Deep Thoughts #11

I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they
don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some
good ideas.

When you go in for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if
they ever press charges.


To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no
choreography, and the dancers hit each other.


Probably the earliest flyswatters were nothing more than some sort of
striking surface attached to the end of a long stick.

Better not take a dog on the space shuttle, because if he sticks his
head out the window when you're coming home his face might get singed.

Yesterday was a long day filled with miles of driving. About 250 miles mostly on rural roads, passing through four or five small towns and two larger urban areas. While driving, mostly to help pass the time, I started counting the presidential campaign signs. It was my own very unscientific poll. If my count was true to the entire nation then Republican McCain / Palin ticket will win in an overwhelming landslide. In fact I only saw one Obama sign the entire trip and that was in front of the democratic party headquarters in one of the large cities. But unfortunately my poll is vastly inaccurate. For one I was driving mostly the back roads out in the country. And I believe rural people tend to be much more conservative. Then too my drive was in South Carolina and Georgia which are both red states. It was a meaningless exercise, but interesting non the less.

Today is my wedding anniversary. I am sure that beyond any shadow of a doubt I am the luckiest man on earth. Seventeen years ago I made the second greatest choice of my life, when I confirmed " I DO ". My bride is a beautiful, smart, amazing woman. She is a Godly woman, truly sold out to Jesus. Every part of her world is guided by that faith. I am blessed to be loved by someone who has more talent and ability in one finger than I have in my whole being. She is the most important person in my life and my best friend.

I am thankful for her and her influence on my world. She is an answer to prayer everyday in my life. I love you sweetheart, you are my dream come true.

Ethics ? Are there any left ?

It was a soccer night for us. Monk's team, the Thunder are playing much more seriously than last years team. It is amazing the level of intensity just being one year older creates. For most of the first half it looked to be a low scoring contest and the ball just went back and forth with not even one serious goal attempt. But just before the end of the second period Ashley's team mate Ross scored an easy shot. The third period was more of the same until close to the end when the Thunder score a hard fought goal making the lead two to nothing. But in the final period the other team ran out of steam. The thunder rolled with Jackson, one of our Home Group kids, scoring then moments later Ashley scored a quick point. Two more goals were tacked on and the Thunder had a shut out.

It was a lot of fun. Yesterday was a beautiful day and the win capped off the evening.

I have a quick prayer request. A friend and former member of our Home Group was injured on a dirt bike over the weekend. He was in the Hospital until last evening but should recover just fine. Remember them as he recovers.

I have suffered a setback in my never ending quest for a quiet relaxed place to dine around town.

Thanks to a recent vote the prohibition on Sunday alcohol sales in restaurants has been lifted. The ends of these so called “Booze Laws” mean the end of pleasant peaceful lunches on Sunday after church.

I am sure the retail industry believes this as a plus seeing the $ dollar signs as they are eyeing the Sunday afternoon football crowd. But it is a tragic loss for me. No longer will we have a chance for a quiet meal without the unpleasant din from the bar crowd and the TV’s.

"The most successful people are those who are good at Plan B."
--James Yorke, mathematics and physics professor


Time for plan "B". I am off to White Jones for lawn mower parts in the morning.

The grilled pork chops absolutely rocked

Frustration; n. [L. frustratio: cf. OF. frustration.]

Pronunciation:

\(ˌ)frəs-ˈtrā-shən\

Date: circa 1555

1: the state or an instance of dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs

On Thursday it was a broken retaining clip on my lawn mower. Frustration !! I fashioned a temporary replacement and started the mower once again. Actually I had to adjust the replacement part and tweak it several times. Starting again, maybe now I can make progress. It ran maybe 10 feet. This time it was a slipped connector. Frustration !! After struggling to replace the rod and after several scraped knuckles I cranked the mower again. It had now been going on three hours and I had 10 feet mowed. I mowed about 2 minutes when silence..... examination revealed a pinched fuel line. Frustration !! That one was my fault. I had replaced it with a twist in my haste after the previous repair. Fixing that was simple and I again yanked the started rope and jumped on. After mowing twenty more minutes the mower stopped. Out of gas. I hadn't refilled it because of the engine being hot. No problem except I had none in the can. Frustration !! So rather than clean-up and drive to the station to buy more I stopped. It was almost supper time anyway.

Today I finally am able to get back to the of cutting my lawn. I fueled the mower and rolled it into the grass to start it up. Yanking on the rope until I was red in the face. It usually starts right away. Frustration !! Checking it out I noticed a bent spring on the choke control. My long nosed pliers soon had that restored to a working configuration. Again yanking the rope and to my sweet relief the engine fired right up. But this time it once again would not go into gear. This time it was a related problem to the broken clip of last Thursday. The clutch spring was broken. Frustration !! After an hour of bending and reattaching the old one Again I started the mower. Ah ha ...it is working. I start mowing in earnest finally. I was about 75% finished with the job when ... The blade drive belt assembly broke. Yep I missing clip ( another one )

YIKES Frustration !! again

You know my old Snapper was first owned by a crewman on Christopher Columbus' ship the Santa Maria and I think it left the factory new and shiny around the middle 14th century. I have a growing list of parts I need. I was hopping it would hang in there until the season was over before I started the rebuild. Guess not.

Frustration !!

Oh when I came in just now to blog .... the light blew out in my office.

Frustration !!

The good news, I get grilled Pork Chops tonight. Frustrations solved.

Isn't it funny the way the little thing frustrate us? I am learning not to sweat the little things.


I heard in the news that Billy Graham got to return home from the hospital. And that Clemson had fired football coach Tommy Bowden.

I don't think the two events are related.

;-)

GOoooo Bull Dogs eat up the Vols

So I am wondering. When exactly do you stop being a young buck and become an old codger?


When do you quit being Newly Weds and start being an old married couple?

I am not sure that you have to become either.

As long as your heart is young, then I think you are young.


As for my wonderful marriage I still feel like a newly wed. Do you? My bride and I are very much in love. Friends say that all the time. Yes we are, and better still. My wife is my best friend. I assure you it takes a commitment. And hard work. You find you need to surrender your own self and become us.

Our Anniversary is in about a week. I am open to new and unique ideas to celebrate that event.

Over the past three nights I have had the same dream. Two of the nights it was an exact replay. Last night it varied slightly.

Is a repeated dream a message? Is my sub-conscience trying to tell me something? I doubt it. I do believe that in some cases, some dreams can have significance. Can the future be foretold? YES. But only in as much the dream could represent our thoughts and so on. And those thoughts could shape our actions thus our future. I’ll leave that debate for another time. Similarly in this case I’ll discount the possible actions of angels or demons for this post.

This dream seems benign. In it my wife and I are at a large banquet, with hundreds of people being fed. A young girl I don’t know, maybe 5 -6 years old walks up to our table and cuts us a large piece of chocolate cake. Just as she serves it her father rushes up and warns us not to eat it. Because she had made it using muddy water. So we humor her by telling her we’ll save it for later. She smiles, bows and moves on.

Odd huh ?