Another frivilous lawsuit.

Starbucks is being sued over tip jars that led to the death of 53-year-old Roger Kreutz. The lawsuit was filed three years after a Missouri altercation.

On March 3, 2008, Kreutz chased down then 19-year-old Aaron Poisson after seeing the culprit nab a tip jar with less than $5 inside it. The two physically struggled outside Poisson’s car, but Poisson eventually broke free. He then backed his Ford out of a parking spot and over Kreutz, who later died of head injuries.

Kuertz’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in St. Louis County Circuit Court on Monday, but not against Poisson. They’re blaming Starbucks, who they allege “invited criminal behavior” by leaving tip jars “within reach of customers.”

[The lawsuit] alleges that Starbucks “did not employ security to prevent the perpetration of such crimes” and that it “invited the act of perpetration of said crime” by having a tip jar.

As a “direct and proximate” result of this, Kreutz was killed after he was hit by the car, the filing claims.

It says Starbucks had a duty to “exercise reasonable care” to protect Kreutz or give him adequate warning against harm.


If the tip jar is not in reach of the customers how are they supposed to put the tips in the jar? No one instructed the clerk to chase the crook or to have an altercation with him.

no football?

It seems for the time being that no football will be played next year in the NFL. Some of you will be devastated by the news, some will be disappointed and some will be filled with despair like one former player, a pro bowl quality running back who is trying to come back after a four year absence from the league. He is jobless and broke and his only hope is to play another year of football. Now, it looks as if he'll never have that chance.

I can understand the players objections to an 18 game schedule and playing is hard on the body and when they signed their contracts the season was only 16 games and I can understand the owners wanting to get more games in to increase receipts so they can afford to pay the players.

I, for one, think a sixteen game schedule is too long and eighteen would be unbearable. I think the season should began as a playoff system. Lose a game and you are done for the season. Last one standing wins it all and then we can all do something more fun and interesting than watching football.

A fool and his life are soon parted

The man was swept away after he and two friends reportedly traveled to the shoreline to take photos of the incoming tsunami waves, Lt. Todd Vorenkamp said. His friends made it back to shore.

Japan suffers a 8.9 earthquake and tidal waves that killed hundreds and warnings were issued to all countries east of there including the western coast of the United States of america. With hours of advance warning what does this idiot do but go get a camera and go down to the beach to take pictures of an incoming tidal wave.

What a fool.

Of course if he has any family anywhere they will probably file a lawsuit agaist the city, county, and state, the Coast Guard, and Japan, claiming it was their fault he was killed.

11 year old gang raped

"Maturity or not I'm pretty sure she knew what she was doing," Robin Smith, 24, a cashier in Cleveland, said as she shopped this week.

The girl had been seen dressed provocatively and wearing makeup playing near the place she was raped.

Some people think it was the girls fault she was raped by eighteen men.

Is clerk party to thief

"at a clerk smiled and held the door open for Lindsay Lohan when she walked out of a jewelry store that later accused her of stealing a $2,500 necklace"

According to an article the above quote was taken from, it has been hinted at that the clerk allowed Miss Lohan to walk out with the necklace knowingly and may be complicent in the thief.

First and foremost, even if the clerk participated Linsay Lohan still stole the necklaceand in order to claim the clerk was complicent ould first have to admit her quilt.

Secondly, the clerk may have know the necklace was being stolen but could do nothing about it.

Remember a year or so ago where two security guards at a Best Buy were fired after they apprehended a shoplifter? Best Buy had a policy in place that probids pursuing a shoplifter outside the store, which is what the security guys did. The place where I work has the same policy plus no non member of management can stop a person for shoplifting.

I do not know the policy of the jewelry store where the clerk woorked nor the laws of the staste the store is located in but if the incident had happend in North Carolina, then all the clerk was allowed to do was hold the door open, smile. and let Miss Lohan leave. To do otherwise would have been a violation of the law.

Pond Cleaning

I have been waiting for the perfect combination of time, warm weather, and rain in the forecast to clean my water pond but the likely hood of that occurring seems remote so I cleaned it after work yesterday.

The water was cold and when my right shoe was sucked off by the mud it wasn't long before my foot became numb. My neighbor, who recently separated from his family (or rather they separated themselves from him) offered his help except that he was afraid he might get his shoes muddy.

The job entails draining a 2,000 gallon pond, catching fish and transferring them to a second pond, moving about 500 rocks and 50 water plants, pulling the liner out and cleaning it.

This time I had two sections of carpet (about 10 x 12 each) to place under the liner. The carpet will help protect the liner plus next time I have to clean the pond, I won't have to deal with so much mud.

I did get the carpet in the hole and the liner reinstalled but placing the pond plants back into the pond and lining the pond with the rocks will have to wait for another day.

I drained the contents of my rain barrels into the pond and left the drain hoses draped into the pond liner and the rain barrel valves open in anticipation of the rains today and tomorrow. Forecast calls for heavy rains today saying we might get up to two inches.

I know it is seems to be asking a lot for two inches of rain to fill a 4 foot deep hole but considering much of the water running off the roof of the house will drain into the pond via the rain barrels and one can see that two inches of rain might be sufficient as the rain barrels add an additional 1,300 square feet of surface to the 196 square feet of pond surface. The last hard rain added a thousand gallons of water to my pond which would have been a good thing except I was letting it get low on purpose.

My fish are getting huge. The four Koi are about two years old, give a week or two and the largest two have to weigh five or six pounds. They will really enjoy the extra depth of the pond this year. Last year it was only 2 feet deep at the deepest part and eighteen inches at the shallow end. This year the pond will be five feet deep at the deep end and three feet at the shallow end while most of the pond will be at about four feet deep.

My pump is plenty big enough to handle the water flow but I need a better filtration system. Hopefully I can find the right plans and come up with the money to build a good system this year.

The waterfall mound has filled in nicely and should be a beautiful sight this year. I'll post some pictures of the water pond and the fish when everything is in full bloom.

No. 13 UNC beats No. 4 Duke, wins ACC

What a shocker and it wasn't even close.

Lake still closed

Randleman Lake will not open until April 1, 2011 due to the need to cut costs since the lake operated in the red last year.

NFL labor Talks

It's hard to care about multi-millionaire's wanting more and the people who have want they want (owners) and I don't. I can't believe anyone really thinks football has more action than baseball. After all, the football is only in play 7 to 8 minutes per game.

Actually a lot of sports games are boring like bowling, golf, football, soccer, stock car racing, and almost anything involving snow.

Basketball is sort of an exception: the sport has a lot of action but is still boring.

I haven't a clue what the football players are negotiating for and I really don't care. If they never play another game it would be okay with me.

I know some people eat and sleep football but it is supposed to onoy be a game and games are played to entertain us, just like watching a good drama on TV or seeing an action flick at the theater. We don't see Oscar bars where people are gathered around a TV set, beer in hand, betting and braggin about the best movie, actor, supporting actor, what-ever, like it was what life is about.

Sorts should be no different.

I've been a Giants (baseball Giants) fan since I was eleven. Win or lose, I've been a steadfast fan. But they aren't my team. They won the World Series this year but they were not the best team in baseball. Just the best on a particular day. I love the game: playing, coaching, watching. It's just more fun if one has a favorite team but some people just take it too serious. It's not the stuff life is made for. Your family is.

men wear their favorite teams colors but you never see anyone wearing a jacket that says "I love my wife." Some people have bumper stickers that proclaim their affection for their dog or their truck but not their famiily.

I for one am not crazy about football but I am about my wife. I care what happens with her. Unlike a football fan, if my wife has a bd day I'm there to support her and help her. I never boo nor wish I could trade her for the one Joe has and the one Joe has waiting in the wings, to be named later.

Nope, football players want to quit playing for awhile it's perfectlyokay with me.

Stock market Rollacoaster

Hang on, here we go again. Just as my 401K hit a new high the stock market took a big downturn. I can't afford to be conservative but its getting harder to hang on as I continue to get closer to retiring.

It wouldn't be nearly as scary if my body would hold out but it is getting more difficult to function. I'm just glad I need a lot less than most folks because I've learned to live with less. The average 401k has more in it than mine does but the average boomer makes a lot more than me and doesn't have much more than I do so in that perspective I'm doing fine. Plus my personal savings has the potential to triple in the next few years. How, you ask?

For one, my social security checks will replace my take home pay plus I'll receive a small inheritance. Also, if I work past age 66, everything I make I can save plus I may receive a small sum from a service connected disability.

It's all good anyway. I've always been a survivor and I'll make it through the retirement years just like I have through life. Faith, hard work, and clean living.

Asshole, part two

Michael Grzybowicz


Look up asshole on Southgate NBews and you will find this man. He raped a two year old at seaworld.

What hard drugs can do.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41787410/?gt1=43001

copy and paste the above link for some revealing photos.

Maria Aragon

Isaw the you Tube video last week of Maria Aragon or shall I say I watched part of it. I wasn't impressed bt the music, the song, or the singing. I guess I'm just not a Lady GaGa fan.

Being manly can kill you

One would think that being the weaker sex, physically that is, would be a disadvantage in the survival game but being less physically strong would, I would think, make one less likely to be aggressive in a physical way.

Watching TV and reading novels and seeing news headlines makes one believe that most murder victims are women killed by serial killers but the truth is that isn't likely to happen, even is a high risk professional like being a crack addicted street prostitute. Only 100 or so people are killed by serial killers a year out of 15,000 murder victims. Women are most likely to be killed by their husband (half of the 3,000 women killed in the US are murdered by their spouse).

Eighty percent of all murder victims are men though.

Wanted: Very Dangerous

He has black hair and brown eyes and two tattoos: a rose with the word “Teon” on one arm and the words “Thug Life” on his chest. He was last seen driving south on High Point Road in a burnt orange Ford LTD with a white vinyl top.

Police ask those with information to call Crime Stoppers at 373-1000.

Shocking News

The controversial police office, Lt. Hinson, of the Greensboro Police Department has been promoted. He is now a captain.

Feeding fish

The unusual high temperatures have caused my fkish to become active and search for food so for the past two days I have fed them. Next week it is supposed to turn cold again with snow possible in the forecast. I'm not sure how that is going to affect my fish.

I did get my garden space tilled the other day (Thursday, I believe) so it will be much easier to work with when planting time comes.

My wife heard frogs out by the pond tonight. I don't hear much myself.

It Isn't what It Is

I was hungry for some Oriental food and I was in Asheboro the other day so i decided it was about time I stopped and get some. I saw this place called the Hibacci Grill and not knowing anything about it, I decided to take a chance. The selection was good and the food okay but I was surprised to see a pan of meat labelled "Prime Rib."

The meat had been cut into 3" x 3" chucks about an inch or so thick and displayed in a pan of some sort of liquid. I've never seen prime rib displayed in such a manner before so I decided to try a piece although I was skeptical of the signs claim. I had every right to be.

In my professional opinion. the beef, and it was beef, was chuck. Chuck has an unmistakable flavor and is stringy and tends to be dry is overcooked. It is best served a little pink but that is hard to maintain on a buffett line.

Prime rib differs from a rib eye in thatg it is cooked as a roast so only the outside is browned and when sliced, the meat is a bright pink. If overcooked, it will tough but not become dry like chuck does.

I know now why the pan was still full even though it was after the normal 11-2 lunch crowd had finished eating.

Will I go back to Hibachi Grill? The price was reasonable: For all one can eat plus drink, the bill was like $10 and some change. The food was fair. I would have to be in one of those moods where nothing but chinese food will satisfy me and I am already in Asheboro, and have to other place to go to satify my cravings to consider it.

Half Price

Obama said he would reduce the decifit by 50% by the end of his first term. Most people take that to mean that he would run a surplus high enough that the national debt would decrease. But it is becoming obvious that what he means is that if the deficit was 4 billion dollars additional to the existing debt in year one thyen by year four the country will only go into debt an addtionbal $2 billion dollars.

New Lights for Randleman

New traffic lights are being installed at the intersection of Academy and Old High Point Road in Randleman. That intersection is the site of the third round-a-bout. I am assuming the lights are being installed as a means to redirect traffic safely as work is done on the intersection to change it from an intersection to the traffic circle and are not meant to be a permanent feature, just like the jobs that were "created" from our stimulus money, which is where the money came from to build the round-a-bout.

Mabarak resigns

What a difference a few hours make. I listened to his speech with interestexpecting to hear him announce his resignation. At the beginning of the speech he promised tio give the people what they wanted. Apparently Obama did too because Obama had announced earlier in the day that history would be made when Mubarak gave his speech. In a way, I suppose it was because it is the first time I ever remember a US President making an announcement of grave importance and being wrong.

Mubarak said in his speech he would not cave to foreign pressure which I understood to mean he didn't give a damn what Obama wanted so I doubt he changed his mind because Obama was embarrassed he announced something was going to happen that didn't. Murbarak probably believed that if he assured the people that he would use his remaining time in office to ensure a smooth transition out of office the people would accept that and go on home. He was wrong.

What happened in Eygpt is a rare event indeed. Most revolutions require plenty of bloodshed. I was pleased when the Army moved in to protect the protesters from attacks by pro-government forces.

Thinking back over US history, had the mindset of today been the prevailing mindset 150 years ago, would history then judge Lincoln to be barbaric? How often today does sentiment rest with the factions in a country trying to separate itself from the mother country like in the breakup of the Soviet Union?

The Eygptians toppled their government peacefully and Sudan divided itself without bloodshed and all this happened within the month. How sad that the Islamic nations cannot let Israel abide in peace. The Jewish people have been the subject of so much hate and violence over the course of their history and only wants to live in peace. Considering what they have been through it is quite understandable their reluntance to trust any Arab country.

I wish that the peaceful change of governement as a result of the Eygptian revolution was the prelude to peace in the middle east but in truth may prove only the beginning of the next global war. If the brotherhood get a good foothold on the leadership, who is to stop them?

Not us, I'm afraid.

What Obama said

"What is absolutely clear is that we are witnessing history unfold," Obama told a crowd

In Obama's statements yesterday propr tp Mubareks sepech Obama left listeners with the impression that Muberek intended to step down immediately but as we all know from Mubareks speech yesterday it just isn't going to happen. It also seemed apparent that the USA had suggested strongly that Mubarek resign and I believe Obama was sure he had convinced Mubarek to do so but the truth is Obama failed in his attempt to control events in Egypt and has actually ended up with egg on his face for announcing a change which wasn't.

Video Won't Work

I have been trying to upload a short video to my blog for two days but it just won't do it and BLOGGER is no help has they have a forum, not a help section, and I don't have time to sit around and wait on someone to answer that thing.

Does anyone have any useful ideas?

The clip is less than six minute's long and in the video file of om computer under documents.

Free Sermon

Reasons NOT to attend One Way Baptist Church in Randleman:

1. The church is small
2. The church building is small
3. The church has few programs
4. The preacher is long winded
5. The preacher is old-fashioned
6. The preacher is not an apologist
7. The preacher is not an expositor
8. The church is not a social club

Reasons to attend One Way Baptist Church:

1. The church is small but wants to grow by adding converts and workers
2. The church has few programs but lots of opportunities
3. The preacher is long-winded and we view it as a good thing as it is inspired preaching.
4. The preacher is old fashioned
5. The preacher is not an apologist
6. The preacher is not an expositor
7. The church has a strong belief in God and trust in Jesus Christ and a love for one another that is rarely found.
8. It is a little light in a dark place. Come early; seating is limited and the services are inspiring.

Sarah Palin, serious candidate or laughing stock?

John mcCain was desperate to revitalize a dying campaign. He needed to find a candidate that would counter Clinton, Obama, and youth as his running mate. He was viewed as too old, too white, and too much like George W. Bush. Who better, he thought, than a young, beautiful, dynamic, proven candidate to shore up his sinking campaign. He choose Sarah Palin.

It didn't work for him. It could have had she been someone people could take seriously. She has the charisma, the fire, and the ambition to be more than she is capable of being. Many men, in thier dreams, are capable of pitching that perfect game in a World Series, or put on a exhibition of broken field running in pulling out the Super Bowl for their team, but it reality all we can do is buy some tickets to a regular season game.

Reality just hasn't sunk in for Sarah Palin yet. When it comes to answering substance questions like "what newspspaers do you read?" or "What was the Reagan Doctrine" or any of a host of other questions a viable candidate should know, she doesn't have a clue.

Adolph Hitler was a master of emotion, as are Penecostal Holiness preachers. if a person can get the mindless masses all worked into an emotional fernzy, they can lead you anywhere, even into murdering millions of people and into putting your life on the line in the belief you deserve to rule the world.

The truth is, the people were innocent and the world is just too big and nasty to be ruled by anyone man. Few us us ever make it to the big leagues. Sarah Palin is like the Scare Crow on the Wizard of Oz: she may be lovable but "if she only had a brain".

Too True

One of my co-workers asked me todday "Who will win the Super Bowl, Pittsburg or Green Bay?" and I said "yes".

It takes one to know one.

"Religious leaders are masters of intimidation and veiled threats, and their followers aren’t much better"

According to a blogger, teachers do a poor job of teaching evolution in schools because they are afraid of religious people. Balderdash and baloney.

Evolution is a theory and arguing with a religious person is no more like arguing with a wall than to argue with a contraction that those little red squares are bricks. Just because you do not believe in God or the Genesis account of creation does not make it not so. To a religious person who accepts that premise as true, you are the one who is stubborn and foolish .

I can make the statement that evolutionists have had to use the constitutional provision meant to protect people from the government forcing a particular form of worship upon them to prevent the truth from being taught in school because they just don't want to accept the truth.

That statement might not be true either.

Maybe the truth is that many teachers are just not convinced that evolution is anything more than a theory and not a provable at that and maybe many accept the biblical account of creation and are being forced to teach something that they themselves do not believe is true.

On Purpose?

I wonder sometimes if Duke loses a basketball game on purpose? With just a little over 4 weeks until the NCAA playoffs begin, I wonder if Duke lost the game just to put themselves in a better position to win? I mean, St. John's at just lost 5 out of 6 games and Duke just moved from 4Th to third in the rankings. To have played so poorly and lost to a struggling team so badly almost seems like it had to be done intentionally. Making only 1 of 13 three point shots and shooting only 27% from the field is bad play against anyone but against St. Johns this year has to be embarrassing. The final score was 93-78. Whenever have you heard of Duke losing that bad?

Sometimes being undefeated and all powerful works to a teams advantage by them being able to intimidate opponents but sometimes it can inspire other teams to play on a higher level. Sometimes being the best can make a team cocky and overconfident. maybe Duke thinks that if it comes into the tournament looking less than perfect and beatable it might not intimidate other teams but not inspire them too play at that higher level either, enabling Duke to play thier normal game and increase their changes for success.

The weather

Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day while today promises to be anything but. Wednesday may be warm but also rainny. Winter isn't over by a long shot and with the word snow in the forcast next week, we might expect another panic at the grocery stores although that is usually not necessary.

Last week I was told "they changed the forcast and we are expecting bad snowstorms Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday."

Yea, that was true but only if one lived in the North East. North Carolina is not in the North East.

It may snow again this year. Winter isn't officially over until March 20th although snow after that date is always a possibility. Last year we did have some cold snaps after that date that spoiled some plantings of mine. I'll not make that mistake again this year. Most years my seedlings would have been okay but last year was just freaky because winter, although warm so they say, just didn't seem to want to go away. I'm hoping this year when its over, its over.

Still, I'll be mor cautious /this year in protecting my tender plants.

I've got my garden pace layed out and a brand new garden tiller to help me this year.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Days like yesteday have me dreraming of spring. People were firing up the grill yesterday and enjoying nature. Today, it's back inside, especially if we get any of the rain in the forecast.

Well, stay warm and stay dry and be in church on Sundays.

Singing the Star Spangled Banner

I think I mentioned this in another post but there is again another controversy about the song. Seems a 16 year old girl has been instructed to sing the song the traditional way after some complaints and now there are cries of racism because she is black.

In my opinion, color has nothing to do with how the song is sung and accepted as okay or rejected as not okay. When the song is sung the way it is supposed to be sung it leaves me with chill bumps. When singers try to change it, especially the last line, it leaves me cold. I believe if a singer really understood the circumstances surrounding the events described in that song, they would be less likely to "make it their own" and realize it belongs to everyone.

I've heard song in there original version and it was good but a singer came along and sung it their way and not only had a hit but made a classic out of it. Other times I've heard singers take a great song, try to make it their own, and left the song as forgettable as the singer was. But singing the Star Spangled Banner isn't about changing a song so the singer will be remembered or trying to sing a version that will become unforgettable, but about honoring those who held up the flag under the tremendous bombardment by the British Naval forces and the effect that had on the war prisoners.

Change the tune if you will: just make it about the men who died and what they died for and not about you.

The History of Baseball by Ken Burns

Excellent work of art.

I finished the movie and donated it to the library in Randleman so stop in and check it out.

News 14 online poll

Should community colleges have the ability to ban admission to students who appear to pose a significant threat?
Yes
No
Only if they are American citizens.

(re-posted from Marvin's Observations)

Baseball
I am really enjoying the tapes my son gave me for Christmas about baseball. It's great to explore the history of the game and to learn the personalities of some of the old players, managers and innovators of the game.

Growing up I played a lot of sports. I played football and ran the mile on the track team as well as playing baseball. I remember my first track meet. I really had no training but was drafted by the coach after my performance on "field day", an event in which all the students were required to entire at least three events. I choose pull-ups, the softball throw, and the mile run. I finished second in pull-ups and was leading in the softball throw until a much bigger boy made his toss and beat me by three yards. I won my heat in the mile run, beating one of the track stars who ran that event on the track team.

When I ran my first race at College Park Junior High, I didn't not know about pacing myself and gave out at the end of the third leg and was soon passed by all the other runners. I wanted to give up when all the other runners had finished and I still had a hundred or so yards to go. The fans encouraged me to finish so I did to a cheering crowd. It felt great.

I did some amazing things playing football, especially considering I was a little fellow back then. I was especially good at kick-off and punt returns and my aggressive running style made me a hard man to tackle but as the other players grew and I didn't it proved to be a more painful experience than I cared to endure.

To some, baseball seems a slower and more subdued game than football but I find that true only if one views the game as a whole rather than concentrating on individual battles, defensive posturing, and strategies.

Most sports play not only against another team but also against the clock and often times a game seems foolish when it becomes obvious that the losing team cannot possible win, even if the team that is ahead goes home but the game still goes on because there is time left on the clock. That is the height of boredom to me.

In baseball, it does not matter how far behind one team is they always have a chance to win. As long as they do not make three outs, an inning can last forever. The game is simple yet intricately difficult at the same time.

My Dad and his three sons played backyard football for five years in a vacant lot beside the house and once Dad understood the rules of the game, he and I never lost to my two brothers until the very last time we played. He had gotten too old to move quickly and I had grown too fat to run.

It was fun but since my two brothers played together, I believe that had much to do with the strained relationship among us. My two brother remained close but I have always been left out of the loop.

Baseball, on the other hand, forged lasting memories from the earliest days from playing cow pasture ball in the nurseries in Longview, NC where my older brother, because of a speech impediment, was call a swoosh hitter to the end of my baseball career when, in much pain, I asked the coach to remove me from the game.

I played sand lot ball, little league, pony league, Babe Ruth League, and on school teams and outlaw baseball. My Dad would gather up a bunch of kids and we would travel from ball field to ball fields in search of other people playing. We would stop and challenge them to a game. Eventual this practice led to an organized league with firm schedules and even a state tournament in Kings Mountain, NC.

Such things didn't happen in basketball, track, football, or any other sport that I am aware of.

Unlike many other sports where the best teams can go all season and dominate every team they play like winning all 12 or 15 footballs games or going 32-0 in basketball, no such domination occurs in baseball. Over the course of a season, the team with the better players will most likely win the championship but every game is unique. Ever the Mets won forty games their first season.

When one see a man that is six foot five, he is asked "Did you play basketball?' and when you see a big man at over six feet and twohundred and fifty pounds, he is asked "Did you play football?" The is no such look for baseball players. Some professionals have been big men at six-eight and somme have been less than three feet tall.

I think too, that with the opportunity to play a lot more games in one season than in other sports, there is more room for memories.

Of all the sermons my Dad preached, I can remember the title of only one because he preached the same message on the first Sunday of the New Year and I can recall a few, but now many, of the things he said while I was growing up in his home, but my head and heart of full of things he said and did on the baseball field. Baseball was he passion and a way of sharing with his children, a bond that was never broken with his family.

My dream for retirement is to once again to be able to participate in a ball game by being a coach, not for the glory of winning, for life is more about losing than winning, but for the memories the game leaves us with and the reflection of life that the game reveals.

It is the greatest game of all time.

Ingenious

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Green Bay, Wis., woman opened a Christmas present from her children to find a refurbished vacuum - and a load of drugs.

Authorities say the woman found 2 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 2.2 pounds of cocaine shrink wrapped inside the box. Sheriff's officials estimate the drugs' street value at about $280,000.

Lt. David Poteat (poh-TEET) tells the Green Bay Press-Gazette that a smuggler likely put the drugs in the box before it was shipped from the Juarez, Mexico, area, where it had been reconditioned.

Poteat says no one noticed anything, including the department store where it was purchased, until the woman opened the package.

Sheriff's officials say the store is cooperating with the investigation


Opps! someone on the receiving end goofed up and missed an important delivery. What an ingenious smuggling method.

Murder most foul

In 1999, 1300 women were murdered by an intimate parnter in the United States. Notall the couples were redneck, ghetto dwelling, drugged out, metally disfunctional, or alcohol inhibited. some were doctors, lawyers, wealthy, preachers, Sunday School teachers, regular school teachers, and what we like to think are normal, everyday kind of people.

In that same year, 1999, there were over 800,00 women assualted by thier lovers. i have no figures on how many men were killed and/or battetred by their female partner or the vi0olence involved in same-sex relationships.

I do know there are far better ways to handle ones problems.

Strange but true

A few years ago my aunt and uncle gave my mom a clock. It is a common type electric clock that is used by a bedside to tell time and to sound an alarm. It is an inexpensive model not unlike those one finds in any discount retailer. The only trouble with the clock is that it doesn't keep time very well.

The digital readout will advance 10 to 15 minutes every day so one has to either reset the clock four times a day, rely on an additional source to time, or replace the defective clock. I did that for her a year and a half ago.

I had also given Mom a digital clock that Christmas and had placed mine in her kitchen window so I just swapped the two clocks. I cannot remember if I plugged the defective clock in and later unplugged it or if I just never ever plugged it in but I do know the clock has been setting in her kitchen windowsill for the longest time.

Yesterday Mom noticed a faint light, glowing red, coming from the window. It was the unplugged digital alarm clock and the face where the time is usually displayed had a message.

The message said "Jesus is the answer".

Ice

It's not snow-it's ice.

They say don't venture out unless yiou have too.

For today, I'd say don't venture out even if you have too.

It's three am and its still coming down and it looks very dangerous out there.

Whatever you need at Wal-mart can wait.

victims

(Top Row L-R) Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green, Giffords and Federal Judge John Roll. (Bottom Row L-R) Phyliss Schneck, Gabe Zimmerman, Dorothy Morris and Dorwan Stoddard

A cold Day

I really look forward to gettinh home from work, especially during the colder months. I work in a cold environment and sometimes it seems I'll just never get warm.

Yesterday morning I woke to the faint smell of an electrical burn but I dismissed it because I wake for work not long after my wife retires for the day and thought perhaps it was an ordor lingering from something she might have cooked.

I arrived home from work a little after three yesterday afternoon to a very cold house. Yesterday was one of those very rare occasions when my wife works normal hours and thought perhaps she had cut the heat back to save some energy. I was not going to mess with the thermostat but it was just too cold so finally I decided to turn up the heat a little.

The thermostat didn't respond. I checked the unit in the back of the house to see if some theft sabotaged my AC unit but it was fine. I checked the circuit breaker box and the one to the AC/furnance had bee tripped so I flipped it back on but the furnance still wouldn't kick on and the thermostat still showed a blank dial.

I guess I will find out how much the repair man cost me after my wife wakes up in the morning. I know it will be more than it should because he had to meet a man in Hogh Point to get a new part because "the part on your unit is an odd one."

So what else is new?

DNA clears Texas man who spent 30 years in prison

It seems another screw up has been corrected way to late. Almost all the exonerees have been black and some were convicted because of faulty eye-witness testimony, with held evidence, over zealous prossecution, and of course bigotry. I've read of cases where the defendant was able to prove they were hundreds of miles away from the scene of the crime when it was committed and were still convicted.

I learned at an early age how hurtful bigotry can be and how people are judged wrongly just because of the color of their skin.I'm not a bleeding heart liberal but I am mindful of how I would want to be treated and give others the same due. After all Christ loved them just as much as He loved me.

Sampaloc, Rizal, Philippines

Back in the early 70's between tours of Vietnam, I was stationed in the Philippines in a small base located near San Miquel, Zambalas and loved every minute I was in that country. Great people, great food, lots to do with easy access to the mountains and beach, easily affordable prices on everything, and just a beautiful place with great weather most of the time.

I always dreamed of retiring there.

Church Vandalism

Thursday Dec 30, 2010 someone vandalized the church sign at One Way Baptist Church in Randleman. The church is located on Sunset just off Stout street. I reported a few weeks back that the church was creating a stir in town and I guess this act of vandalism is one way the devil has of fighting back.

Thank you Satan for the church will use this act of childishness to God's advantage, or rather God will use this act of vandalism to the good of the church.

We will say a prayer for the vandals tonight. One day they will be punished whether in this life or another unless they accept Jesus as their saviour then this vile act will be blotted out.

I'll see you in church.

baseball and Christmas

I received a collection of DVDs about baseball from my son for Christmas. I love the sport,played a lot in my younger days, coached some little league, and have a lot of memories about my father "Ninth-inning Ed"a superb player himself.

The gift is history of the game from its inception through todays game and is contained in 6 2-disk sets. I am half-way through the first disk and look forward to many hours of enjoyment.

beautiful snow

Christmas day was nice as I went to my in-laws for dinner. Actually my wife and I furnished the ham and she made the deviled eggs, strawberry salad and yams, and her sister brought the white potatoes and green beans and my wifes brother-in-law did the cooking and cleaning.

After dinner my wife and I came home and watched "Home Alone" (We had watched the "Christmas Story" early) and built a fire in the fireplace. It was relaxing, romantic, and peaceful.

Sunday I had to work which won't have been so bad but the seafood clerk called out so I had to deal with two departments. I was the only one in the meat department and it was busier than it should have been on such a cold, wet, miserable day but since people didn't have to work and couldn't make it to church, they decide to go grocery shopping and to the movies.

It's amazing where people put their priorities.

Some otherwise nice people seem angry but I have better use of my time than trying to get even or get ahead because we all die in the end and I'd much rather be happy than vindictive.

I love the line from that song "You are so vain you think this song is about you."

Anyway, I was disappointed that the snow cancelled church services but that will only make the next time we meet than much sweeter.

My Mom got home from the mountains yesterday just fine. BTW, the picture is of Mom who isn't bad looking for 85.

TJ back in Jail

TJ in Jail
For those of you who were long ago readers of this blog you may recall the lady who was the main character in my book "Queen of Southgate" the herione who saved a little boy from a fire. She is back in jail in Guilford County.

After being released from prison she vowed to go straight and found a boyfriend but he's a loser like all her other boyfriends and she was soon arrested again. She was given a court date and released but before she could go to court she was re arrested on old charges from Cumberland County.

Her new boyfriend surprised me and bailed her out, even after I advised him against doing so, but it was his heart and money on the line.

She never made it back to court and she never made that turn around she promised herself. She has been arrested again on burglary charges and now faces failure to appear, drug paraphenalia charges, as well as probation violation and the new burlary charges. She will also have to go back to Cumberland county to face those charges as well as soon as Guilford county is finished with her.

Another woman from the same book has cleaned up her act, gotten married, and is working as a care giver and is working to obtain her nursing certificate so she can improve her work situation.

Good luck to them both.

I survived Christmas 2010.

Business was unbelievable this year. The store Iwork in was the second busiest store in the entire chain, beaten only by Norcross in Charlotte. i was mentally beaten when I walked into work at 5 this morning, dreading having to face another day but resigned to get through it as cheerfully as possible.

I think my last customer was the one i made the happiest as she was looking for a roast of a certain size and all we had were either too small or too large. I believe she thought i would tell her to take her pick of what we had and leave her in a quardry.

If I was her and in a grocery store that is the answer I would have expected as that is the way things usually are. But instead of that, I cut her a roast to the exact size she wanted, did it cheerfully, and did it without being asked to do it. she was very happy. One lady wanted me to cut two pie4ces of link sausage into ultra thin slices and another wanted a filet cut into pieces about a quarter of the size of fondue.

Holidays can be stressful times: trying to find the right gift for that special person, picking up a last minute gift for someone you had overlooked, planning the family meal, dealing with inlaws dropping in, etc. The last thing one needs to deal with is store personel with an unpleasant attitude or unwillingness to help.

For me the Christmas eve shopping rush is over. My poor wife had to go in to deal with the rush of last minute shoppers. Don't expect much from where she works as her place of business is about saving you money. The truth is, I couldn't have done what I did today unless my employer made in possible but great coustomer service comes at a price. But don't expect to pay bottom dollar and get top dollar help.

What a difference

Since joining One Way Baptist I have noticed a change in myself. I have not made an effort to change but I am different somehow. I have noticed customers are opening up to me now and have even received some extra nice feed back from customers.

One lady told me I was sweet and another wanted to thank me personally for thwe extra effort made in processing her order. She noticed I was only wearing one hearing aid and asked if I was going to replace it. "I can't afford too" I said and she reached for her wallet to offer me some cash to help me buy another hearing aid. I thought she was going to cry there for a moment when I politely refused her offer.

I have always been good at my job but it was like I operated using a formula -going through the motions, as some would say. This year I seem to have more concern for the customer. I've always greeted them with a smile in a timely manner, listened to their problem, found the solution and watched them go on their way a satisfied customer. That's my job.

This wek I discovered one lady I've waited one for years has been a loyal Harris-Teeter customer for forty-five years. I could feel the love one customer had for her two sons as she picked up her childrens favorite food for the holidays.

There are less of us this year and business is more brisk than ever and it is very stressful but somehow it is all good this year.

See you in church.

Sunday services

Unless severe winter weather (yes, all weather between dec 20 and march 21 is winter weather) forces One Way to close, Sunday morning services will be held at the regular time on December 26 so if your church calls off services you are more than welcome to visit with One Way.

We are not interested in luring away members from other churches but if you do not have a church you regulary attend you are more than welcome.

Check us out on the link at the bottom of the blog page at faith hop and love ministries.

See you in church Sunday.

What is the meaning of the twelve days of Christmas

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were

not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone

during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning

plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each

element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality

which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'

Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone

man-up

I think that is the new way of saying stand up and be a man. I've had on my mind the story of Adam and Eve. Satan talked Eve into trying ther fruit from the forbidden tree and she offered some to Adam who willingly took some of the fruit.

He should have refused but he didn't so when God cam looking for him he hid because he knew he was naked. When God asked him how he knew he was naked, Adam replied that Eve offered him some of the fruit of the forbidden tree. "It is her fault," he claimed.

He should have manned-up about what happened. Would it have made a difference?

I don't know but it would sure be refreshing to hear someone accept responsibility for their own screw-up rather than place the blame on someone else.

Delightful

We had our Christmas program at church tonight and it was absolutely delightful. The kids had practiced long and hard and did an excellent job with thier parts and the program was worthy of churches with much more to work with than tiny One Way does.

We had a fair number of visitors tonight and I can tell great things are getting ready to happen there. Every large church started out small just like every great man began life as a baby. And just like that baby, one must grow or perish so don't judge this congregation as unworthy because we are few. This is a great opportunity to get in on the beginning of a great work.

We will have a morning service on December 26.

If coming from Asheboro, take the 311 exit and turn south onto 311. Turn left at the first intersection onto Stout Street and travel a mile or two until you get to Sunset. make a right onto Sunset and the church will be about a block down on the left.

Ill see you in church Sunday.

Weather

Durin the overly hot sumnmner season we all wished for cooler weather but this is getting ridiculous.

I am looking forward to the childrens Christmas performance tomorrow night even though we know that Christ wasn't born in December, we still celebrate His birthday them so the Catholic church could take in more donations. Really, that's the reason for a winter birthday celbration. The important thing here though is why Christ was born.

I know some people don't believe in Christ and some don't believe in God either but that doesn't change reality. Even some who have atended church in their youth and claim to be Christians haven't a clue either, like the woman critical of Sarah Palin who claims that because she believes the bible, the verse in Genesis that man shall have dominion over the earth and she was annointed at her church that it means that she believes she has been chosen by God to be a ditator over America. If that wasn't so ridiculous it would be funny.

Really, the best kind of Christianity is that practiced by pre-teens with their child-like innocence. maybe that's why I amn looking forward to the childrens program at church.

Frozen Fish

Not a good shot of a fish but a good shot of ice covering a fish. Showa isn't enjoying the cold but will survive. No food until the spring thaw though.

Lonely Headstone

Near the place I once lived is this headstone under a tree right by an intersection in the front lawn of a church. The church has a cemetery on the other side of the building but this particular person or persons chose to be buried by themselves away from everyone else. I passed this headstone almost everyday for years and always promised myself I would stop to see whose grave it was. I had a curiosity about it.

Did the people buried there think perhaps being laid to rest there was a honor or was it a case of the church being obligated to furnish them a grave site but didn't want them buried next to anyone else? Were they so disliked in life that they are even shunned in death?

From the neat surrounding of the grave and the fresh flowers it appears that someone does care, either about the people buried in the grave or in appearances.

The way the grave is laid, it is as if there was something the people (it appears to be husband and wife) there wanted to see but there is a house, a building for retail stores, and a convenience store on the other three corners of the intersection, none of which are particularly view worthy.

It can't be just the church or the neighborhood that the couple wanted to be buried near for being in the same cemetery with everyone else would have been just fine for that. Either the family thinks its so special that they felt the need to shun everyone else as too common or they were themselves the shunned ones I can't answer.

I know now who is buried there but not why that particularly spot or when they lived and died. I do know that living outside the mainstream is lonely, whether one chooses to live apart or forced too, it's just lonely and uncomfortable. Too want to portray being different and outside of mainstream society for as long as ones grave marker lasts is not an idea that appeals to me.

See you in church Sunday.

Catching up on my reading

Since its bee so cold outside, I've been spending my day mostly indoors catching up on my reading. I did help the preacher lay some safety strips on the ramp at the church and took him out to lunch for his birthday but its indoors for the most part.

Even though I had a novel published and an article in Our State magazine I am not an accomplished writer. I don't have talent; just a willingness to put forth an effort. If I had half the talent as Dr. J I would be a successful writer.

My Dad was a preacher and I can understand why so many churches have what seems to be generic sermons, nice to hear and basicly biblically correct but lacking something important.

It's kind of like most people's idea of Jesus Christ: meek, mild, non confrontaional, easy going, caring, and loving. The whole truth is, He wasn't like that at all.

Can you imagine the scene at church if a visitor got up in the preacher face and told him he was a snake and a liar. Well, Jesus told the Pharasees that they were a generation of vipers and then truth wasn't in them.

What about the time Jesus told the rich man to sell all that he had or the time he told a man to let the dead bury the dead.

Being a pastor has to be a tough job because people wear their feeling on their sleeves. I don't believe in catering to people just to get them to attend church. It doesn't matter what seems right to man but what the truth of God is.

Christianity isn't a set of rules and laws but a relationship and fellowship with Jesus Christ and church is a social club but a gathering of like-minded believers who help bolster one another and to spread the word about God's plan of salvation.

See you in church Sunday.

Unusual service

I hgrew up attending church but I didn't much like it and hated the preaching. It was long, dry and boring and my favorite words were "and in conclusion." I do remember one preacher, Rev Rowles. He was a big man with a little woman as a wife and a fat nerdy son who scored a perfect score on his SAT. Rev, Rowles told a lotof stories about himself from when he was in the Army.

I quit going to church shortly after starting college necause the local church never talked about Jesus. It was somehow offensive to me so I quit going for three years. My senoir year I went to church every Sunday. First I went with Sandra to early Mass, then with Linda to the 10 o'clock service at the second Baptist Church and hurried to meet Pam at the Methodist church.

In the evening I went to a Luthern church and the an Espiscopalian.

I never went while I was in the service and only attended churches my dad preached at or pastored. When I moved away from where he lived I seldom went until I moved to High Point. I started attending a small church near the house but there was something just not right there and I believe I stayed mainly to figure out what was wrong rather than for any other reason. After a year or so the pastor resigned and we got this man with really weird views and aftger several months I just could not handle him any more.

For the last fifteen years my attendance has been spotty at best and even when I attended on a semi-regular bases, if I missed a few Sundays no one seemed to mind. Maybe they would have cared more if I had been a member but I didn't want to join with a bunch of people who didn't care if I was there or not.

Eventually I quit going all together. It seems that God had something He wanted me to do but no one seemed to care if I did it from their church. Then one day I was driving along and saw this little white church and wondered what kind of people went there. A bunch of non conformist nuts, I supposed. Then one day I come home and there is a note from the preacher at One Way Baptist Church inviting me to church and inquiring about my salvation. My wife had placed it where she placing my mail and when she pointed it out, she said "Do you think you wahnt to go?" I said I didn't know.

I drove by the little white church and I wondered about the people attending there. I really couldn't see myself attending such a place as this yet I couldn't get the invite out of my mind. One Sunday my wife and I had a Sunday off together and I asdked her if she wanted to go. She said she would. I thought maybe the service started at 11 but it was already half over when we came in. We were greated warmly and as the preacher preached I saw my wife smile and I caught myself drinking in every word.

We are now members of that little white church.

Yesterday, because of the weather, the members had decided to call off the preaching part and to meet just to let the children practice their parts for the Christmas program. Then the preacher said he cot to thinking that the evening service is the only time I can attend so he prepared a little message just in case.

The evening service the pastor lets Robert and Dennis take turns preaching and Robert want to take his turn. He wanted to keep it short because this was just supposed to be a meeting to allow the kids to practice. The pastor said he had prepared a message and he wasn't going to preach it, he just wanted to share some highlights. As he shared we began to encourage him to keep on.

As it turned out, the kids never did get to practice and I got to hear two sermons in one service.

Unlike when I was a kid, I hung on every word and wished it would never end.

See you in church one day.

I could write a book

during the courseof my life I've heard many people express the sentiment "You should write a book about that" or say "I could write a book" yet few people attempt, relatively speaking and far fewer every succeed in finishing a book. It is fewer still who actually punish one and just a handful who actually make any money at it.

I think it is easier to becaome a professional athelete than it is a successful author. I was pleased when my first novel was accepted for publication becuase that put me in the companyof a select few. I have even been paid for an article I wrote for a magazine, so maybe that makes me a professional writer. I'm not quite sure what qualifies one to be called a professional or a successful writer.

I do know outside of that one small check, I have never made any money at writing.
People that have read my book have told me they really enjoyed it not many have been willing to fork over any money for it.

That's the wau it is in life.

But instead of saying, I could write a book, go ahead and do it. Have a copy self-published. Even that small step is far more than most people do. A small accomplishment true, but an accomplishment notheless.

See ya in church.

Good People

My mother-in-law, a citizen of Asheboro, took one of the vans used to transport those who can't drive for a doctor visit last week. There was another lady on the bus who didn't have on a coat on one of the coldest days of the week.

The van driver asked the lady about her lack of a jacket and the elder lady said she didn't have one.

The bus driver took hers off and gave it to her passenger.

She later told my mother-in-law she does it all the time because she likes to do her little part to make this a better world.

This is the season to be scurrying about in search of Christmas gifts for our friends and family. If we are too busy to help other maybe, at least, we could stop and thank our unsung heroes like the driver of this van.

never seen this in the papers

Gosh, I've seen birth annoucements, birthday announcements, and death announcements. People get promoted, married, divorced, robbed, arrested, in an accident, make a movie, cheat on their spouce, hit a little white ball into a hole or hit one over a fence, kick an oval ball between two poles, or drive around in circles really fast and all get into the papers.

But get born again and nary a word. Why is that, exactly?

Which came first?

An age old question but I want to ask it in another way. Which came first: God or human beings?

Is there a God who created everything or is God a creation of the human mind? Many will answer that god is the creation of humans who grasped for the meaning of life and to understand what was happening in nature. It was the primitive, uneducated and unlighted man that needed a superior being to understand how things worked. science and modern thinking prove there is no god.

God seems to be silent and evil things occur in the world on a daily bases. Recent studies have shown that chimps are evolving at a faster rate than humans (which doesn't make sense to me if humans evolved from chimps, how can chimps be evolving faster that people?).

To help me understand the conclusion of the matter, I will attack the problem from both ends and work towards the middle.

On the one hand there is the newly created or evolved human being, all alone in his existence, something truly unique in that he could walk upright and he could cry and he could reason problems out and act on those solutions.

At the other end we have the modern man with years of knowledge and accomplishments.
In between one can find unspeakable acts of cruely and horror and unbelievable actsd of courage and kindness. Is the human being indeed an evolved animal or just a mutation gone bad, as all mutants seem to be?

A mutant is a creature born radically different from its parents. Examples would be a two headed cat, or an eight legged turtle. Mutants seldom survive long and never replicate themselves. There are freaks of nature and somthing that might indicate that birth and living is just a roll of the dice, a radom uncontrolled occurance. Most human babies are male or female but some seem to be born as either or neither. Most babies are born normal but some are born mutatred or diseased or abnormal while others seems to have special gifts and talents than seem way beyond belief. is this just a random occurence or according to some design plan?

Can I prove that God exists? No. Can I prove he does not esist. No. I have to view natureand determine from it whether God does not or does exist and then if I believe He does exist, just who or what He is and how I am to relate to Him.

If I study nature and conclude there is no God, can I accurately conclude that there is evolution? Ancient man believed in God but never fully understood who or what god was, giving rise to many different beliefs. Evolutionis the concept of modern man. Such stuff as that never occurred to prior generations. Evolutionists teach, or once taught, the therory of survival of the fitest.

It seems that whatever was just was and there were no life forms anywhere to be found. Then we had this big bang. It could have been an explosion, a loud noise, or just two elemnts coming together through a freak of nature that had never occured befor but suddenly there was life. A simple one cell creation. This simple creation wasneither male nor female but had the ability to divide itself into two parts, but just like the original. What is most amazing is that in order to survive it needed food and there just happened to be ready available food for it to eat.

It would have to be that the food didn't like being eaten so decided to change into something different in order to survive. Unbelievable as it is, when the food changed into something that the first animal would not like to eat, the first animal changed itself into an animal that just happened to like what the plant changed itself into. So now evolution has begun.

Many years later an animal, supposedly a chimp, decide to develop a brain so he could outhinkhis food and have a decided advantage in this world over everything, not just his food of choice. But in order to get the brain the chimp had to be born without hair or fur that would serve to protect it from the extremes of weather, or hoves or pads on its feet to protect it from the ravishes of nature.

Now whether this hairless creature decide to change the color of its skin depending on what part of the world it settled into or whether different chimps decided to evolve into harless creature with a brain at the same time but each choice a different skin color for lack of a more defined purpose, I have no clue.

From a one cell animal with no enemies the first creature has evolved into something that needs to kill in order to survive and needs to destroy and change its environment in order to thrive. In the beginning, the one celled animal lived at peace with its enviroment and could multiple at will with no need to attract a partner has evolved into a creature that has to attract an opposite to survive but accepts a normal and natural those specimens that are only attracted to lie kinds that cannot reproduce, which must kill other animals to survive via food and clothing or must destroy the homes of other creatures in order to produce the planrs needed for food and clothing and shelter.

For the survival of the world, the last thing this world needed was what this first creature turned out to be. The human knows it can not survive because of itself but has decided to expand its environment to included plantents far away from where the human now lives. If he succeeds, it will only come back to bite him in the butt,based on mankinds record to date.

On the other hand, we have the story of man creation and Gods love for that man and mans rebellious nature, and how God has provided a way for man to redeem himself, and how things will end and begin again.

Evolution equates to doom without hope while Gos way is a way of hope. You decide.

Faithloveandhopeministries.com

www.Faithloveandhopeministries.com is the link I have at the bootom of the page but one wouldn't know it was there unless one rolls the little hand over the link. It is a beautiful web page with links you can click on to learn more about the Pastor and the church.

We had a dinner together tonight and it was great to fellowship together. Is Randleman the wicked little city I've heard it to be? Maybe so, and if it is, it needs a church like One Way. I'm excited about attending that cjurch and now that I'm a member I'm doubly excited.

If you would pay the church a visit I'm sure you'll find out what I'm excited about.

if you can'tcome a least visit the web page and if you are a Christian, remember One Way in your prayers.

A tough Concept

I posted a joke about earning ones way into heaven, which is how some people believe it is done. Salvation is a gift. Too simple yet still hard to comprehend.

There are lots of tough concepts out there. Vastness of existence is one of them. Even if there was an end to the universe, then there would have to be a void outside of that. If our universe is so large it is almost unreasonable to think that there is no other life out there and if we have been visited by UFO's and aliens from other worlds, would they not have to be more advanced than we are?

One fact of science is that something cannot be created from nothing yet there is something here so that proves there always had to be something. so where did that something come from?

It is almost inconceivable that in a vast emptiness, a life form just sprang into existence and that other life forms sprang up at the same time that supported that first life form and enabled it to survive.

Multiple life forms at the same time? Evolution focuses on animal lifeforms but let us not forget about plants. Where did the grasses and weeds and flowers and bushes and trees come from and why did they have the need to evolve?

And to think in a vast nothingness that multiple life forms sprang up not only in one place but multiple planets as well.

And you find God a hard concept. Evolution sounds nice to prove that there is no God but there is no proof of evolution. The exact opposite is true. Animals adapt, many changing colors to survive better or growing larger or smaller to adapt to the changes in the food supply but a bird is always a bird and a dog is always a dog.

Evolution at best would have to be a gradual process yet fossil study shows distinct and abrupt changes in life forms. No history of evolving is evident in nature.

Another thing doesn't make sense. If each change is to allow a species to better survive, then why did the chimp shed its protective covering for bear naked skin when it changed to a human? And why is did it give up is strength and ability to survive in the treetops? Physically, the human seems to be inferior to the chimps as having the ability to survive in the wild.

Maybe it is the concept of Gods love that throws you for a loop? Or the concept of free will. Some people have become confused over God's will and free will. When an innocent five year old girl is repeatedly raped, beaten, and finally murdered. it is not God's will that allowed that to happen. But would it be more fair if God commanded that we love and obey him and controlled our every thought and action?


As hard as the concept that God exists is for some people to grasp try the concept that God doesn't exist.

That's a tough concept.

Yahoo mail

I have e-mail accounts with msn (hotmail), google (gmail), roadrunner (triad.rr) and Yahoo. Yahoo keeps coming out with beta versions and I've tried them all and also goe back to yahoo classic. I used yahoo almost exclusivly until my e-mail accout was hi-jacked. I had all my contacts block me and now I can use the account for other reasons.

I don't like yahoo bets. It is too much like some of the other accounts and if I liked them I would not have stuck with yahoo classic.

Why do companies think they have to continually mess with success?

It's kind of like religion. There was nothing wrong with old-fashioned Christianity until college educated ministers tried to fix it and now Christians are fast becoming the most hated group of people in America.

Sometimes it is just best to leave it alone.

Are you missing the boat?

This post is more for the younger folks who may be just getting into their career but have not started saving toward retirement yet.

Get started.

I know the stock market has its ups and downs and has been volatile the last few years but that is no excuse.

I am not going to propose asavings plan for you. That is something you will have to decide on based on what is available to you but I just want you to get startred.

I once worked for an employer who matched by contributions to a 401k dollar for dollar but that isn't likely to happen again. My present boss does 50 cents on the dollar for the first 3%.

That doesn't seem like much but it works like this:

For every $1,500.00 I actually contributed to my savings account, my employer has added $1,100.00. The increase in the stock market over the last three years has added another $1600.00 to my balance.

In other words, I put $1100.00 into a savings account that is worth $4200.00. That includes the great dip in the stock market when people were losing 40 to 60 percent of their savings.

I admit it was hard but I kept telling myself that the lower the market got the more stocks I was buying per dollar invested. I was right because when the market began to recover, I recovered quickly.

I can't promise you that you will do as well with your savings plan as I have done with mine but i can't say you won't do better either. All I am saying is that if you save nothing you will have nothing but if you save a little, you may end up with a lot.

So get going on that.

PS Never touch it. You may move it around but never take anything away from the account.

Seriously.

The End

The way getting into heaven works is like this:

When a person is born an account is set up in their name and $10000.00 credited to that account. When that person does something good, money is added to that account and when the person does something unworthy money is deducted from that account. God's plan is the fee schedule for payments and charges.

The best chance for going to heaven is to die young or to live to be very very old. Young people haven't had the opportunity to commit the really expensive offenses and old people just can't get out and do those bad things as often, if at all.

When you die you really do checkout. You get to buy your place in eternity. If you did a lot of good stuff and have become rich then you get a nice place to live in forecver. If you barely hung onto your $10,000.00 you may be homeless and wilol have to haunt things on earth. Those who lost their money, well, you know how that ends too.

Tipping

I like good service and if I'm given really good service I can be a generous tipper. Sometimes even with poor service I'll tip good just to prove to the waitress that because I wasn't as well dressed as the people she was fawning over, I'm not nearly as big a jerk as they are.

I wasn't surprised but wadisappointed at how chep people were on Thanksgiving day. K & W was opened Thanksgiving day and the waitresses who worked would have rather been home with their families yet they worked to ensure that people had a traditional dinner for the holidays. When I left the restaraunt, I noticed that at the six empty table, each holding from four to six people, the waitress had received a total of two dollars in tips.

I guess people feel since they had to stand in line to get their food that the waitress didn'y work hard even to deserve a tip but the wait staff only make $4.35 an hour and depend on tips to feed their families and take care of themselves. maybe they don't deserve 15% or 20% like a regular waitress but would it have hurt anyone to tip a dollar? Hell, even 50 would have helped her out and afyter all, she did take that big tray away for you, refill your drinks, and brought you special condiments you asked for.

Don't be so cheap from now own, people.

The Light Bulb

The Light Bulb


Most people in the world know what a light bulb is and how it is used, although it is possibly true that not every person has owned one or even used one. Before the light bulb there was the campfire, oil lamps, and candles. It really hasn't been that many years, in terms of the length of time man has been around, that we have had use of a light bulb.

Until recently all light bulbs were nearly the same but now we have the pig tail looking ones, florescent bulbs really, that are much cheaper to use, and soon to be the rage is the LED bulbs which put out a brighter light and are cheaper still to use then the florescent bulbs. Florescent bulbs are expensive and the LED lights are more expensive still but the power usage is less for the florescent and even less for the LED and the length of time a bulb will last is 10 times greater for the florescent over the traditional incandescent bulbs and 20 times greater for the LED. Which one you use depends on where you choose to use it and whether you want to save money now or in the future.

The one thing that the campfire, the torch, the oil lamp, the candle, the incandescent bulb, the florescent blub and the LED bulb all have in common is light. With the exception of the campfire, the primarily purpose of all the sources of light is light. The campfire is perhaps built for heat and cooking but light a fireplace, light is a by product of the fire and could possibly be the reason for it.

The Holy Bible has a parable ( a story with a message) that says no one lights a candle and hides it under a basket. Or they shouldn't anyway or otherwise the light serves no purpose. But it reality, there are times when we do have lights we keep hidden. The refrigerator light is one. Honestly, we don't know if it works until we open the door and we will never know if it didn't turn off when we closed the door. One thing I do know it that a florescent bulb won't work properly in the refrigerator because it is too cold.

Most of the light bulbs we burn are for personal use but some are for the benefit of everyone, like street lamps and traffic lights. Some lights are colored and are a joy to look at like Christmas lights and other colored ones, while pretty, don't bring us joy, like those colored one atop a police car.

We are so used to the presences of light and light bulbs that we pay little attention when they are turned on. It is only when they should be on and aren't that we notice. Even so, some lights are more important than others. Jesus said He is the light of the world. As Christians, we should let the light of Christ shine so others may find their way. But the truth is, we don't always.

A group of Christians, like minded and assembling themselves together on a regular bases is known as a church. In the modern world, people have come to confuse the building where a church meets with the church itself. I have read that a thief had broken into a church when the truth is a thief broke into a church building. The church is the people, not the structure. So whenever I refer to the church or a church I am referring to the group of believers as a collective unit.

I wrote a book, Queen of Southgate, and while writing that book I meet many of the street people, drug dealers. prostitutes, and thieves in Greensboro and High Point, NC and I know they have chosen to live their life after their own desires but the truth is many of the wealthy I serve at work are in the same situation. I look at the children of the rich, the beautiful young girls and the handsome young men dressed in their fine clothes and proud of their good looks and wealth and the head start they have over the general populace in obtaining more wealth and prestige and influence over others and realize they too, chose to live their life after their own designs.

The world with all its glitz and glamor is truly a dark and lonely place. Just venture out one cold night without your cellphone or cash or transportation and one will soon learn what a cold, dark, and dangerous place we really do live in. In such a situation one only wants to find a way home, to find someone who can help them get there. They pray for daylight so they can see their way to a safer place.

A little light in a dark place, the beacon on the hill, the little white church in Randleman on Sunset, the son of God who is the light of the world. Men are lovers of darkness. Seek ye the light

A Personal Invitation

I want to extend a personal invitation to those from the area who regularly read my blog to come and visit me with me at One Way Baptist Church. Because of my work schedule I do not get to attend many morning services but I have made most of the night meetings. Today I was fortunate to get to attend both, one of therm with my wife.

At the very bottom of the blogs I have my first link up which is to the web page from the church so feel free to explore that and meet the pastor.

If anyone is aware of a building that isn't expensive that would make a good meeting place for a church please let us know because it will be soon that we will outgrow the small building we are meeting in now.

Again, I would love to meet some of my readers and with the church is the best place I know.

I want to give a shout out to Dave and his wife, loyal readers who travel via RV around the east coast who honored me with a visit this week.

He has read my book via KIndle and is looking for an original copy. I don't even have one. I doubt that anyone reading my blog has a copy but if you do, I'll be glad to purchase it from to send to Dave.

Thanks,

Hope to see you ar church.

Not to Bright

Ecclestone made the comments in response to an attempted attack on Formula One driver Jenson Button in Sao Paolo ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, suggesting that robbers go after people who look vulnerable.

"They look for victims, they look for anyone that looks like a soft touch and not too bright," Ecclestone said. "The people that look a bit soft and simple, they will always have a go at."


For those that missed the article, Ecclestone is the boss of Formula one, which is a specially built type of race car popular in Europe. He is eight years old and was mugged, losing $314,000.00 in jewelry in the robbery.

Now, a eighty year old man wearing $314,999.00 in jewelry in an area in knows in full of mugglers seems to be a soft touch and not to bright, in my opinion.

refinance

i refinanced my home which took longer than I thought it would, or should. I started the process back in June after sevral months trying to convince my wife it was a good idea. Sometimes she can be a little negative which gets on my nerves but then her over cautiousness is sometimes a good thing so all and all, I'm glad she is the opposite of me in that and many other reguards because it gives both of us a chance to look at things all many viewpoints.

It turned out to be a good thing in the end and my wife is happy. She gets to skip the December pyment and gets $500.00 back to boot plus a lower monthly payment. Our house payment (not including what comes into escrow) is now less than we were paying for that tiny apartment.

Now if only I could sell my mountain property..

Good friends and good food

I had a nice surprise when an old Navy buddy and his wife stopped by for a visit Friday and spent a good portion of the day with my wife and I. We talked and laughed and my wife enjoyed the visit almost as much as I did.

today I baked two pumpkin pies and I tasted one of them. I just wanted a bite but I ate half of it. yes, it was that good. fresh pumpkin right from the garden. The xpices make the pie a brown color not the orange you find in store bought pumpkin and sweet potato pies.

As far as grocery retail sales go, I think this Thanksgiving was a bust.

I hope your holiday is good.

One day not enough.

An old friend, a man I meet while in vietnam and with whom I served also in the Philippines with, stopped by to visit yesterday along with his wife. She is a pleasant red head and he still has the same figure he has had since I've known him. Me, I've gotten fat and even though I've lost 50 pounds I have many more pounds I need to lose.

My wife enjoyed our visit as wellas I did. I had no idea that he has read my book and reads my blog as well. It is nice to know that somewhere there is someone who finds me interesting.

He has been gone for less than 12 hours and I miss him already. Good friends are hard to come by. Really hard. Cherish them.

finally, a display

Why am I so excited by a display? For my high school graduation I asked for and received a set of china in lieu of a fishing trip to the mountains or a week at the beach. I did get to go to the beach for a couple of days when the family went to pick my older brother up and a day in the mountailns fishing when the family went to retrieve my younger brother so I do have my memories of that time period as well. I worked so the china was something I thought would always remind me of my accomplishment and last me a lifetime.

For the past six or so years my china has been packed away in cardboard boxes. I don't have room for a china cabinet here and had no way to display them. The other day I purchased a bookcase with a glass front that was small enough to fit in the corner and large enough to hold by dishes.

Packed away among the dinnerware was my piggy bank, a gidt to me from a stranger on my first birthday. Also among the treasures is a set of anchor Hocking glasses, dark green glass with gold overlays that were a gift from my grandmother to me. The glasses still have the original box and price tag from Montogery Ward and seem to indicate the purchase was made over a hundred years ago.

My wife also added a China doll she has owned since her childhood. It is over fifty years old.

In all that time I have managed to keep all the pieces intact except for one coffee cup. The china is a complet setting for eight people ifone doesn't have coffee or tea.

It feels good to be able to enjoy the china again.

Stupid lawsuits

I read where Del Monte and Kroger offered an idiot $150,000.00 to settle a lawsuit in which he claims he suffered greatly because the lid of his canned fruit flew off and hit him in the eye when he struck it with a screwdriver. Who but idiot's open can of fruits and vegatables with screwdrivers?

I may be party to one of those stupid lawsuits myself. A customer had a pack of stew beef and saked me if it was okay since it had been reduced. I assured her it was but this lady said "I hope I don't get sick from eating it."

If you aren't sure about something maybe you are better off not doing it. The only thing that concerned her about that pack of ste was one piece was darker than the rest but from my professional experience, that darkness had nothing to do with the quality of the meat. There are other factors than enter into it like the cut of beef the stew came from and bloom.

Anyway this woman said her husband and she became very sickand her husband missed work because of eating the stew.

Food claims are hard to prove. She told me she was going to cook it in a crock pot. Did she lift the lid on the crock pot too often or for too long a period of time? Did she cook the beef on a high enough temperature and/or did cook it long enough?

My bigeest concern is that she either talked herself into getting sick or she faked the whole incident.

Enjoying Church

A co-worker asks another employee if he was a Christian. I then asked him if he was a Christian. He said "No way. If I can't see something I'm not going to believe in it."

I fully understand but I've seen too much not to believe. Once, a friend who was going to bible college in Winston-Salem, attended a small church in Hickory. It was his last Sunday there as he had finally graduated and had secured a position in a small church. While in school he also worked so he had an income sufficient to support himself and his family but the church's salary wouldn't be as much as he had been making so things were going to be rough for him for awhile. Our church took up a special offering for him. It wasn't much, just eighty dollars, and it was all in one dollar bills.

We left the church about the same time with him pulling out first. It was a country Baptist and when I say country, I mean it was a long way from the church until one saw a house or any human life form. I was shocked after we had gone about a mile or so. Bill stopped at a stop sign and just as I pulled to a halt behind him I saw money floating down, covering the top of bills car and the roadway.

"Poor bill: i thought "he's lost his money," I exclaimed to my wife. I jumped out of my car and started grabbing money and collected over fifty dollars. I handed the money to Bill and he said :kept it, you found it."

"No, I can't keep the money the church gave to you."

"But this isn't the money from the church. My wife has that in her purse."

"Where did this come from then?" I asked, as I looked at the huge stack of bills Bill had picked up. His wife had collected almost as much as Bill did.

Or how about the time I was stationed in Puerto Rico and a friend had invited me to go with him and another guy to a bible study in San Juan. It was a difficult trip from the little base I was stationed out and required us to walk in some lonely, dark, and isolated places. My friend didn't make it that night so I went with this other guy, a man a few years younger than I was, a mere teenager. On the return trip we were surrounded by six men bearing knives and threading to use them on us if we didn't give them all our worldly goods.

The teenager I was with stepped forward and proceeded to drop kick and karate chop the six men into changing their evening plans. Turned out he was the former leader of Chicago's biggest street gang and had been converted to Christianity by David Wilkerson of "Sword and the Switchblade" fame. Just a coincidence?

I once owed by Mom several thousand dollars and to repay her I deeded her a set of burial crypts worth just about what I owed her or a little more. She tried selling them for years and although they were the only two crypts available there were no takers. a decade went by and there seemed little hope that Mom would ever sell them to get her money back. She had all but given up and had decided to include them in her will as a gift to me in lieu of my share of of an insurance policy. But then,
just as she was about to file the will her pastor was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only a few weeks to live.

Even though she sold the crypts below their fair market value, she doubled her money and the preacher got a bargin. Just a luck break?

Believe what you want. I do.

Enjoying Church

A little light in a dark place

Christianity has fallen out of favor in America today and those who do practice the religion adhere to a more subdued following than our forefathers did. Seldom do Christians mention their faith outside of church and except for the lunatic fringe, no one goes from house to house inviting people to church. In fact most churches today don't seem to care if you come or not, or so it seems.

There is a little light in a dark place, a small group of people, a church, who are creating quite a stir in their community. It's not that they are radical, because they aren't, and they are not doing anything that Christians did not once do. It's just that they are doing it in a day when ones faith is something that one seems to keep private. There is no embarrassment over ones faith here.

One Way is a little light in a dark place. That is all it takes to find ones way in the dark. Without just a little light to guide the way there is no way one will ever find their way home.

Brand

I'm sorry, but he looks retarded.

War

Sometimes war may be necessary but other times I believe it best to let things be. We lost the Vietnam war and since we pulled out, peace has reigned in the area and properity has befallen our former allies and enemies. No war casulties either. I wonder is the Koreas, North and South would not have been better off if there had been no war there either. Iraq would be. Maybe Afganistan too.

If it had been necessary for national defense to attack Afganistan, and it may well have been, we should have gone in, toppled the government, and then pulled out letting the country put itself back together. If they began fighting each other fine, that's there problem and no American lives are being lost and we know they can't be planning more attacks on the US because they are too busy killing each other. They would quit after a few years as one side or the other would gain the upper hand.

If we didn't like the winner then we could go back in and toppled the winner then step back while they fought some more.

That's what they are doing now but it is costing Americans their lives. Can't we let the ixdiots kill each other without us getting in the middle?

finally

i haven't been able to access my blog or even a blooger account by anyone since my last post. I could bring up Randolph is talking but none of the individual blogs. The only way I got on this time is by accessing my blog and signing on from there.

It is just me or are others having problems.

The Giants won the penant. I've been a Giants fan since 1956 so this was a long time coming for me. Harry Reed won re-election which one was disappointment in an other wise refreshing election.Just been contemplating the fact that Greensboro and California both had recall elections. Can we have one at Federal level? We would not have to wait two more years.

One Way

One Way Baptist Church is on Sunset in Randleman just off Stout Street and is a church meeting in a tiny building. It is exactly what one would expect to find in a place like this. There is no Sunday School, no Wednesday service, and no piano. It would do no good if someone gave the church a piano as the building is too small to put one in.

There is no doctor of divinity here, no college trained music director, no one wears choir ropes or passes out bulletins with a service guide, and no padded pews.

What you will find if you stop by is three preachers who accomplish more in a week than most churches do in a year with there prison ministries, their prayer habits, and their dedication. You will here good, old fashion preaching from men who know their scriptures.

Why are churches like One Way Baptist important? Being few in number, there is a strong desire to grow. Churches that have large numbers of people feel like they have succeeded and lose the zeal to visit people and to spread the gospel. The main interests of large churches is to convert those in foreign countries by sendin missionaries and to take care of the members they already have.

It is good that they have a missionary program because churches like One Way are unable to do that. No, being a small church doesn't make them a bunch of losers or freaks, or heretics, or fanactics. No, they are just oridinary folk with the desire to carry out the great commission: "Go ye into all the world, first into Jerusalem, then into Judea, and then into the uttermost parts of the world." In other words, start spreading the gospel at home, then into the neigborhood, then into other areas futher away from home.