2012 march 17th Saint Patrick's day

Not the best picture I've 

ever taken of myself.  But, 

Hey! I'm in severe pain

at the moment.

I'm trying something a little different I'm using my new Razor Max smartphone to speak my blog into existence. I know it's almost like God commanding "Let there be light."

My planter fasciatus is even worse today than it was yesterday. so I'm pretty much bound into this chair for the rest of the day again. In the meantime Ella is working this morning she will work until 2 o'clock this afternoon and then she's off for the rest of the weekend.
I'm thinking that we'll try and go to the saturday night service this evening instead of fuzzy's sunday morning tomorrow.
Now that was interesting instead of typing "the" in the last sentence it typed "fuzzy's".  I can see that I will need to proof read this really well before dudes blog.  It just did it again instead of "it gets", auto correct changed it to "dudes".   Maybe I just have a speech defect. 

My next challenge for this phone is to try and do a video blog.

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2012 March 16 Friday

            Ouch!  My planter fasciitis is very painful this morning.  I’ve taken a couple of doses of Arthritis Strength Tylenol in hopes of easing the pain.  It has been a while since it has flared up this bad.  I will spend as much of the day as possible in a recliner with my feet up.

            We will be leaving home soon to go to Ankeny and babysit with the great granddaughters.  Charlotte does not have school so we will get to spend more time with her.  Lorelia still has preschool at around 12:00.  Normally we would not be watching the girls on a Friday because Beth has the day off.  Today, however, she has a doctor’s appointment.

            I’m sitting here with the windows and door open and listening to the birds.  The robins are being particularly noisy.  I’m guessing that they are defining and protecting their territory while trying to attract a mate.

            For the last several years a robin has built a nest on the ladder at the rear of our Road Ranger fifth wheel trailer.  I’m afraid it has not ended well for the eggs / baby birds in those nests.  I’m wondering if they will try again this year even though the Hitch Hiker is sitting on the site.

            I just heard a sandpiper also.  Yesterday we were serenaded by a redwing blackbird.  It is such a pretty trill.  This video is not of "my" redwing, however, it shows off the song.

>Later that same day>
           It is about three in the afternoon and we are back home.  Babysitting went well.  It was nice to be able to spend more time with Charlotte today.
         We stopped by Plaza RV and let them know that we'll want to pick up the Excel in about a month, mid April.  We also picked up a new knob for the igniter on the stove.  It turned out to be the wrong  size.  I'll have to take it back on Monday after we are done babysitting.
          I also stopped at Valvoline so they could top off the oil in the truck.


                

2012 March 15 Thursday

            I had an appointment with Pastor Lee Webb this morning to discuss the upcoming Seder / Passover meal that the Worship Committee is sponsoring.  We reviewed the script that we have and made some changes.  We will have Amy the church secretary create a bulletin for the participants.

            Lee also helped with a warning light for my truck’s ABS.  He had the diagnostic tool for his GMC truck.  Now that I have the codes, I’ve gone online to ask the experts at “JustAnswer.com”.  I’m sitting and waiting for a reply. 

            A pop-up said that Nate was researching the answer.  That was replaced with “Your question has been opened to all GM Experts”.  That was replaced with “Walter is researching”.  And the message has now been replaced with “Your question has been opened to all GM Experts” again.

            The following is posted on their website:

Satisfaction is fully guaranteed!

You will be able to ask follow-up questions until you are fully satisfied. Your deposit remains in your account until you decide to pay your Expert.

So, I’m expecting to be ‘fully satisfied’ at some point.

            I’m hoping that I become satisfied before I have to leave for the Bible Study at Emeritus.

            Onto another topic.

            Record breaking high temps yesterday as well as predicted for today!  I’ve begun removing the plastic ‘storm windows’ from the RV.  The screen door is uncovered and in use.

            >Just received a question from GMwrench as to whether the light is on all the time.  It is not.  It is intermittent but often.<

            Back to the other topic … the weather.

            I have the roof vents open and the breeze through the RV is glorious.  This weather makes me want to crank up the grill and barbeque some ribs!  I like to cheat on this a little.  I’ll make a dry rub for the ribs and then sear them over live fire.  Then I’ll but them in a crockpot and wet cook them in BBQ sauce until they fall off the bone. (I know … some people say that ‘fall off the bone’ is overcooked … but I’m the one who is eating them and that’s the way I like ‘em.

            >GMwrench sent a message with two possible answers to my ABS question.  One is fairly simple and cheap (a loose connection).  The second is still simple but ain’t so cheap (replace the ABS module).  He even sent me a diagram on where to look for the loose connection.  I was satisfied, so they’ll get my $15.<

            Jumping ahead in time a couple of hours.

            I just returned from Emeritus.  Ella ask me, “How did it go?”  I don’t have an answer for that.  I go.  I read a short section from the Bible.  I pontificate upon it. (grin)  I then play a CD of Hymns with which to sing along.  Seldom does anyone sing and only a few can follow along with the written words or even find the page.  I thank them for their attendance and … sometimes … they thank me. 

So, how did it go?  If I made an impact on their lives at all … it’ll disappear from their minds before the day is over.  For some of them, if I walked out of the room and came back in they wouldn’t remember having seen me before.

How did it go?  I may be the only one who is truly changed by these visits.  I have always hated being around people who are “challenged” physically, mentally, or socially.  Many people in my family have had careers in dealing with these people.  But I’ve always been uncomfortable being around them.  I have thought of myself as having no compassion. 

What I’ve learned about myself is:  it is not lack of compassion; it is lack of ability to make a meaningful change for those who are challenged.  I’ve always felt that there should be something that I can do.  And not being able to find that ‘something’, has caused me to avoid the challenged people.  I have trouble not being in control.  And these are situations where there is no control possible.

How did it go?  I’ve given up on trying controlling the situation.  I’ve given up on trying making a permanent change in their lives.  I go.  I read a Bible verse.  I give a devotional talk about the verse.  We sing songs.  All these people have is the present, and for a tiny moment in time, I’m in their “present”.  I try to make it a meaningful ‘present’.

How did it go?

2012 March 13 Tuesday

Great grandma Ella listening as Lorelia explains how the world works.

The 3 year old who said, "I'm having a conversation about the presentation."

            I awakened right around five o’clock … as usual.  It appears that my body has adjusted to daylight savings time already.  There is no GOOD reason why I should be awake at five in the morning.  Several days a week we have the alarm set for 5:45 so that we can get to Ankeny and watch our great granddaughters for a few hours.  Most days I don’t need the alarm to wake me because I’m just laying in bed awake and waiting for the alarm.

            It is now six thirty-seven in the morning and I have lain abed and watch an hour long TV show on my Droid X smart phone.  I’ve read my emails.  I’ve lurked on Facebook.  I’ve made coffee and eaten my usual breakfast of one strip of bacon, one slice of oatnut toast and one egg.  I’ve clean Kramer the cat’s bowl and given her new food.  And I am now working on this blog post.  In a few minutes I’ll compose a news article for our church’s monthly newsletter and email it to the church office.  Then I’ll just sit and twiddle my thumbs (metaphorically) until my bride awakes and joins me in today’s quests. 

2012 March 12

2012 March 12, Monday

Babysat with the girls (Charlotte for only about 10 to 15 minutes before it was time to take her to school.)  I took Lorelia to preschool about noon.  We then waited for Beth to arrive home before we left.  That was to be sure someone was there to retrieve Charlotte from school.  As it turned out, Beth arrived just in time to walk up to get her.  That should make Charlotte happy to be able to walk home.

2012 March 11 Sunday

Yeah! Welcome to Daylight Savings Time.  That means I did not wake at five this morning.  I was able to sleep until six.

Ella worked today.  I went to Sunday School … only a few of us made it … either they forgot to reset their clocks or just couldn’t crawl out of bed that hour earlier.

After Ella got off work we went in to church for our Lenten Bible Study on the last words of Christ from the cross.