Musical Saturday Morning

Sorry, a wrenched back kept me down for four days, plus it was so hot my laptop would not even boot up and my poor little cell phone died in the heat.  Like me, my electronics are happiest when cold!

So a little late but here is a little fun tune for the last Saturday of the month!

Metal Detecting

Well after a many year absence, Kris is back to metal detecting again.

Originally, I had stopped due to the winter of 2011.  Then busted my left foot and right ankle, and let us not forget my heart ailment!  So 2012 was lost.  Then busted my knee in January of this year, so I expected no hunting this year either.  However, one of the men in the church has been wanting to so badly, I finally invited him over and showed him how to use a detector in my yard.  We both did okay!  :)

So, every Tuesday since, we have been out hunting.  I can not walk for long periods of time so must constantly rest.  But we are having fun!

Just by the numbers, bottle caps, pop tops and pull tabs rule.  Followed by aluminum cans, nails and tent stakes!  Somewhere, far to the end of the list of stuff we find has been coins.  I think we are up to about $20 combined now.  Three more dollars and we can afford new batteries!  Yeah.

Now to find my pro-pointer somewhere in this house!  I really need my little detector for locating metal inside of a hole I have dug.  The big machine are great for showing you where to dig and useless for telling where in a hole the item is.  So, must fine!

Well, just back from my first beach hunt ever, and I found a nickel!  Yeah, big deal  you think, but nickels are the hardest to find metals, so very excited that only did I find one but I did so in a 100% salt environment!

Selfishness?

Sunday I was asked to be one of the prayers up front in church.  After church there are usually four to six of us whom get volunteered to be up front for people to come to with prayer requests.  I figure that is something I can do, given the state of my own body and finances.  Yeah pathetic...

It was a normal Sunday, people's usual lists of "I wants" and "God is not giving me, so will you pray for me over this?", American Theology, home of the narcissus.  Yes, there are occasionally those whom come forward with life threatening situations (like cancer), life altering situations (like impending jail time), weird stuff (like being deported for asking to get married while on a student visa) and then things that make you thoughtful.  And if you are led to pray for any of these examples I can supply names to go along with the real problems....

This year has had some interestingly thoughtful stuff.  Like a man whom came forward for prayer for his wife, whom got the sinus thing going around, she went on a course of antibiotics and now can not swallow.  That was months ago and I have continued to b in prayer for  her.  A few weeks ago, she swallowed a tiny piece of hamburger for the first time in months!  Victory, but still, who ever heard of something like this?!?!?  And no, she is far from healed.

For me, I have been praying for God to tell me what to do.  Honestly, I have no clue what to do about my family and their expressed rage over my daughter.  Of course, her post departure antics have only made the situation worse - because I am resolute to stand and wait in prayer, rather than join the chorus in condemnation.  And standing alone can be a very tiring and confusing place.

Towards the end of the prayer time, a guy came into the church - he had not been at the church service, first headed one way, altered course, came up to me and then said, "I guess I need to talk with you..."

The short of it: God told him to do something, his family was violently opposed to it, he finds himself like me on the outside now, because he did what was required.  Talk about deja vous!

We prayed and I asked him to lunch but he said he had been on his way to Portland and just had to stop in for prayer.  So I pondered this.....

Someone whom does not come to our church, happens by, needing prayer for the very same situation I find myself in, and then comes to me for prayer.  Odds are not very good here, so God thing or Satan thing?  You know me, I will over analyze this for a week before even mentioning this here.  Then analyze it some more....

Of Satan:

• Nothing to suggest he is a Christian
• Is he under false conviction?
• Did he err in what he was told to do?
• Was he ever really told to do something?
• Was his family listening to Satan in their attacks?

Of God:

• Nothing to suggest he did anything wrong
• Did God really tell him what to do?
• Is the Holy Spirit convicting him?
• Did he faithfully execute his duty?
• Why does he now feel misled?

So many questions!  But the biggest one, was why could I discern nothing of this man?  So, God/Holy Spirit was blocking me from something.  But what?  Why?  I could know all of the answers if I suddenly had not found myself stripped of something so important .....  (It was fully functional again minutes after he left!)

Which led me to the thought that perhaps he was an angel sent to tell me I failed in my responsibilities - however .....

Where in the Bible (not American Theology!) does one vet what they are told to do by God through their family, for their permission?!  Heavens!  Jesus would never have been born were that true!  No apostle would exist - they needed to fish to make a buck, not wander around listening to some random teacher!  And that whole blinding light thing Saul?  You are just plain wrong!  There is nothing in the Torah to support what you are thinking man!  You get the point, God is rarely convenient in His requirement of us, nor His timing.

So, as was attempted upon me, is he being hit with false guilt? 

But how does doing what God asks equate to selfishness?  This one I have had a harder time with.  I have struggled with the idea that somehow I am selfish because I choose to do as told, rather than drag the family unwillingly along.  Maybe I am missing something here, but I do not get this point of his.  If I did what I wanted to, against my family's wishes, I could see his point.  But, I did what God wanted me to do, not what I wanted in the least!

It seems that really he is using selfishness as a contradiction.  His family were the selfish ones for refusing to be there for him in what ever God's undertaking for him was.  God does not demand the majority, he goes for individuals.  If this man was faithful, God will use him again and give his family another chance to join along - as happened to me via my niece.  And he will be blessed, but probably not them.

Then he was rushing off to continue his trip to Portland.

As for me I have prayed and thought on this all week long.  I do not feel condemned or misled or that I have been selfish in the least.  I tried to have my family along throughout last year, but they actively chose to run the other way and display hatred towards the hurting.

 So, although such a very weird occurrence, I will have to write this one off as a Satan attempt to lead me sideways moments, to show God wrong, to make me question His motives, His actions, His desires and place them under the approval of man.  My God does not work this way, pure and simple.....  Satan however does.

And this is all so very intriguing to me!  So many questions left unanswered.  So much to relive and try to push away yet again.

People Watching

I love watching people.  People rushing here, people rushing there, people anywhere in masses scurrying around.  Such fun.  I used to love going to the airport and just sit in a concourse and watch people; of course you are not allowed to do that any more.  Boooo - TSA!

Twice I have spotted long last friends, thrice movie stars, once a singing star, mostly no one of any note, except in their own minds.

So, yesterday I rode several buses and got to get some people watching fun hours in.

On my first ride, I observed a very happy lady get on, her eyes blazed they sparkled so brightly.  Well, at least until she saw me and her walls went up so fast I am surprised she did not lose an eyebrow on that one!  Her face sort of froze.  I quickly scanned my memory of all six women I have actually ever talked to.  Nope she was none of them.  So why the sudden shut down on seeing this rather quiet old German guy on a bus?  No idea.  Maybe I reminded her of the vet that put her pet poodle down at age ten.  Absolutely no idea.  But that is why I like watching people - the vast a array of emotions portrayed.....

The next bus had another woman, there seem to be many of them on the buses I ride, whom was pleasant and I thought , "wow, someone normal!"  Yeah, well, then she had to get off and as she did so, she opened up on the bus driver for six straight minutes, using every foul English word I have ever heard, to berate him for being two minutes slow .....  She was lucky I was not the bus driver, I would have opted for a call to TSA and report her as a terrorist.

The next bus was funny because I switched lines and thought I would try a different one and many from the second bus were on that one.  But, this is Seattle, never let your eyes meet, never smile, never acknowledge you are not the only one in creation.....

And lunch, surrounded by walls, watching, seeing and knowing dysfunction.  Eh, so what, it is not like I am wholly human.  Just water off a duck's back.  Walls upon walls, I discerned them everywhere.  Well, save, for one, whose walls collapsed.  It was so refreshing to see, if even for only a few seconds!  Hope for humanity restored.

Saw a man whom resembled Alvin of the Chipmunks, very disturbing!  Was body blocked, literally knocked out of the line for the bus as my foot was about to land on the bus step.  "Sorry, I am disabled" yelled the rather large lady as I was thrown five feet sideways.  Then she saw I was using a cane and not able to catch my balance on my broken knee.  Yeah, I went down and she did not care.  She got to cut the line and she was no more disabled than anyone else on that bus, save for me.  That was the kind of person whom pisses me off in any situation - narcissistic users of others.....

And then we have the mentally ill, in this case a woman whom sat and was regaling a young man with her list of conquests as a "cougar".  Then when it was his bus stop she refused to let him out of his seat because she was not done telling him of all of her "victories", which then led the bus driver to tell her to either let the young off the bus or she was going to get off of the bus too.  The young man was in sheer terror at this and she was carefully considering the advantages/disadvantages.

People watching a good hobby, most of the time....

Is This Justice?

Otto Eichmann, one of the designers of the holocaust, escaped Nuremberg trial by moving to Argentina and remained there until captured by an Israeli group, hustled off to Israel to stand trial and eventual execution for crimes against humanity.  It was 1962 and as I struggled as a seven year old to read the newspaper accounts, I really was thinking about my great-uncle.  What if this was him?  How would I feel to have one of my family ripped away and murdered......  Yeah, I was a precocious 7 year old.

I had no idea what a Jew was, did not know that my father actually was one, nor that my mother was - genetically anyway, but I went to my father and demanded an explanation for this whole holocaust deal.  He was old German, I expected an answer and he was honor bound to give one.  I anticipated he would lie about anything which would point to him, because I already understood that my father was a liar.

At the beginning of grade seven, even though I was in Canadian NATO schools, I was still forced to tour a concentration camp.  There is nothing un-appalling about one, but I was not like my German peers, I pushed back and demanded explanations for each and every statement made.  Yeah, I learned a great deal, between the beatings from the older Germans.  Towards the end of the day, an elderly man came up to me and sat by me as I cried in anger at the justice being denied me.  He explained the problem of "history" and history.

As I grew older, I came to understand this elderly man's opinion even more and to see how right he really was.  We have what is politically correct to know and then what is politically incorrect to know.  Being correct does not equal right nor true, it equals acceptance by society.

Kurt Mathesius, was a family friend - before my time, and commandant of Nordhausen.  My uncle was violent in his reactions when you mentioned the Nuremburg trials or that fact that he was accused of murdering 300 prisoners.  The same prisones whom were photographed being dug out of the rubble when the Allied bombers flattened Nordhausen thinking it an ammo dump.  Yeah, he was innocent and his association with  Nordhausen' scientist camp, was considered the entire Nordhausen complex.  So facing a death, he hung himself in his cell.  My uncle was livid.  How could a prisoner, stripped of almost everything, hang himself?  He believed this just another Eisenhower move to kill Germans without trial.  Yeah, my uncle was vocal and history has show he was correct, however, "history" clearly shows he is wrong....  Get the picture now?  As for truth, uncle's brother was one of 15 guards charged in that complaint and remains at large.  No even when my uncle died a few years ago, he still had no idea where his brother was.

The Dutch women, captured in Holland in the 1980's, were all over the press when I moved my work to Europe.  Imagine, there were a small group of Dutch women, accused of siding with the Germans during the war and of course, people they turned in, never came back. Oh were both sides of the press arguing that one!  Do you prosecute a group of grandmothers, whom have lived exemplary lives for 40 years or do you mow them down for what happened when the world turned upside down?  But, if you don't - then how do you deal with Anne Frank, patron saint of Amsterdam?

Anita Bryant was crucified in the press for her stand against the gay agenda in the 1970's.  Well, she was not wrong then, she is still not wrong today and in fact all she predicted has come to pass.  Yet, what she said was politically incorrect in the 1970's, she was even outright rude in my book, but the agenda is even worse too day!  And like so many others, she was tossed upon the waste can of history for not being relevant, espousing an ideal as old as the Bible itself in virtually all cultures.  Of course, the entire issue really deals with sexual sin and this is lost in her argument.  I stopped drinking orange juice for decades as my protest against the state of Florida and its banning of Bryant.  No, I did not like her, and no one was forced to listen to her viewpoint either, but a state of this Union decided to shut her up because about 1.7% of the population announced a boycott.  Yawn.....

And today, another person I do not care a wit about, Paula Deen, is being attacked for having actually lived in a racial and bigoted south.  She even used the "N" word, though could not give an example.  Her real crime was attempting to throw a birthday party based upon the old south plantation system and wanting to hire color waiters.  Oh wait!  She was gong to pay them?  They really were not going to be slaves there?  Gees, America, grow up!  As I said, I have no use for her and as a celebrity "chef", she isn't.  Might be a good cook though....  Don't know, don't care, but again the populous destruction of someone based upon vague rumors and to silence them.  She will probably become the patron saint of Mississippi now.  Sigh...

And what of my father?  He, along with some 10,500 other German scientists, were politely excused of their pasts in order to gain the lead in the nuclear Cold War and entry into the rocket age.  Should he have been executed or jailed for life for helping to invent the Godzilla of all weapons of mass destruction?  I can not answer that question; he is my father and even if I never could have loved him, I did respect him.

Is the justice we are looking at today really just revenge under the guise of political correctness?

Y'all gotta wonder.....

One Year Mark

So today marks the last day my daughter was to be civil with me, one year ago.

God told me that morning of what all was to come and I fought, and prayed, and pleaded, for none of the past year occur, and yet it did.

Nothing has really changed inside of me.  Holding at where I was June 23, 2012.  Not stagnant but waiting, it was what I was told to do.  What I have been constantly reminded to do.  So I do.

I have watched the erosion of all of my friends save two (and I worry about one of them!), the end of my family, the end of my church life, the end of my testimony.  Yet, I stand and wait and all those opposed to me are now wondering.  I am innocent of the lies told, the gossip which not only destroyed me but my daughter's credibility as well.  That is all there is left in the smoldering ruins of her hate.  Someday her mother and me are going to have a very long talk.

Of course, much more has happened across the past year, much of it tremendously awesome.  Such as the beginnings of my niece's journey.  And though I still do not have the reason for it, my loosing my grant moneys and therefore college degree i was working on - just shy of graduation.  Yeah, we will find out one day, right?

So, I continue to pray for God's leading, God's path, God's healing for all of the players in my life.

And even for a few no  longer in my life.

Attenzione piccola.....

Musical Saturday Morning

I was in 11th grade when I first heard this song and of this group.  Later I was to spend part of a summer with one of them canoeing in Canada.  Some really humorous and embarrassing memories.  I got to know his family extremely well and was sort of adopted since I was the black sheep of my family and he the middle Finger of his.  Long story.  A few years ago I was talking with this random lady in an airport and she mentioned something that meant she knew him as well, went to college with him, we shared some real laughs then!  But, the song has always been one I liked.  Little known is that George Harrison, of Beatles fame, did the original slide guitar for this song....

Enjoy:

Redo?

Do you ever face a situation and wonder, " What is God trying to tell me here? " ?

As some of you know, I adopted four Russian orphans back in the 1990's, whom are now all adults, some with their own families now.

God led me to try and help the daughter of a friend, and well , yeah, that one went very badly.  Though the book is not closed, except in her mind.

Then God brought my "niece" along and she accomplished what daughter tried to do.  I am so terribly proud of her.

Yet, before all of them was a young Welsh girl whom came to me for help and legally there was nothing I could to help her other than be a mentor, much as I did with daughter in her earlier years.  And, she faded away into the black hole of culture, so adept at consuming innocence.

And tonight, I had a message from her on facebook, asking if I would be willing to meet with her .....  Is this a redo from God?  A chance to correct a mistake I may have made decades ago by not filling in for her one (mostly missing) parent?  I felt tremendous guilt at the time because I did the "right thing" and rebuffed her approaches, turned her to other women in the church, asked for prayer and did what I thought was right.  But, what happens when all drop the ball?  It happened to her, it happened to my daughter, it happened to my niece.

When the family fails, when the church  fails, when the individual believer fails - someone has to pick up the pieces and it will either be an ill prepared servant trying to do the right thing or someone from the culture preying upon the  young.

She is a part of the burden I have carried for decades.  The knowledge I could have at least tried but allowed others to talk me out of a Christian duty which then went unanswered by anyone.

Of course, now that I think on it, I had just been shafted by a foster child, when this Welsh girl came along.  So, it was a might easy to not do the right thing.  Just as daughter played with my head and made it easy not to do the right thing for my niece....

I can still see the torment in my niece's eyes as she tried to express her frustrations to me/ with me - when I knew all along but had done nothing and that was wrong of me.

Perhaps something the Christian Church needs to relearn, as I did: if you can not make yourself vulnerable - at risk - for others, then you never will reach the lost and hurting.  You and your faith have just become worthless.....

Father's Day

It was a mellow Father's Day, bitter sweet if you will.  I know as a "father" I failed with my daughter or at least lost the tug of war against whatever took her away - a year minus one week ago.  As with each day since June 24th, when God showed me what was to be, I have prayed for my missing daughter.  Yeah, I know, but I am the patron prayer for lost causes...  Her approval of me nor absence actually has much bearing on my prayer life - nor does my eldership's approval either.  The tricks her mother has played with her mind .....  Yeah, I pray for her as well because I have loved her as a friend and sister for a third of my life.

Conversely, my "niece", whom truthfully I do see as a type or kind of daughter, is dong so very very very well, against odds unknown to any of you.  I am very proud of her and how far she come in such a short time.  If nothing else, I am a spiritual parent and she honored me greatly Sunday.  Like daughter, she plays a major focus of my prayer life.

Like last year, son and middle daughter worked, though daughter did take me out for snacks on Friday this year.  Oldest daughter and Dutchman's son threw a father's day bash but Dutchman did not show up until it was almost over.  We still had fun.

BBQ'ed salmon, jerked chicken, Jamaican rice and beans, lemon meringue  and apple pies, plus some fruit salad and rolls.  Good eats.

Grand kids stayed over for the night, so that guaranteed an early departures and bedtime for all.

It was okay, given what my heart can take anymore, but more about that later.....

Carnival

Saturday the carnival opened up in town and for the first time I went to it.  Well, I had the youngest grand daughter and desperately needed something for her to do she would enjoy.  She is so small that I had no thought of her being able to do a ride, maybe cotton candy and the lights would be enough for her.

But, there was a carousel and this was my favorite as a child.  And, it seems, that if an adult will stand with you, little rascals can ride!  So, youngest grand daughter got to do the carousel a number of times!

Add some horrible fair food, candy and cotton candy and she was in hog heaven!

Sun Dog

I went to the carnival on Saturday and it was a really great time, however, I will tell you about that tomorrow.  Today I want to tell you about something we do not get here in the Seattle area - a sun dog!

The last time I had seen one was in Alaska in 2003, when my father had a stroke and I had to fly to Fairbanks and drive him to my sister in Minneapolis in order for him to get the surgery he needed.  Two weeks in hell for him!  (Just think Nazi trapped with a very mouthy evangelical with nothing to lose in the relationship!  LOL)

And here in Seattle on an almost summer day, we have so many ice crystals in the air that a sun dog forms in the sky over us!

Notice that in the second picture there were actually two rings around the sun!  In Alaska one day I saw five rings one day.  I like cool phenomena in nature .....

So something certainly rare in this area....

Musical Saturday Morning

Butter Lobster and Reunions

My Youngest Daughter got me hooked on Hell's Kitchen back when it first started.  She was in school studying food preparation, kitchen management, etc at the time and I guess the kids would all sit around and discuss the lessons from that week's show.  Very cute.

Of course that was used to spin of so many Gordon Ramsay shows that it is mind blowing, plus all of the look a like show as well.  Most of them are just like Hell's Kitchen, wherein a bully treats others badly and they submit because they want what he offers them.  Somewhere he might be a nice guy  but it is not apparently on his shows.

But, I was intrigued this week at his Master Chef competion.  They did a cook off and the recipe was for butter lobster.  Hmmmm, never hear of it, not planning on going to Las Vegas, ever, to find out if it is any good. But, I got the idea on how it is done from watching the show - so tonight I am doing this for dinner.  I expect son to not be here, so really for only YD and me!  Might be good, we will see.

The other preoccupation yesterday was trying to find out when my high school reunion is!  You would think this easy, except the name of my high school appears to be the most common one in United States!  Argh!  One point five hours later I found a FaceBook account set up for it.  Now the decisions, do I go or not?  Will my old best friend be there?  Will my American cousin?  Will anyone attend that I know?  I noted that they so far have 79 people found but 525 are still to be locate.  Guess my class was not very close.  LOL!  Of course this supposed to be one of the reasons for Classmates.com to exist but nope, nothing on there for my school.

Conversely, my German High School is on there.  I was sad to note the death of one of the few I can remember from that single year there.  She tried awful hard to help me pass music, but if you lack rhythm well you are just not going anywhere in music.  :)  Then I saw 21 people had posted notes looking for me from my single year in high school in South Carolina.  Almost makes it tempting to go back there, but the wounds of my first year in America are still to fresh to want to relive them!  Actually, all of my American school days left much to be desired!

But, I thought on whom did I miss through the years and wondered how they were?
Connie Gates
Candy Frazier
Ruth Cleek
Stanley Dalton
James Manning
Myra Brown
Pam Derrick
Patty Hanson
Jim M.........

They were the ones whom hung with this scrawny geek.  Pretty much that is the high school list.  Sort of sad.  Of all of my high school friends, I only stayed in touch in one.  But, we are not sure that he can write so I never hear from him, just his wife once a year sends a massive letter!  Yeah, I might not be able to write either, if my letter writing from the last three years is any indication!

Well enough rambling!  Enjoy your weekend....

Hot Wings

Youngest Daughter just loves hot wings, aka buffalo wings in some parts of the country, and eats them often.  Usually it is frozen fare.  So, I thought last night I would make some homemade ones for her.  Such a mistake!

They came out perfect, she turned her fingers orange slurping them down!  I ate one and it was marvelous!

But, there is just one problem; I am allergic to chili's of any type or in any form.....

And as I have grown older, the allergy seems to be getting more and more violent!  Bleeeeech!  One stinking hot wing and I up all night sicker than a dog.

It is just not fair, not at all.  Something I love so much, should be so evil to my body.

Sigh.

To those of you whom can eat and not die, bon appetit! when it comes to chili's.  I guess I am just going to have to learn to be good....

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Yeah, I know, everyone and their mother has seen this one - it was just at the bottom of the list for my current "must see
" list.  I reached the end of the list and since youngest daughter wanted to go to the movies and I did not want to see "The Call", I opted for GI Joe.

No, I am not a part of the demographic which enjoys flying tanks, car chases and explosions.  Nor am I of the ilk that thinks The Rock is "scrumptious" as the teenie bopper behind squealed in delight as Dwayne came on screen for the first time.  I wondered if she realized he could be her grandfather .....

I am also not a real fan of Bruce Willis.  Were it not for his attempts to take over every scene he is in, and no not by shear force of his talent but his constant mugging in every camera shot!, he might be a reasonable actor.  But, he does mug every scene, so really, why are we stuck with him in so many movies?  Oh yeah, his mother and famous and someone thinks he is cute .....  yeah .....

As you can tell, I am not impressed with the cast, its anchors offer nothing to any movie.  The story is contrived, Himalayan ninja sword fights, where only good guys can figure out that if you cut someone's rope, they are out of the story, yeah, bad guys are always too dumb to understand gravity and let us not forget that ex-generals keep caches of arms for just in case scenarios.

Really, this is one movie where going to the library is a better commendation than wasting 96 minutes of your life.

Don't bother with this one!  Unless you are a 13 year old male and hence a part of the demographic for this movie....

One Thousand!

Yes, yesterday marked my 1,000th post on this blog!

Back in 2005, when this blog began I was a bizarre blogger and logged one thousand posts in just the first year!  Yeah, by August 2006, I had reached 1,000 the first time and then abruptly my blog was hacked and destroyed.  There is this, now quiet, apostate whom was making religious waves and well I disapprove of wolves impacting my spiritual children.  And the war was on!  They managed to destroy me five more times, take out my email at least a dozen times, bring down my computer only once - but for 27 days!  Yeah, the good old times!

In those early days was a friend found I have not heard from in years now,  but she was a God send in working with my first teenage daughter.  Years later I tried to get her help again but alas I guess she is lost to the internet world.  Sad, I had planned to visit her and her family one of these days.

Two of her friends went on to win "Golden Gummi Bear Awards" to people whom guessed a puzzle correctly.  That was fun and were it not for all of my girls being teenagers at the same time, the fun of blogging might have lasted longer.  By the time I got back to blogging, most of my readership had drifted away.  Crazy times, that is for sure.

So to my readers, thank you for being there.  Thank you for  your questions and comments, even the horrible ones, your input is my motivation.  Though I wish some of  you would comment rather than email, others might enjoy your insight as well.

Happy One Thousand to me!

:)

Scoobie Doo!

God has many ways of tell you that you make too much money, cocaine just being one of the more horrible ways.  Cars are another example of making too much money.  (sorry not going to condemn myself here!  in years past Alfa's were my weakness ~ as well as ~ hopped up Volkswagens!  sigh, wish i had some of that $$$ now!)

So, I am working in my yard, doing so light tree trimming because they are over grown and it is light exercise!  So it took 5 hours to do about 40 minutes worth of work but I am glad I did, for the exercise and knowing that I might live longer for it.  Sort of, maybe, yeah I know my days are numbered and in God's hands but I like to think I will be in better shape then!

Across the street is a high school graduation party going one for one of "my" girls.  Hundreds came!  Wow!  And out of nowhere, Scoobie Doo's Mystery Machine appears!  Someone has way too much money and is letting their high school son drive it!

Yeah the rear pipes were actually working and I am not sure of the engine but it was very sweet sounding, in this age of rice burners being considered hot .....

So hope you enjoy the photos!

Musical Saturday Morning

No it is not 1980's but it is a song that speaks to the new me ....

Thirst

John 7:37-39, Rev 22:17

"Come and drink"  I have always thought this an odd expression for learning about God and Jesus.  A word picture of drinking, something we do everyday, especially when we are thirsty.

We were made with a huge thirst for God, unfortunately we often seek other sources for the water we really need and find ourselves having to constantly battle that spiritual thirst because nothing will fill the void like Jesus.

We thirst for peace, so we need to know Jesus.
We thirst for purpose, God is the supplier.
We thirst for pleasure, God is the only true source.

"Come and drink", Jesus really is enough to satisfy.  He does not say to come, drink and then leave because you have had enough - it is to continually drink of his living water.

Once we have began the process of drinking we are not then store up like a camel or reservoir His waters, but to then let that water flow from you as a river to all in your life.

We are to pour out His peace, His purpose, His pleasure.
We are the conduit of His Love to show the world!

Pray God will place a real thirst for Hi you the hearts of everyone you encounter.

Then show them Jesus' unconditional Love.

How Stupid Are You

Had an interesting call from my cousin tonight - asking how long does Sarin Gas last?  Huh!?!

So I had to look and sure enough there in black and white was a news story that research labs in Britian and France had confirmed the usage of Sarin Gas in Syria.  I sat dumbfounded and had to read this three times to get it into my head.  Obviously a governmental news release.  And just how stupid do they think people are?

You see, in summer weather, Sarin has a lifecycle of only 30 minutes at the most.  In cooler weather, like a snow storm, it will last up to 8 hours.

And here are two labratories working on days old samples claiming to have found Sarin gas in soil samples .....

The only way out of this one is for these labs to claim they detected hydro-carbons and someone translated this into evidence of Sarin Gas.  Yeah, all you are going to find in a broken down Sarin sample is hydro-carbons.  Sigh.

No, I am not a Sarin expert anything, my father was, and he never talked.  But, I know how to read, including a chemical formula.  I even managed the disluck of being present at a Sarin accident.  It kills extremely fast, they were dead before they even hit the ground, one guy only managed half of a step.  Gruesome might be the best expression of this from the viewpoint of humanity.  Yours truly only lived because the ever so slight breeze was behind me, the Sarin dropped in front of me.  Nothing like burning your brand new tennis shoes and pants.  Sure glad I am German without an embarassment gene....  Unlike all of the dead and severely injured Japanese whom inhaled the vapors.

Yes, God can spare you from even the unexpected, not just your own stupidity.....

So, how stupid do you feel the newspapers and probably the government agents whom sourced this tripe, think you really are?

Question everything, research always, and let no one give you your opinion ..... that is your responsibility alone.

Non-objective Reporting

Sometimes the American press goes so far out of its way to be disingenuous, that you really do have to wonder exactly what the agenda is they are running.

Yesterday's news item that seemed to be the hot topic on every channel here in Seattle was the raising of rates at Disneyland!  What the heck?  Since when does a tourist attraction raising its rates by a few dollars equal newsworthy!?!?!?!?

Okay, anytime news makes no sense, it is because something is being hidden and it did not take long to find out that Turkey had erupted into a possible civil war!  But, you will not see this one in the news!  Why?  Because the US and British started civil war in Syria has overflowed its Syrian borders and now it threatens to bring down a NATO member!

Yeah, you probably had not heard about the US involvement and British involvement in Syrian disaster, but yeah, such are the joys of hiding the news on this continent but not being able to block on other countries' news services!

So, it seems that a mess is being made in the world right now and very interesting to see where this goes!  If I were to suggest a course of action - prayer, prayer for the peace of Jerusalem, prayer for Satan's plans to be frustrated ~ in God's will and timing of course!  And prayers for the Turkish people protection from what is about to erupt if it can not be stopped quickly....

From my perspective, it is hard to condemn the uprising of people against a God-less, authoritarian government in Turkey.  Conversely, having Russia moving its Black Sea forces to being off of the Syrian area, adjacent to Turkey, one should be a little nervous.  I suspect dumb and dumber to move against Israel yet again.  Been a few years, probably due for another outbreak. 

Sigh.

Now You See Me

I met my niece at the theater on Friday night to see World War Z, but it was not out yet.  But, I know they had an ad on the tele giving Friday night as the opening, so guess I was wrong.  So, Now You See Me, was the winner.

No stars of any note.  Sure I know lots of people like some of them, but none of them have done anything of note other than Morgan Freeman.  I am glad he is still working but this sure was not one of his better roles, just an extra and his acting effort showed it.  Well, Michael Caine appears throughout, like Morgan in a supporting role.  He so rarely plays a strong character that I almost do not notice him in a film.

Right off the bat we have a "gosh I have to get out of my clothes scene!", and I turned and was just about to ask my niece if this was now the time to leave, but apparently they went no further than to reach underwear and it was over faster than I could ask her!  It had no purpose in the movie, should not have been in there, just another example of how Hollywood can not understand the concept of a non-formula approach to a film.  Thankfully, that was all there was to be offensive in the film.

So, outside of 45 seconds, the rest of the two hour film was tremendously enjoyable!  It was cute.  Which is definitely not my type of film but its cuteness is in telling a good story so well, that you do not see the end coming!

The magic, which I guess is what the director wants to wow you with, is not much more intricate than a magic set I got in 7th grade.  Pretty easystuff, some completely impossible, it is Hollywood hype.  Maybe the director bought stock in a magic supply company?  So, if you expect David Cooperfield (cough-cough) level of magic, nope not going to happen!

So, outside of the 45 seconds, the film is completely enjoyable.  Teenager friendly.  Has one good car chase so will be acceptable to all those whom are 13 year old or their intellect is.  For me it is how well the story was crafted, almost everything has a meaning which is explained at some point in the film and you go "Ahhhhhhhh...."

Probably an owner.

Musical Saturday Morning!

Hey, wait a minute, how did the first sneak up on me so silently!  Of course, I have been just a little busy lately.  One does not almost die and just walk away.  So, the past few weeks have been very trying physically!  (to say the least!)

Anyway!

I was Sweden, I think, it could have been Norway, and there is this camera crew all set up and the typical American was presenting herself for a music video.  Her hair was multicolored as was her tutu dress, I almost did not stay for the song, she was a freak in a culture which worships freaks.

But, I was glad I did.  The song touched a part of me and not many could back then.  As for her, it was her eyes, there was a real person behind the freakishness and makeup.  I liked her, I would have taken her to dinner because it would have been interesting to learn more about her and why someone with talent actually was presenting herself this way.

No this video is not from that shoot.  I did look however just to see what a 30 year younger me would have looked like in the background.  Oh well, I guess the Pink Panther remains my one on film appearance.

So, Cyndi Lauper and Time After Time, the second video version I guess: