Garage Saleing

I have taken the last three Saturdays to go garage and yard saleing!  It has been quite a bit of fun, you never know what people believe to be precious and their prices show what they believe is.

But what you do not find is extremely interesting as well.  If you are looking for books, well outside of estate sales, most have only romance novels to offer.  The estate sales might have some very rare volumes and not only are they cheap but I seem to be the only one interested in buying them!  Cookbooks are another item people do not seem to prize.  Forty, even fifty year old cookbooks, $ .25, some in brand new condition!  I stumbled across a 1967 Betty Crocker Cooky first edition at the end of one day - no one looks at books.  I also picked up a 1950 first edition, first printing, like new Betty Crocker picture cookbook!  If you love to cook - you need this one - it is an imperative!

Beer steins are not prized at all and generally go for $3.00 - oh to have a shop in the homeland now!  That includes silver ones dated 1820!  Its German, "who cares", seems to be the attitude.

Probably of no interest to most, however very important to my own collection now - an Ashel Curtis print of an indian spearfishing!  That sepia tone is quite rare and at $2.00, wow!  I tried to talk with the lady but she was adamant that all of her mother's stuff go for $2.00, "she only had junk after all!".  People can be interesting when you try to help them.  Her most prize possession?  She had priced a meat smoker at $125, maybe it is worth it, I have no idea, but when you are willing to sell a $500 photo for $2 and then argue it is not worth more.  What can you say?  I shook my head all of the way back to the car.  To collectors a piece of photographic history - to her, an "ugly stupid photo".  Yeah, my kids did not care either.

And I had my first sale in my antique mall case!  I was very excited!  It paid for half of next months rent and was a US colonial 3 pence I could not have cared less about!  So cool.  But, surprising that is all.

Musical Saturday Morning

I remember 1964 through early 1967 extremely well.  I lived on the third story of our home in northern France.  I had strung close to one mile of copper wire in the attic for my shortwave radio which allowed me to listen to Radio Caroline, located in the channel between England and Holland.  (No, it was nothing like the movie!  It was crazier!)  The Buckinghams, early Three Dog Night, the Zombies and the Dave Clark Five all were the standards.  Of course, Pet Clark and Dusty Springfield, whom I always confuse for one another.  Anyway, those were golden days...

So, the Zombies with a homemade video featuring David McCullum from the Sixth Finger .....

In Flight

As you read this, I am winging my way down to Tucson, Arizona.  My old friend, mining partner, man I respect, is not doing well.  He is in his mid-80's now and those years of mining all around the world have cost him his lungs and he is going down hill unfortunately quickly.

I have many times in the past witnessed to him, to no effect other to get him to admit he is not real sure sometimes whether I might be right or not.  I hope this time to find him prepared to take that step of faith and make peace with his creator.

Of course, laying in the sun, drinking pina coladas only adds to the enjoyment.

I will drop you all some notes from Casa Adobes, assuming their internet works!

Yeah, last time I was there was when that Senator was shot only moments after our leaving the Safeway store she was standing in front of.  Silly me thought it was a movie set.  It was only when we were in Tubac, about 45 minutes later that the news came on and gave the world's weirdest story.  Only to be surpassed by my favorite pastor down there committing suicide shortly there after.  Fade in Twilight Zone music.....

What thrills will this next week yield?!?!?!?

Black Thumb of Death

You know how you hear about people with a "green thumb" or how someone has the "golden touch"?  Yeah, that is not me, I have the black thumbs of death.

This week, the one in which I have been going crazy trying to get ready for my trip tomorrow and nothing goes right.

Youngest daughter refuses to use a strainer in the shower and now her golden locks have clogged the bathroom or badly that only the toilet currently works.  I hopped on the internet, found the 8 Steps to Unclog a bathroom line and none of them worked!  Plus, everything is now a mess and I am out $40 plus I have to call a plumber now if I am to shower before the flight!

I can not get my children to put anything away, instead they hide stuff rather than put it where it belongs.  So, since I am still having problems with stairs and uneven land, they hid stuff in the basement, upstairs out out in the yard - knowing I more than likely will not find it.  "Did you put the lawnmower away?"  "Oh yes" they sing in unison.  Apparently it has been hidden behind my VW for two years and almost frozen solid now.  I have it so it crank but not start.  $60 into it and it still will not start and this towns ONLY small engine repair shop closed last fall.  Sigh.

And this is but a taste of the levity in my life!

Well, I am living with the dawn and not going to worry about it now for the next two weeks!

We will see how next goes for postings....

Hero For A Day

So Kris managed to be a hero for the day and deserved to earn his 15 minutes of accolades, well heck you would have done the same.

I took my grand kids to the park where there are numerous slides, various configurations of jungle gym, swings, teeter-tooters, etc.  (must be another one of those British-isms, I learned teeter-todder as a child!)  So for about an hour my kids had a blast while their mother was in the hospital with some heat related issues.

After about half an hour there, a 3 year old Hispanic boy comes running into the park and I can not see anyone with him!  So, I keep one eye on my kids and the other on him and I keep wondering, where is his mother?  And let me tell you that little rascal was all boy!  He was into and climbed everything!  I actually was wishing my son or grandson were that adventuresome.

So at one point, he is about eight feet off the ground and I suddenly get the sense that he is about to be in horrible trouble.  I leapt up, ran off and just had him in arm's reach when he fell!  Yeah, I caught him, his mother appeared from nowhere and I returned to my seat and to watching my kids.

I felt very pleased.  Kris does not move fast because of his knees, he can not bear any weight because of those four missing lumbars - yet I got there in time and saved that kid from some very solid injuries - and all with no thanks from him or the mother.  Go figure.

But, I am still very happy about this, even if unknown and unrecognized by life, my 15 minutes of non-recognition....

Learning

The last several weeks have been periods of growth and learning for me.  Sometimes I think I can not tolerate anymore of this self examination because it is extremely painful!  Things I had no way of understanding before, things I could easily ignore or write off as "whatever" which actually were important road markers that all was not well and not just with my daughter.  Always nice to figure stuff out - about 70 weeks too late to matter.  Sigh.

Honestly, I have no idea how people survive dealing with emotions and life simultaneously!  I think I am still down around age 12 but God is working on me and dragging me along slowly, with my kicking and screaming.  Yeah, I do have a tendency to yell at God when I cry "UNCLE!".

This upcoming weekend is my 40th class reunion.  I was going to go, however my mining friend has declined in health so will be with him instead.  Then my oldest friend is not doing well so I expect to spend a week with him as well back in Colorado.

I am now on the 4th version of my book, the Kris short story, and by all accounts, it is going well.  The scarey part is that the details are mostly real, and to think I have survived that stuff!  Hope to have it in a solid form by the end of the year and Thomas Nelson is currently looking at it - so maybe I will get to publish something in the fiction world for a change!  Of course, some of my acts of stupidity require that I use a nom de plume, not to hide from the Government, they can always find me, but wacko's that might want to know more about my dumb stunts in greater detail!  Problem with a nom de plume is that you have to be creative, you can't use Hitchcock or Hemingway, no it has to be unique and yet familiar enough someone might pick up your book by accident.  We will see.

Well, the bathroom plumbing is out and I best get on with fixing it!

ciao!

Dreams

I had the weirdest dream of my entire life Saturday night!  And that says something!

So I dreamed it was the 1890's and the silver miners had all gone on strike in Leadville, Colorado.  The state of Colorado had called up the National Guard to go in and put down the rioting and the strike.  And then things got ugly.

This would be the same National Guard which distinguished itself against unarmed old people, women and children at Sand Creek - forever to be known as the Sand Creek Massacre, a few years before this.  Yeah, not nice people and their efforts in Leadville were historically appalling as well.

So far, everything is within historical context.

But, then I was asked to come to St. Louis and negotiate a truce between the two parties.  For some reason I had this large barge filled with aquariums of tropical fish.  So, I laid out an impressive presentation on how tropical fish are endangered and can't we all just get along when there are real problems in the world?

It worked and both sides agreed to support the efforts to keep tropical fish from going extinct!

Don't ask me, I have no clue where this nonsense came from!  I woke up and sat there in bed trying to remember what it was I had to eat before I went to bed because that one was worthy of pizza time nightmare!

Too weird ... I knew it, I am becoming a liberal ...

Musical Saturday Morning

Anyone up for a little Talk Box this morning?

Illustration

Since I started youth work, (back in 1974!, where have the years gone!) I have only had two kids go in full time ministry however numerous go into missions, both long and short.  And I recent had the pleasure of hearing one of the ministry ones do a sermon.

He selected Mark 5:21-34, the woman with the issue of blood whom touched Jesus.

Roll the clock back to my pre-Christian days and I had been going to a Synagog for quite sometime trying to figure this whole God/Jesus thing out.  The Rabbi was more than willing to work with me through the stories of Jesus - he knew them intimately well.

Now he told me that a woman having her period or with an issue of blood, such as might be caused by a cancer of some type was considered unclean and had to live to outside of the town until it was over.  My knowledge of such things was not real good and I asked him if that didn't mean that women would be gone from the town quite often.  He smiled and said yes, it was when men were allowed to rest.  Odd comment I thought.

Now I grew up in a small German town near the French and Lux border, so I asked one of the elders if there had been any Jews in my town before the war.  Apparently, there had been.  So, you know my mind, I asked if women were forced to live in the fields during their time of the month.  He smiled and said they had a guest house outside of town the women were sent to.  Hmmm, life was different a hundred years ago it seems.

And this young man is going to talk on this quirky passage!

A woman, whom was not even supposed to be in town because she was unclean, is in the crowd, jostling for position to get close enough to Jesus to touch one of his tassels (there are four of them) which hung from the covering all men were required to wear.

And Jesus stopped and asked whom had touched her .....

Do  you think Jesus knew whom had touched him?
Do you think Jesus knew why he had been touched?
Do you think Jesus wanted to make a point for some reason?

She confessed, I am sure in fear and dread.  Was she going to be stoned by the crowd for what she had done?  They would know of her condition and ban from being in town - and she had not only approached but also touched a Rabbi and now was speaking to him public!  This kind of thing was not supposed to happen!

And Jesus did not condemn her for the breaking of the Law, nor the breaking of Talmud - instead he told her she was healed by her faith.

It was his being which healed her, she had to touch him to be healed, but it was her faith, which drove her past convention to do the unthinkable.

That is the kind of faith we each should have.  Yeah healing of our problems is a very personal and important task.  But, I wonder if we could have that kind of faith, to be real in our lives, for others - what might our surroundings and situations be like?

Yeah, I anticipate faith is not exactly a priority in your life.  We all hop around saying we have faith but it is actually by our own power that almost everything is done.  The black eyes we as Christians receive when one whom calls themselves by his name fails, proves that point.  The failures in ministry ventures show the lack of faith used in how we spend his resources.  The people whom trusted and then were turned off by our individual and collective failures all scream at us our lack of real faith.

Now how to realign ourselves and our thinking to place faith first and presuming upon God ending?

In Passing

This is not a subtle reminder, it is pretty horrible.

Sure we get constant warnings about safe driving, do not text, do not use a cell, do not talk, etc, etc, etc!  To the point I think that people are now oblivious to the danger inherent with driving.

Locally, this was driving home rather rudely by a car accident Tuesday, one of my son's friends and coincidentally someone I knew for the past 16 years was killed in a car accident.

He was driving through Oregon, on his way to a Young Life conference with his mother.  He pulled around an 18 wheeler to pass - and well, there was another 18 wheeler.....

Both he and his mother were killed instantly.

Of course, I hold that God holds in his hands all of our days, when we will be born and when we will die are but just two of the many facets of our lives he controls.  Whether Jacques Gordon was passing an 18 wheeler or crossing the street at that exact moment or even down with the flu, it was his time to report in before God.

Good reason to live your life in the knowledge that at any minute it could be required of you, and you will have no more time to repent, to pray for others, to complete what you have been assigned.


In many ways I envy Jacques, he is at peace, in the presence of our Lord, though at such a young age (21).  And I hope my son meditates on this and realizes that his life needs to turn around if he is to face eternity without condemnation attached to it .....

Your witness will be missed Jacques, you were a positive force in my son's life.

So What is it About?

This week we have been looking at the story of the prodigal son, Luke 15:11 - 20.

We have seen the standard presentation, brought to my mind by a prodigal woman, now waking up.  We have seen that the story really speaks to Israel and its standing before God - condemned.  And now?

Well, I really hate it when every single scripture is used to make a point that must apply to us in our life, because after all, if God said it, then it must apply!  Obviously, I do not agree with this line of reasoning, however let us work on at the idea and see how it fits together, if true.....

What kind of child are you?

Are you the kind whom is self seeking and self satisfied before God?

Are you the kind whom believes you are smarter than God?

Stopping here for a moment, that is where most Western Christians are .....  No you would never say you are smarter than God, you might not even think that!  But, that is exactly how you live your life.  "Oh, God is not going to really care about ..... fill in your most private thought or source of sin here ....."  Yeah, it suddenly gets way to personal!  We all fail, we all sin, we all know this - but it is the minority whom would admit it to God and then actually repent - which means REPENTANCE - "to change".   I fail, I agree with God I fail, I struggle in faith (because it is all I really do have!) to not walk that road again.

Do you actually support God's ministries?
Or are you just tossing in a dime because you are so broke due to all of your debts?  Psst!  You are not suppose to be in debt in the first place, so you already lose this argument.  I could go on but since I have only met one or two people in my life not under massive debt, well, we all lose.  I probably more than you.  However, I am attempting to at least honor my debt and not abandon my debts, as hard as that is.

Are you the kind of child whom says "Yes" to God?
But then does what they want anyway, or fails to do what He asks and they promised?  So very common, to fail by acknowledging you know better but there is really no time with all of the demands in our modern lives, especially in front of the game machine.  It's important right?  Nope ...

So what unforgiveness do you harbor in your heart? 
Notice that I am not assuming here, I am pretty sure you have a problem with unforgiveness.  It is human nature to nurture the wrongs done us in life, to hold others to a standard we are not willing to be held to ourselves, to condemn and never apologize.

I will admit I have three people right now that I am having a problem with.  Well in truth, two of them I have forgiven already but they need to understand what they did and be willing to be forgiven.  They are not there yet and may never be, but at least it does not eat at me other than the loss of fellowship with them.  That leave one ..... and admittedly it is just safer to leave it buried than to expose them for what they are.  I doubt my heart could take the stress anymore.

When was the last time you sat down and read your Bible?
No, not inspiring books about the Bible.  No, not study materials about books of the Bible.  No, not testimonies of those whom have come before us.  No, no books on special studies using the Bible as their basis.

The real Bible, your choice of translation.  Read it, study it, ignore the dirth of materials out there whose sole purpose is to lead you into their way of thinking ...

- - - - -

So, I think we can see that many of us are the younger son, and many of us are the older son.  Both unfaithful and both unworthy to be called children of the most high!  Yet, guess what!  He will take us back as His own, when we return to Him of our own free will!

And then will come the feast and the celbration!

Tale of the Prodigal Son

Luke 15:10-20

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Yesterday, I mentioned how the hysterical  behavior of a parishioner, over her sudden discovery of where she is in life, led to an utter breakdown because she was not getting her way and unknown to her - is on the cusp of discovering the  real God.....

And that is exactly what this story is really about - the Real God, whom Israel no longer knew.

God is shown to have two sons, two inheritors of his flocks and business.

The Younger demands his due - in other words, lets pretend you are dead - dad, now give me what is mine!  This was a scandalous situation and unheard of!  In fact, if you were to go back into the writings of Moses, he demands the death penalty for rebellious youth, just take them to the city gates and bring plenty of rocks....

So, father sells off the younger son's portion and sends the son on his way.

Of course, the father then turns over to the elder son all that is left- and important point here - the elder son took it!  A good son would have refused and kept the father running things and not taken ownership of what was his father's ....

Of course younger returns, father is overjoyed, elder throws a fit, etc.

The point is, the story was never about the younger son, other than to show the foolishness of living by our wits.  
It was never about the eldest son, other than to show our fickleness.

It was to show God as the Father, giving us what is His, which is not ours, giving us to the ability to destroy our own lives because of our own conceit in thinking we can do as we wish with what WE have.

And when we figure it out and learn, we can return - and our Father will rejoice.

And Judah, the elder son, received the inheritance of the land and blessing.  Israel the younger son, went its own way into sin and destruction in the world.

Of course, the reality of life is that both are long gone.  Is Israel today, yesterday's Judah?  Is yesterday's Israel, today's real Christians?  (few was they may be!)

I wonder ...  how long until the feast ... ?

Culture of Expectation

Sunday I was part of the prayer team after church and an older lady approached in tears.  I was desperately casting about for any female, heck, anyone! to take this one!  Give Kris a teary eyed woman and Kris is about as comforting as a cactus ... unless I know you.  So for her sake, how I needed a surrogate.

Through her tears she dumped on me, a life story of  entitlement, never having to take responsibility for ANYTHING she has ever done.  Now in her early sixties, she has awaken to find her family is all gone, she is living in a basement of someone she does not even know, driving a car which is an embarrassment to her, etc.  I had twin thoughts; the first was compassion - I wanted to slap her unconscious (or at least half way into tomorrow!) and then when she woke up - explain to her what big girl panties are and what life is all about - not her!  Of course, how lacking in compassion, how unloving, how politically insensitive!  Yet, what she really needs.

My second thought kept me occupied through lunch, how this woman has awaken this morning in exact parallel to the the moment when that young man woke up in a pig pen in the Middle East and realized that even his father's servants lived better than he did.  Of course, he sort of brought on his own destruction by burning off his inheritance he had taken from his father.....

Luke 15:10-20

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

 So, we have a tale known to almost everyone, in or out of the church!  Even the story has been redone as a daughter instead of the a son.  Whatever, today's culture demands creativity is the taking of others ideas and then call them your own.....

This story is always told from the standpoint of the younger son - the ungrateful son, whom would take what is not actually his yet, perform every unclean act and then living amongst unclean animals, desires to return home.  Of course, his compassionate father has been waiting for him to return and throws a party.

The story is also told from the standpoint of the older son - the faithful son, whom stayed and tended the flocks and family business, then throws a fit when his brat brother returns.......

But, is that really what the story is about?

Musical Saturday Morning

Saturday was a horribly busy day and once again I am a little slow (cough-cough) at posting my normal Saturday morning music piece.  Oh well, sigh, what can I say, I am not the owner of my life it seems - grandchildren are!

So a piece I can across some time ago and far too real:

The Lone Ranger

I have been a lifelong Lone Ranger fan.  Clayton Moore did the NATO tours, as did many western stars and why I did meet many of them.  Moore was not exactly the most friendly however,  Jay Silverheels was, and a real person whom I really liked.  I always felt as a child that there was some friction between the two of them but, hey, what does a kid know?

In Germany, we had rebroadcasts of the older radio series from the radio station at Kaiserslautern (K-Town to us NATO Brats!), which was quite well done and greatly enjoyed by at least one member of my family!

So this latest offering, I already hear is being touted as a blockbuster movie failure - after only one week!  Seems a little premature!  But, then I never worked in the industry and have often felt that it critics and its analysts were both equally insane.  You also will have to remember that I love the area of the country this was filmed in and had to laugh at one point in the film when I was working harder remembering where this sequenced was filmed, rather than following the movie!

Armie Hammer, is about as convincing as awet tuna salad on a soggy bun - sorry, no real talent there.
Johnny Depp, turned in a very good performance as an indian lost to both his own culture and equally lost in the white man's world.
William Fichtner, whom plays the heavy, honestly deserves a nomination for his bad guy characterization!  Nice sociopathic humor in there!  It was a toss up between the Indian cultural tension and Fichtner's performance which captivated me the most.

Scenes came in from all over Colorado: Creede, Georgetown, Silver Plume, Wagon Wheel Gap, Wheeler Monument, as well as, Arizona and Utah, plus some CGI magic.

And I love the romance of old iron!  I have been in most of those engines personally!

The story is typical western material which is so politically incorrect: white man's greed, Indian naivety, manifest destiny.

The bad: the Indian tribe selected is the Comanche, which are poorly portrayed, since they are one of the better documented tribes due to their problems with white man's encroachment.  However, had they of used the Arapahoe, it would have been mighty close to what did happen and the Arapahoe were the scourge of the Rocky Mountain are this was film in.  So right story, wrong tribe.

The story takes place in 1869, yet many elements of the story were more likely to have been encountered in the 1890's!

Over two hours long!  The story could have been firmed up with a few less rabbit trails that although novel, really did not add to the story. 

Armie Hammer.

The good: a solid western story weaving together politics, greed, racism and man's inhumanity of the 19th century.

William Frichtner.

View-ability:
Very violent.
Really only one female character and her clothes stay on.  There is a visit to a brothel, however bawdy, it was supposed to be, everyone had their clothing on.
Intense movie in which manifest destiny is shown to really be nothing more than greed and plays for power where the only real loser is the Indian and their way of life.

There were a few pre-teens there and they were laughing at the appropriate times, though I would have been a little concerned for the level of violence and a pre-teen.  Teen friendly, with reservations for the same reason.

I think this is an owner movie and does have a message for the next generation concerning greed, inhumanity and hiding behind religion to support our own desires.

Culture of Entitlement

Here in the Pacific Northwest, more and more, I witness the demonstration of a prevailing culture of entitlement.  Here are just some examples from this week you can chew over for fun - and it is only Tuesday!:

I am at Wendy's, waiting to order a frosty to beat the heat, the man in front of me pays for his combo burger, gets his change, looks at it, then shouts, "What the *&^&^%^$%# is this?" and throws the change at the cashier.  I notice that she had given him 10 nickels and three pennies.  He wanted quarters and she did not have any.  The manager comes over, sizes it up rather quickly and as she picks up the change explains to him that there are nice ways of asking for things and throwing is never acceptable indoors.  Gee, exactly the the lesson my three year grandson learned this year.   And this guy is a 30 something!

Last night two cars take off from a bridge closure, for a boat, racing at very high speed and manage to whack each other on the first curve.  Net result, two destroyed sports cars, one injured in critical condition at Harborview (Seattle's trauma center), one in jail for vehicular assault, and ALL of the traffic behind them forced to wait 5 hours for the mess to be cleaned up so that traffic could once again drive to their homes.  There was nothing left of those cars and my son was stuck in the backup until 5 am!  (Okay, sure I was guilty of racing in my early years as well, but it was always on closed roads and never in traffic!  Oh to have that Alfa Romeo back.....sigh.....)

Children demand, whatever, with "but I want it!".

Adults tell you, that you have to act a certain way because they have decided to act a certain way ..... and since when is anyone else's actions dictated by your own?  No we are not talking any form of authority figure here.

Of course, in government now we have employees dictating national policy because they can, and really whom is to stop them?  Somehow asking for forgiveness is easy that asking permission and being turned down.  Really?  If you were my employee - you would be find your next job hard to find even at Burger King, after you were let out of jail .....

Everywhere I look in culture is the prevalence of this narcissism which demands that "my will be done, now!".  And somehow no one makes the connection between expectation, lack of accomplishment (or success) and the occasional butt kicking?  Very weird.

Actually, it is extremely hard to find in history a narcissistic cultural which survives.  Why?  Because no one else is going to put up with  you, you are expected to kowtow to them!  Not the other way around!  Gees, what turnip wagon did you just fall off of?

And again, I am reminded of Gibbon's "Rise and Fall of the Rome Empire", where in the populous, unable to break its dependency upon the central government, fell to a barbarous horde they greatly out numbered and greatly were over armed against.  Yet Rome fell.

Okay, well now that you think I am a doom and gloom - We have learned this year that actually there were a series of plagues which swept through the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries.  It may well have killed between 1/3 and 1/2 of the population.  The barbarians, coming from the north had not the pleasure, yet, of meeting the black plague.  Rome fell to a weakened, however still viable Rome.  And as for the Visagoths, well their return home with their plunder also included a few boils, rashes, fevers, and fleas.....

But, I am a Christian, I do believe that God does hold my days in His hand, Psalm 31:15.  That means a great deal to me.  It means my days are His, I will live as long as He desires, at His pleasure - still not getting it?  My days are numbered!  But, it also means that He will do as He will do with or without me.  My job is to align myself to His plan and His path, not for my own validation, pleasure, or accomplishment - but His.

In a correct perspective - if I think too highly of myself or put myself first, God will use someone else.  If I mess up, God will use someone else.  If I am doing His will for the wrong reason, God will use someone else.  No, it is not a judgement or a punishment, it is loss of opportunity for service and blessing.  And no, only you (sometimes) and God know for sure.  Others may guess and might even get it right but it is really between you and God.  Of course you have the ability to sin and impact everyone in your environment - your witnessing opportunities,  your relationships, all you have set out to do.  But you have to cautious being judgmental even of  yourself, God's message might not be you hosed up, but try again.....

And please, think a whole lot less of yourself, for your own sake.....

Stupid Is ...

Friday was just a plain evil day.  I felt good and decided to take a walk around town.  Everything went well until the sun came out - and Kris fried!  I was exhausted from the fireworks of the 4th when ran until 3:30 on the  5th, it got hot, I got exhausted, I ended up having to take two nitro pills just to make it back home.  Not fun!

Then, I get a note from my niece tell me that her father had double dosed on his heart meds and get himself hospitalized.  I called him about half a dozen times but no one is picking up his phone nor returning the call!  gees!

Monday, I was in a hurry, too much to do and I completely failed to take my morning heart pills!  Like I  should have been extra cautious just based on Sunday's problems alone!  But, I did not even realize that I had a problem until dinner time when I realized that I had fallen asleep at 3, 4, and 5!  I even dozed off eating pasta salad.

And I thought, that is weird.  Then I realized what I had done.

Now, insert into here a requested appearance with GG's therapist and quite a grilling I was to recieve and it turns interesting.  This lady makes linkages which are illogical, or takes a phrase and then adds emphasis which is not there or the best one, she isolates a phrase, then repeats it out of context!  I have no idea if she ever did get whatever it was she was looking for.  I was just glad I had my nitro pills with me - just in case I was going to have another problem getting home!  I think this lady is about as certifiable as GG.

But, she did let loose of some interesting information, perhaps to get a reaction from me; like GG is thinking of her old boyfriend ( you might remember several years ago I mention he was arrested for child molestation and now sits in prison for many more years to come!)  So I had to raise an eyebrow at that one!  Really  She doesn't give me anything but grief for three years, silence for one year and then I am supposed to be her friend again - to "save" her from running off with a jailed pedophile .....?  I ignored the bait, I never was much of a trout anyways....

And I am back to thinking of that long walk to Argentina fondly.....

A Beautiful Weekend To Film

Simply gorgeous weather here in the Great White North!

So beautiful in fact that, it was perfect weather for the filming of, Tthe Maury Island Incident - a short film concerning the goings on over and on Maury Island, back in June 1947.

 I had wanted to be an extra in the film but unfortunately casting selection was the day of my auto accident and abruptly broken knee!  OH Phooey!

For those not familiar with the first modern flying saucer event:

Seaman Harold A. Dahl, out scavenging for drifting logs, claimed to have seen six UFOs near Maury Island on June 21, 1947. Dahl, his son Charles, an unnamed hand and Dahl's dog were on the boat. Dahl reported seeing "doughnut-shaped objects" flying in formation over the area where his boat was. He said he could see blue sky through the holes in the center of the discs, and that there appeared to be port holes lining the inside of the ring. One of the craft appeared to be malfunctioning and another craft edged up to it. At this point the troubled craft began ejecting objects through the inner port holes. Slag-like material began hitting the boat and damaged the windshield, the wheel house and a light fixture, and killed his dog on the deck. He said his son was also slightly injured by falling debris. Dahl claimed to have taken a number of photographs of the UFOs, and recovered some type of slag ejected from the craft that malfunctioned. Dahl also recovered samples of sheaves of lightweight white sheets of metal that fluttered like "newspapers" out from the inner ring of the troubled UFO to the ground.

The next morning, Dahl reported a man arrived at his home and invited him to breakfast at a nearby diner; Dahl accepted the invitation. He described the man as wearing a black suit and driving a new 1947 Buick; Dahl assumed he was a military or government representative. Dahl claimed the man told him details of the UFO sighting while they ate, though Dahl had not related his account publicly. The man also allegedly gave Dahl a non-specific warning which Dahl took as a threat that his family might be harmed if he related details of the sighting.

In spite of the threat, Dahl had reported the incident to his employee at his sawmill operation, Fred Crisman, who had long claimed to have experience with unusual phenomena (and who was later alleged to be linked to the John F. Kennedy assassination ) and who also was the owner, or co-owner, of the boat used by Dahl. Crisman and Dahl also had a joint-venture to retrieve drifting logs from Puget Sound as a source of raw lumber. Crisman sailed to the island the following day and said he spotted a craft briefly, but it went behind a cloud. He gathered more of the slag which he found littering the beach area. He then sent a sample to Chicago with a request it be tested. According to the FBI report, Crisman either sent it to Ray Palmer, science fiction writer and editor of Amazing Science Fiction, or sent it to a friend at the University of Chicago who failed to identify the material and then sent it on to Ray Palmer. While the "rock formation" was being passed around in Chicago, the famous sighting by Kenneth Arnold took place at Mount Rainier in Washington state. Palmer contacted Arnold and asked him to investigate the incident for the story Arnold was writing for one of Palmer's publication.

And now it gets weird.

The US Air Force took custody of the objects ejected by the flying saucer, which were put on a flight, which then crashed outside of Kelso, Washington.  The Air Force then denied the entire incident but finally admitted it had happened in 1987 when the crash site was rediscovered.  The official report also told of two people parachuting from the plane just prior to the crash.
 
Alarmed by the air crash and deaths of those involved in the investigation, Dahl disappeared, although the FBI report mentions his son, allegedly injured by the slag from the malfunctioning UFO, had run away from home to Montana for some reason. Other witnesses would also die suddenly, survive other air crashes or die mysteriously during a two week period.


Weird eh?

So, first modern sighting, physical evidence gathered by the US Government and then lost, the damaged boat - confirmed by both the Air Force and the FBI, deaths of most of those involved in a short period of time, two people hospitalized at Tacoma General and a dead dog.  And then came the "men in black" - nameless men, whom refused to show credentials yet knew all of the details before the stories had spread, only to be followed by the best conspiracy theory events possible!

Yup all the makings of a mystery movie.  Will it make it to Cannes or Sundance?  Probably not, but it was fun watching the filming and enjoying the day ..... and wishing they needed a man in black with a limp .....

Musical Saturday Morning

Well, its the first Saturday and back to the 1980's!

Forth Goings On

Generally we have a big celebration for the Forth of July.  But, this year, I am as weak as a kitten and unlikely any of the kids would help.  So .....

Did the local parade:

Humorous Tow Truck

Oldest Daughter in white with her in-laws

Scoobie-Doo and van

 

 

Aztec dancers sponsored by my favorite restaurant

.

So the parade was long and hot and very fun since at the end I asked my daughter how it felt to be in a gay pride parade - needless to say, my trout daughter immediately bit the hook, "What!  I thought this was for the Forth!?!?!?!?"  LOL!

Then Dutchman begged out of coming as his wife had some teeth pulled the night before, Swede was descended upon three of his nieces and my kids floated in and out all evening with other priorities.  Sigh.  Life goes on.

But, I had fun.

And then there were fireworks....

I Am My Grandmother

So, I finally did it.  After three years of doing antique shows with my mother, I have rented space in an antique mall and now am now a certifiable antique dealer for real.  Oh God!  I am my grandmother now.....

My grandmother was an antique dealer for 60 years, my grand-aunt for 20 years, my mother for the past 30 - I am discounting the first two years where she sold everything which was mine because I was away at college - sigh.  And last but not least is my sister, now a dealer for 15 years back in the mid-west.

Not knowing what to put in a case, yet wanting to make it mostly guy stuff, it only has a few items from the household.  Most of it are things I collected back in the 1970's and very early 1980's.  We will see if I get what I paid for the stuff back - Bush the first really whacked the collectables market with the first Gulf War and Obama has not done anyone any favors in that regard either!

I think I did okay selecting the eclectic, rare and stuff I never have used - yet has sat around for decades.  Sure be nice if it all went away and I could reload next week with all new stuff from the attic!  (LOL! Like that is going happen!)

And no, those are NOT arrowheads, they are Neanderthal tools!  ARGH! Everyone always says the same thing!

LOL!

Hit and Miss

It has been hit or miss since last Thursday as to whether or not my laptop would start, if the router would work and/or the modem would stay up!  Just too plain hot!

This little computer I installed a fan in to help cool the circuits, then I have a 30" fan blowing on me and all of the workstation equipment and behind that a large air conditioner - and it has been a struggle keeping the temperature under 75!  So lots of line drops, lots of wireless and hardware failures and flat out will not restart on the laptop.

But, I have been busy and hope to post a picture tomorrow of what I have been up to in the sweltering heat!  Lots of hard work and with a back that has been out the entire time as well!  Oh well.  Work on the computer in the morning coolness, then do the physical stuff in the later heat - which backwards from what I needed.  But, you will like the results when I can get the picture resized in photoshop tomorrow.

I am getting stronger and regaining some of my hand muscle, as well as, brain function.

Two weeks ago it took me 6.5 hours to change a bicycle type and tire.  Sunday it was only 30 minutes!  How is that for improvement?!?!?!?  Still have some of the hand stiffness. Not sure as to why but bit by bit Kris is fighting back to humanity.  No, probably no awesome adventures left to await me (that I know of!), but I will be satisfied to see my life resolved as soon as possible.

Ran into KJ, one of "my boys" from years back.  Skinnier than a starving greyhound!  Guess he lost his job, has been on the street and not doing well.  He is talking about going back home to his mother (really bad idea!) so I have him set up for an interview Friday.  Not the best job in the world, but it pays enough to actually live on with paid benefits.  Never any coincidences in our lives as Christians.  Just as it was important for him to stumble across my path and get a free meal, it will probably be shown why it is important to me as well, later.

Also ran into James, I told you about him months ago.  He was taken down by some police, whom thought he looked suspicious and broke both of his wrists.  So, he was laid off as a bus driver because, hey he can't drive any longer.  Guess he is now involved in a multi-million dollar lawsuit against everyone but the tidy bowl man!  We had a long talk and yeah, he needs prayer for healing - physically, mentally, emotionally; but more importantly he needs discipleship.  That later point is a sore point for me because none of the churches in my town invest in this.  So what few Christians there are, are misled and/or babies in the faith - not that I am the rock of Gibraltar, but at least I did invest years into being discipled.

Well, need to get this posted.  It is grand-kid day and they will be awaking soon.

Shhhhhhh, be wery, wery quiet ..... I think I hear the wustle of a wabbit ..... heh, heh, heh, heh!

Another Death

It is hard to feel very sad when the one whom dies is in their 90's.
It is hard to feel sad then you know they are suffering.
It is hard to feel bad when their time has come.
But there is no joy in loss.
Only comfort in the knowledge I will get to see them on the other side, with no more pain nor tears.

With this passing we now reach the end of my list of local elders whom I admire and look up to.  My mining partner and then my adopted father and mother are all that is left now older than me, and I am not that old in my book leastwise!  But, they are thousands of miles away.  Probably time for a visit soon.

So another funeral in the near future I imagine.  With that special knowledge that there are three more in the not so distant future.  They are all in their late 80's and fragile.

A sad day.

Weather

I wanted to post this earlier but the King of Klutz managed to trip over one of the grandchildren and threw his back out.  Sigh.....

So playing catch up here:

Last Tuesday we literally had a deluge here at the house.  Now during this rainstorm we had over 3" of rain come down in just 10 minutes!  Holy Cow!  I could not believe how much nor how fast it was falling!  The rain was literally bouncing 6" off of the pavement when it hit!  I have only seen something like that one in my life before!

And I thought to myself, well yeah, this is a lightening storm, but still that is a great deal of water for clouds to carry very far!  And I wondered what I did not know about weather systems.  It was freaky and amazing at the same time!

Now a friend of mine lives on the opposite side of the lake from me and was out walking their dog when the storm hit.  But, he was not drowned in the rainstorm, instead he saw something incredible and photographed this with his phone:

I live about 1/2 mile from Puget Sound, a large body of salt water.  Between me and Sound is a 600 foot cliff, a nice size fresh water lake teeming with trout, otters and a local variety of snapping turtle, and lots of trees and homesteads.

So this, literally a water vacuum, was sucking straight out of the Sound and dropping the water 2,000 feet away on my house!  Almost sounds like a tornado only there was no circular motion but sure was sucking the water let me tell  you!  I calculated just shy of 4,000 gallons of water were dumped on my property alone during those ten minutes!

Wow!