a cop shot an unarmed man should bring concern from all citizens and not just along racial lines.  One would think that only white cops shoot people and they shoot all black people unjustly.  The only way to insure that all are treated fairly is to insure that none are treated differently. 
   It is a fact that people are drawn towards others that are more like them. If I were to go into a building where I knew no one and I saw a group of men on the left and a group of women on the right I would more than likely mingle with the men.  If I saw a group of white men and a group of black men I would more than likely mingle with the white folks.  If I saw a group of white men dressed in biker garb and a group of black men dressed in business suits I would mingle with the men in suits. 
  What I am saying is we tend to mingle with those people we most closely identify with.  Go to a foreign country and one will discover that Americans who have retired there live in close proximity to each other.  That is why we have Spanish Harlem, China Town, little Haiti, etc. That is why Pennsylvania was settled by the Dutch, we have places called Germantown, and there is such a thing as a Russian community.   
  As long as we keep thinking of ourselves as different we will continue to treat each other as different.

A broken system

  Most people will agree that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are widely unpopular and unqualified for the office of President of the United States of America.  Hillary go the nomination pretty much by default as qualified candidates did not file.  Even so, Bernie Sanders almost beat her which was a shocker to the DNC and the liberal press. 
   Donald Trump won the Republican nomination because he is an IN-YOUR-FACE type of person who shows little respect for anyone or anything who promises to do something about the problems facing America that never seems to go away.  Obama never brags about the "change we can believe in" because the changes that he brought about have only weakened the family and strengthen the future of the Democratic party.  Illegal immigrants and working class people are backbone of the Democratic party and the Republican party is seen as the party of the conservatives and the rich even though the extreme poor tend to be Republican. Go figure.
   A Prime Minister of England once noted that what was great about America was that any young person could grow up to be President but what was scary about America was that any young person could grow up to be President.    I think in this year's election we are seeing the scary side of that equation.  We are still wallowing in a two party political system  in which neither party can truly represent the views of its members and too many people support the party rather than the candidate. 
But it seems the only thing people want to change about our election process is the Electoral College.
The Electoral College is not responsible  for Obama, Bush, Trump or Hillary although some would disagree about Bush. 
    The founding fathers wanted a system that would represent the will of the people  by insuring that people in small states had equal representation with those from larger states, both in elections and in Congress. Originally the founding fathers limited voting to landowners because they tended to be better educated and more interested in the process of law than non landowners.  However congress and the Supreme Court eventually saw that policy as unfair and over time and protests the system was changed.  What the founding fathers did not anticipate was that grossly unqualified people could run and even get elected to office as the supreme leader that few would even follow. 
  Therefore I submit that while the system is broken it is not the Electoral College but the method by which  our two political parties elect their candidates.  We need more than two or three political parties, we need candidates that run on qualifications and platforms and not party affiliations.  One big problem with our current system is that local and state candidates are voted in or out of office based on how well the national candidate does and not always on their own merits. 
  Freeing candidates of party affiliations would allow office holders to vote their beliefs and not by party lines.  It would make for a much better system and better legislation for all concerned.   

Presidential race coming down to the wire.

Tow parties, two candidates, one country and no one really qualified to hold the office of President of the United States of American.  Neither candidate has given any reasons to vote for themselves except to claim that they are not as bad as the other candidate. 

The crud

Don't really know how to describe what has been ailing me.  It's not unlike a cold which I suppose it is really.  It started a week ago with that little feeling in the throat that is different from anything else.  You know you are getting sick.  I grab the Zicam which promises to shorten the duration of a cold if taken at the onset.  Well, this is the onset. 
  Most colds I have start with a stuffy nose and move down into the chest and some start in the chest and end of in the nose but all come with sore throats, chest congestion, coughing, sneezing, stopped up noses and mucous.  Sometimes I think my body is a mucous factory. 
  This illness didn't seem like it was going to last long and I was ready to sing Zicams praises.  Two days of a slight tightness in the chest, coughing, a few sneezes, and then the nasal congestion, and the fifth day I seemed like I was almost well.  Then the night coughing and the mucous came,  I seem to be okay for hours then suddenly my nasal passages turn into faucets running with this thick gel like substance.  It's stuck in your chest, clogs your throat, fills your sinus cavities to the brink of bursting and makes one think that putting a bullet into your brain isn't such a bad idea and then finally it seems to be almost gone but not entirely.  A couple of hours later it starts all over again.   There never seems to be an end although you know from experience it will one day go away. 
   One of the worst things about this crud   is that everyone around you is suffering from it but they have all been to the doctor, some miss functions because they are "so sick" , and there is no one to give you any sympathy.  In fact, everyone else believes their case of crud is worse than your case of crud. 

Chili cook-off

One Way Baptist Church of Randleman is having a Chili cook-off fundraiser.  If you would like to enter a recipe, entry fees are $10.00 per recipe.  If you would like to be a judge, then tickets are $5.00 each. 
   The event is scheduled for run from 11:30 am until 2:00 pm on Saturday October 29th.

The way this event works is you may buy advanced tickets or pay at the door.  If you want to be a cook, your entry fee must be paid by October 10th.  The judges pay their $5.00 fee, get their soda and fixings and then get a sample cup of chili from a cook.  You can go to as many cooks as you want until you have eaten all the chili you care to.  You then drop your ticket into the jar of the maker of your favorite chili.   You go home full of good chili and the cook with the most tickets goes home with a nice trophy and bragging rights. 

  See you there! 

fruitless taljs

  I chatted with my older brother, recently retired, about moving into Mom's vacant house.  If he did so then the house would be maintained, the bills paid, and Mom's investment would be protected and she would be able to leave her children something.  He said he liked the idea but wanted some time to mull it over. 
   I contacted him a week later and he said he still hadn't made a decision.  Yesterday I invited him to meet with me and our brother on a Saturday and he said he would if he didn't have to work. 
  It's his life and if he decided to stay where he is and get a part-time job that's okay.  But why leave me hanging wondering what his decision was going to be when he had already made it.  I just don't see the benefit to Mom or to our relationship my just ignoring me.   I just don't understand why some people are jerks and he fits my definition of one.

GoFundMe

  When I first heard of GoFundMe I thought the page was mainly for losers who failed to plan  and was just wanting others to bail them out.  Now I know different.  I'm sure some of the funds are for cheats and undeserving people but some are needful.
   My Mom was a saver and although she didn't start work until her youngest was a senior in high school she did manage to save a lot.  In the late  nineties when Dad got sick with cancer she paid all of his bills out of her savings.  The last year of his life she paid over $70,000.00 for medicine alone. 
After his death all she had to live on was his social security and what remained of her savings.  She did quite well except she never spent any of the money to take care of her house.  Then the inevitable happened and she got sick.  She ended up in a nursing home unable to take care of herself.  Not only that but at the price it cost to stay in an assistant living home Mom would be broke in a couple of months so she had to apply for Medicaid.  I did what I could with her money and remodeled her home until time ran out.  She was allowed to keep her home and $2000.00. 
  Her social security check is $1130.00 a month.  The social services charges her $30.00 a month admin fee, the nursing home charges her $880.00 a month and blue Cross charges her $260.00 a month.   That totals $1190.00 a month.  Of course even old people in nursing homes need things like clothes and hair care and little things like that.   And of course the house has bills too: water, sewer, gas, electric, home owners insurance, and taxes--let's don't forget about taxes.  So exactly where is the money to come from for this? 
   I live off of social security myself and I have exactly $328.00 a month I can spend on anything I want.  I choose to spend most of it driving to Hickory to see Mom each week.  I take her out of the nursing home and take her to her house, do her laundry, pay her bills, clean her house, then take her to lunch, then take her to get her hair done.  If she needs fruit or writing pens or a special medicine she can't get through the nursing home I do that for her.  I took her to her eye appointment.  It cots about $30.00 a week in gas, $20.00 for our meals, and about $40.00 a month in car care.  As you can see most of my money is spent on her or for her. 
  She won't be able to keep her house much longer as she has a negative income.  She has little of value to sell and if she did sell it, then what?  So I started a GoFundme page for Mom.  Look it up and please help if you can.   

First Shot

   Yesterday I started my treatment for macular degeneration with a thorough eye exam and my first shot in my eyeball.  The shot itself was painless but after the numbness wears off my eye feels like an eyeball does when one gets a loose eyelash in it.  Scratchy.  The eye is red and the part that feels scratched is the part where the injection happened. 
   I take another injection in a month and will be taking them for three years.  It will not be a monthly thing but on a decreasing interval so I will have 21 to 26 shots over the next 3 years, all depending on how my body recovers. 

Drama hopefully will end

Some work was done at the church a few weeks back and the man engaged to do the work made a mistake and pushed some tree stumps across the property line onto our neighbor's property.  The strip of land is 180 feet long but only 24 feet wide and is overgrown so he probably thought it would be okay but he didn't realize his actions would stir all the furry a red headed woman could muster. 
   If the woman had just told us about her concerns we would have cleaned up the mistake and that would have been the end of things but no, she went off like a Roman Candle, trying to dictate when and how the debris is to be removed and wanting the whole property cleaned up at the church's expense, refusing to let the work be done without her being physically present to supervise, threating to sue,  threatening to hire someone else to do the work and sending the church a bill, making derogatory statements about the church's pastor and otherwise proving herself to be a bad citizen 
  Through a check with the legal system it has been discovered that this woman is only the girlfriend of the owner of the property and has no legal say whatsoever.  With negotiations with the real property owner, an agreement has been reached but there is one complication that can undo the whole affair.  The man who is to clean the debris is contracted to conducted a funereal and if  it conflicts with the scheduled clean-up he will not be able to be there. 
  I know everyone involved is ready for this fiasco to be over with.

The Next President of the United States of America

Donald Trump will not be the next President nor has he ever wanted to be.  He has ran for the nomination several times and always resigned his candidacy before getting to far into the election cycle but this years was a surprise, even for him.    I don't think he ever intended to be taken seriously.
   Donald Trump isn't as stupid as he portrays himself to be because if he acted like he had some sense even his supporters wouldn't like him, I'm not saying he isn't a likeable fellow, I'm saying that he would not be liked as a candidate.   He doesn't want to be President.  It has all been about publicity. 
  I'm sure he has made a lot of money by running for office that otherwise he would not have earned.  But now that he is the party nominee he is walking a tightrope.  If he acts like he isn't a serious candidate people will turn against him and all he has accomplished by running will be lost and he will be worse off than he was before he ever thought about running.  But if he runs a serious campaign he jus might be elected and he knows he is not qualified nor does he want that job.  So he has to act like he really wants to win while sabotaging his chances by childish behavior. 

Lazy?

      A change I've noticed about the news one see on the internet is that there more videos than ever. I can see two reasons why.  If the provider can get you to watch a video of a story you are interested in it can force you to watch a commercial first.  I've also noted that some commercials allow you to opt out after a few seconds so forcing us to watch a commercial isn't all it's cracked up to be.  I think American youth have gotten so lazy we don't want to read anymore and the shortened commercials reflect their shorter attentions spans.  If they have to watch for the entire commercial they will opt out and not watch at all. 

   Unless what you are talking about has to be shown, I would much rather read than watch.  The biggest problem with reading nowadays is too few of the writers of server news know how to write to hold a person's interest.  Is communicating through the written word becoming a lost art?  It sure seems so.

a boy in a tree

Yesterday my wife noticed a bicycle laying in the middle of the street in front of our home and thought perhaps the rider had fallen in the ditch.  I stepped out on the porch to check the situation out and heard someone yelling for help.  It seems a young boy was frightened by some dogs a neighbor had let out for a bathroom break and had climbed a tree for safety and he was both afraid of the dogs and of getting out of the tree. 
   I helped the lad down and stood watch for him as he pedaled home as fast as he could. 

Roy Cooper vs. the truth

  I don't know Roy Cooper but I do know he is the current Attorney General of NC and is running for Governor of North Carolina.  I have no idea what party he belongs to.  I do +know he has an ad on TV in which he brags about improving the conditions at the State Crime lab, eliminating the bag log of DNA samples waiting to be tested.   
   I also know that in September of 2015 a man broke into my mother's home while she was there sleeping.  He entered the home through a window he broke and while doing so he cut himself and left DNA on the window, on some money he dropped while fleeing and in several other places in the home.  In other to have an air tight case the prosecutor wants to have the DNA evidence but after a year the State Crime Lab is too far behind so the Police Department in Hickory elected to send the evidence to a private lab so they can move forward with the case. 
   Based on what I know to be true I can say that while conditions at the State Crime Lab may have improved they are still far worse than Roy Cooper would have us to believe. 

Equal treatment

My pastor claims he treats everyone the same yet him and another preacher at the church go everywhere together, not only as just friends but as representatives of the church.  That is fine and I'm glad he has a close friend to do things with but if you never invite any of the other preacher's at the church to join yu don't say you treat everyone the same. 

Proud Poor Folks

  I just checked out an article (actually a picture and a comment)  and the responses of the readers.  It seems like many people are proud of their ingenuity in accomplishing things when they were poor.  That's called redneck ingenuity..   It seems though that some of the respondents were older now and still poor and proud of it but judging from their lack of ability to spell or other compose a sentence or express a coherent thought, I just can't imagine why they are still poor.  

Reality is beginning to set in.

    Went in to the eye doctor yesterday for a routine exam and came out we a big surprise.  I'm quickly approaching my 70th birthday and have been blessed with good health most of my life.  I retired 50 years after taking  my first job and during those 50 years I missed one day because of illness.  Ten or so years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes but until four years ago I was able to control it through diet.  I did have to go on insulin for three months and then to a pill ever since but I never let it interfere with my life.  The only recurring problem I have had that has adversely effected my life is dupredrens(sp)  contracture, which is a curling of the fingers.  I had corrective surgery on my left hand but my little finger on my left hand curled back up and now lays flat against my palm.  I may have to get it amputated soon.
    Now long after I left the eye doctor's I received a call from her informing me that she is referring me to a specialist outside of the VA to deal with some moisture detected behind my right eye.  She said that I have the beginnings of maculate degeneration.  There are two kinds, dry and wet.  One kind will keep progressing until one is blind.  The other kind can be corrected with surgery but that is a fairly recent development.  I can't remember which kind there is hope for and really don't know which kind I have. 
  It seems my aches and pains have increased lately and my body is beginning to deteriorate: pain in my left should, diabetes, dupredrens(sp)  contracture, high blood pressure, triglycerides too high, and now this.  In spite of this I will keep on keeping on doing as much as I can until I can no longer go.  I'm not giving in or giving up nor complaining. 

Is it "once" or "If"?

    Many Christians believe the Bible teaches assurance of salvation.  My pastor claims to be one of those.  He is always expounding that Christianity is a "know-so" religion and if you have doubts about your salvation you are lost.  But he also says that one must "get right in order to live right in order to die right',  a philosophy that seems to teach salvation by works rather than faith.  Our church has lost a few members because he confuses people about what he believes.  Do we or do we not have assurance of our salvation.
  The pastor says he does not believe in "Once saved always saved" but believes that "if saved always saved".  I think such statements only adds confusion and doubt.   I prefer the "once saved" version of that statement.  Christ only died once.  If one could lose their salvation Christ would have to be crucified as many times as a person lost their salvation.  Christ only died once because that is all that is necessary.   To use the phrase "If saved' begins a statement of assurance of salvation with a statement of doubt.  "if saved" sounds like anything but a sure thing.  It smacks of grace plus something else.  We are saved by grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves.  Grace is not conditional.  It is something given to another when it is totally undeserved.  All one has to do to receive it is to be willing to receive it. 
   I know why my pastor says if instead of once.  So many people claim to be saved that do not live for Christ that "being saved" has almost become synonymous with "I go to church or have been to church and I buy into the belief that Jesus Christ is a real person and did good things."   But saying "if"  instead of :"only" doesn't make one more saved  but it does add confusion. 

Nineteen people were feared dead and as many as 24 others wounded after an attack by a knife-wielding man at a facility for the disabled in Japan early on

I suppose the anti-knife lobby will want to enact ginsu knife laws to determine who can have access to knives. ,

From an article entitled "Relationship rules you should break"

"Think getting down too soon is a deal breaker? It might be time to think again, says Greer. "If you feel good about the person, are really attracted to them, and you feel safe with them, it's OK to go ahead and sleep with them," she says. "On the flip side, you can also wait until past the third date." In other words, wait until you're ready, whenever that may be. View our complete list of the best white dress looks from the red carpet."

   Honestly, having sex at all before marriage should be a hard and fast rule.  Anything else cheapens relationships and reduces the chances of fidelity during marriage.  Oh, don't believe in marriage?  Well, that should be an attitude you change.

It's a battle

For years I was able to control my diabetes with a proper diet but eventually I went on metformin.  A few years ago I went on insulin for 3 months but was able to come off it and go with just metformin again.  But after a year my doctor added glipizide to my regimen  but after a couple of years I had to go back on insulin.  The first time I used insulin I gained 33 pounds and never did lose any one it so when I had to go back on insulin again I was afraid of gaining weight.

  So far I've managed to lose 9 pounds (It's been a bout two months now).  Yesterday I suffered my first bout with low blood sugar and it felt horrible.  Last night I gave into my urge for an unhealthy snack (six wheat crackers, a spoonful of peanut butter and a spoonful of jelly).  Yea, it was a nasty tasting snack and my blood sugar reading was way to high as a result. 

  Eating so as to not spike ones blood sugar or let it drop too quickly and all the while controlling ones weight is extremely difficult, especially since taking insulin makes one feel hungry all the time.  I'm not talking about just wanting something to eat but "feeling like your stomach is sucked up against your backbone" hungry. 

Cringe worthy news

    Soon Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America.  I haven't always voted Republican but I have never voted for a Democrat who was elected and this year I guarantee I won't be voting Democratic.  What I am most afraid of this year is that either Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump will be elected.  I suppose once the conventions are over and the candidates officially selected we can bill this election as the Lady versus the Tramp.   I suppose the only way out of this mess is the Rapture and if you don't believe in that you still have time to change your mind. 

Black lives Matter

Black Lives Matter.  Of course they do.  I know slavery existed.  I know it was wrong.  I know some people are not going to accept full integration of everyone into their world.  The most segregated institution in America is church, which should be the one place that all races could come together in love and understanding.  There is a problem.
  But how can we, as a people, come together when some use exclusionary terms for their organization?  Negro College Fund, Black Caucus, NAACP, Miss Black America, Black Lives Matter.  While claiming to want equability, these organizations have chosen names   that are exclusionary and are portraying an image or idea that is the opposite of what they claim to want.  We cannot bring unity by choosing to be divisive. 
  America+ isn't a melting pot.  When things are melted together that form a new substance that is a blend of all.  It seems as if blacks and whites come from two totally different worlds.   Blacks and whites have been educated together for 50 years now yet they don't even talk alike.  
  We are all people and our basic needs and wants are the same.  In any good negotiantion the two sides get together and agree on what they agree on and then limit their discussion to the areas they disagree one.  First of all, the two races have to agree that they are all Americans.  That will go a long way to solving the problems.

Dallas

     What happened in Dallas is tragic but all murders are tragic.  I understand why some white policemen are quicker to shoot a black suspect that a white one.  There is a lot of animosity and mistrust between the races.  When integration happened fifty years ago it was hoped by many that by going to school together blacks and whites would learn to respect each other, that eventually all neighborhoods would be mixed neighborhoods, and we would come to view each other as fellow Americans but it is obvious that the tension between the races is just as strong today as it was 50 years ago. 
  Back when CB radios were popular among motorists it became obvious that people don't know how to handle problems.  Disagreements quickly developed into arguments and name calling and the usual results were two angry people and unresolved problems.  Forty years later when people have differences of opinion on the internet many times it results in name calling and two angry people.  If we go into a discussion with the attitude that I'm right and the other person is wrong and it is my job to convince the other person of this fact then we are always going to have disagreements that decay into name calling and angry people. 
   Yea, there are lots of things I don't understand about black people.  I don't understand do-rags, and the cocky way of walking, and the slang they use or why many talk so loud.  I don't understand why s's are dropped off words that need them and added to words that don't.  And what is this doe that they keep opening and closing?  I am beginning to think it is a door but they never say so.  I'm sure there are lots of things that blacks don't understand about whites to. 
   When a person dresses different, walks different, talks different, and acts different, a person tends to be cautious around that person.  I don't care how white a person is, if that person has a face full of tattoos and wears punk clothes I'm going to be leery of them.  Same goes if they are big strong biker types, or little skinny goth creatures.  And what is with the saucers in the ear lope thing.  Gross me out. 
  All that being said, the nicest people I encounter  are young black males.    They are respectful and helpful and always a surprise but not because that are black men but because in todays day and age   rudeness is expected along with selfishness and one is always taken back by random acts of kindness and by that I don't mean paying for someone lunch as a person gets recognition for that but just common everyday courtesies that are not common anymore. 
    If a person presents themselves to the world as a descent, trust worthy individual then they will be accepted but it the impression they give is of a ghetto gansta or a piece of redneck white trailer trash then don't expect me to be anything but cautious around you. 
  As far as the police are concerned, they are jerks to everyone so don't feel privileged.  I've been handcuffed several times and even carted off to jail once and didn't even come close to breaking a law.  A sergeant with the High Point police stole $20.00 from me and a couple of Greensboro cops accused me of being a drug addict and refused to give me the assistance I needed and desired.  One has to remember that people get angry when stopped by the police so much of the interaction police have with people are with antagonistic people.  It's would make anyone leery of a person's intentions when all you receive from most folks is bad attitude. 
   I've been stopped several times when I should not have been but I always remain calm and cooperative.  The police appreciate it.  I keep my insurance and registration papers in a little folder that  is easy to get to without having to open a glove box or search for.  I stay still until the cops approaches, and I keep him informed if I have to reach for anything.  Even when I know the cop is wrong, I'm never show any emotion because I know I will have my day in court if it comes to that. 
  What I want you to take away from this article is that if you want to fit into my world then act like you fit into my world.  If you don't then don't be shocked or angry because I treat you different.  And most importantly,  if you are respectful, understanding, and cooperative with the police then all should go well and end well. 
  When you see things different from another, find the things you and they can agree on and listen as they explain to you the things that you disagree on.  Maybe you will learn to be accepting of their point of view, maybe, you will learn to understand there thought process better and maybe you will still be on opposite sides.  But if you treated them with respect maybe they will learn to be more understanding and tolerant of you.