i think i'm going to have

a short series of short stories about - Ch 2

vacation week - 2009

[spring break]

Day 3

While Rozann finished repacking for our journey to Lake Havasu City, I went and picked up our rental car. This was accomplished by taking the Hotel shuttle to the airport, then catching the car rental shuttle to the rental facility.

The airport uses one fleet of Airport Car Rental Facility buses and transports all car renters to the same centralized facility. Each of the Major car rental companies is located together at this one same facility. It makes it really convenient. Renters just go to the individual counter for the rental car company they have chosen, and complete their transaction. It is a lot like a food court in a mall or airport, only this is a car rental court.

Back to the hotel, pick up Rozann and our luggage and begin our 4-1/2 hour trek to Lake Havasu City. Actual driving time was probably under 4 hours - the rest of the time was bathroom and scenic view stops.

Lake Havasu City is in the extreme western side of Arizona. It is on a man-made lake formed on the Colorado River by a dam at Parker AZ [the Parker Dam] about 25 miles south of Lake Havasu City. On the other side of the lake / river is California. To the North about 60 miles is the southern tip of the state of Nevada.

The area is mostly dry mountainess terrain - arid and desert-like conditions abound. Cactus of many varieties thrive here. They average just under 3-1/2 inches of rainfall per year. The average annual daytime high is 88 degrees farenheit. It has become a retirement and resort type community. The permanent population is around 55,000 - the winter snow-bird population adds another 20 - 25,000 from November to April. Friends of ours rented a house for 6 weeks and invited us to come visit [they are retired school teachers from Minnesota].

The drive from Phoenix provided a great deal of scenic opportunities. We arrived at their home around 3pm. After unpacking and getting settled, they took us on a short driving tour of the city. It included a walk along the touristy area of the Canal Bridge River District.

It is here that the world famous "London Bridge" is relocated. An American Industrialist had purchased the bridge in London, had it totally disassembled, shipped to the desert of AZ, reassembled, and used it to form the heart of what is now Lake Havasu City. An oasis in the desert is what was created, and people from around the world come to visit...even from Muncie, IN.

Back home for a leisurely dinner was next on the agenda...a game of cards, and then to bed for a full night's sleep.

[to be continued]

i think i'm going to have

a short series of short stories about

vacation week - 2009
[spring break]

The beginning is a good place to start.

Day 1

Sunday, March 22, we decided to take an extra day before actual plane departure. We booked a room at a north-side Indianapolis Hotel for Sunday night. For the main event we went to a movie and saw the Nicholas Cage thriller "Knowing". After shopping at a supermarket, we went to our room for dinner. Miscellaneous TV completed our Sunday adventure until we fell to sleep.

Day 2
Monday was a sleep in. When we finally went down for breakfast, they were almost done serving. After checking out, we went downtown. Lunch at the Indiana State Museum Cafe was followed by viewing a movie at the IMAX theatre. Then it was time to head to the airport. We booked long-term parking at the Adam's Mark Hotel. For $5 per day they not only allow you to park there, they shuttle you to your terminal and pick you up on return.

The new airport terminal is absolutely fantastic [my humble subjective opinion].
We had pre-checked in online and were also able to print our boarding passes in advance. This allowed us to go directly to the gate for boarding. So far so good.

Then it started getting interesting - and only a little stressful.

The previous incoming flight at our gate was to discharge, then reload and take off for another destination. While they were reloading, it was determined it had a mechanical problem, and could not pull away from the gate area. All those passengers then had to be placed on other planes and flights to get to where they were headed. That was very time consuming, to say the least.

It had our gate blocked up. The incoming flight that was to be our outbound flight now could not come in to the original gate. They had to find another gate for it...and all of us who were scheduled to go out on it had to change gates. Lost time was realtively not too bad...about 1/2 hour and we were ready to start boarding at the new gate.

As the first group of passengers to board were lining at the gate, one of them - an older gentlemen - seemed to pass out. As everyone in line moved out of the way, the ticket agents came over and tried to move him off the floor and into a chair. They realized he was more than passed out. Emergency crews were summoned from the Airport Fire & Rescue Station. While they were en-route a passenger who seemed to know what to do, began doing chest compressions. A fight attendant ran on board the plane and came back with a portable defibrillator. When the emergency people arrived they continued with occasional shocks and chest compressions. After about 30-minutes they had him revived and stabilized for transport to a local hospital, but had to wait for the ambulance to arrive.

Thank God he was talking and breathing as they left with him.

Forty minutes late already, they were able to resume the boarding process. We were then in the air to Dallas-Fort Worth airport where we had a connection to make going on to Phoenix. The pilot did a good job and was able to make up about half of the lost time.

For us, the saga was to continue.

We arrived at our connecting gate in time for our next leg of the journey. We then discovered that not only had the gate been changed, but it was in an entirely different terminal. But we weren't late because there was a delay involved on this flight, too. Once boarded and ready to depart, the plane pulled away from the gate and headed to the tarmac - where we sat for over an hour awaiting the delivery of commissary supplies. All of this happened because of the original gate change. We eventually left from Dallas for Phoenix, and arrived about 1-1/2 hour after the original planned arrival.

Then we caught a shuttle to our hotel for the night. The next morning, Tuesday, we would get our rental car and head to Lake Havasu City.

[to be continued]

if lotteries pay out small change

What do bail-outs pay?

try this on for size

What does a trillion dollars look like? Click on the link and find out:

(US national debt is 10.9 Trillion dollars as of 3/4/2009)

http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

Boy, do I feel broke.

is life too hard?

am I treated unfairly?

how hard do I try?

Do I have what it takes to persevere through life's hardships?

In Christ, all things are possible.
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Maybe I should go out and have a good day ... in spite of those around me.

On Facing Up to Adversity 2

Seuss-isms
by Ted [Theodore] S. Geisel

better known as...
Dr. Seuss

from: Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

It's a troublesome world.
All the people who're in it
are troubled with troubles
almost every minute.

Just tell yourself, Duckie,
you're really quite lucky!
Some people are much more ...
oh, ever so much more ...
oh, muchly much-much more
unlucky than you!

...............

I guess I never thought about it that way - WOW!

the tongue hath power

The Stock Markets Continue to Plunge

On Facing Up to Adversity 1

Seuss-isms
by Ted [Theodore] S. Geisel

better known as...
Dr. Seuss

from: I Had trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew

I learned there are troubles
of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead
and some come from behind.

But I've bought a big bat.
I'm all ready, you see.
Now my troubles are going
to have troubles with me!

...............

and just maybe I should throw in a prayer for good measure.

I am not what you see

the real me is inside the cover

my essence, my soul, my being

Who am I?

I've been giving some extra thought to a couple of verses from the New Testament. The Letter to the Galatians has held a lot of 'good stuff' for me for several years, now. I'm not sure just when it was, but I read book by an evangelist who contended that many Christians, if not most, were being deceived. His premise was pretty straight forward.

The Holy Spirit of God is pouring out His spirit on all who are willing to receive it - but many / most are too prideful to accept it. We have been deceived into settling for less than God has for us. He uses verses from Galatians to drive home his points.

In the letter to the Galatians, Chapter 6, Verses 7-8, it reads:

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. NIV

Pondering these verses has caused me to examine just where and what I've sowed. Determining, then, that I have both a sinful nature and a holy nature to cultivate and feed - which one is by my choice - I've been led to, and pondered at great length, the passage in Galatians, Chapter 5, verses 16-26, where it is written:

Life by the Spirit

¹⁶So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

¹⁷For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.


My reflections here have shown me where I need to feed ... and cultivate ... and from where I need to sow. That which then grows in me will reflect the Holy Spirit of God, and not my sinful nature, which I struggle to kill. Then, I can truly portray an image of Christ for others to perceive.

God willing, others may then be drawn to accept the pouring out of His Holy Spirit - by seeing inside my cover: my essence, my soul, my being.
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So much for my personal thoughts today, but it has been awhile since I've made time to post much of any substance ... and these thoughts were on my mind.

God's gives talent to us all

but many of us fail to use it fully

an excerpt from a
SWAN LAKE ballet

as Peter Ilyitch may never have imagined it - or maybe he did.

Go to this link

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=feca9a3ee15c7de848d4&mui=
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pig ears, or sow ears, or earmarks

used to be a favorite at the local county fairs

soooo-eeeee, pig pig pig pig

Time will tell.

the book: "CHOICE THEORY"*

the author: William D. Glasser, M.D.

We Need a New Psychology

chapter 1

Suppose you could ask all the people in the world who are not hungry, sick, or poor, people who seem to have a lot to live for, to give you an honest answer to the question, "How are you?" Millions would say, "I'm miserable." If asked why, almost all of them would blame someone else for their misery - lovers, wives, husbands, exes, children, parents, teachers, students, or people they work with. There is hardly a person alive who hasn't heard the sayings, "You're driving me crazy .... That really upsets me .... Don't you have any consideration for how I feel? .... You make me so made, I can't think straight." It never crosses their minds that they are choosing the misery they are complaining about.

[the above is the first paragraph of the book]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I find this premise interesting - it means [to me, at least] that I am not a victim; I cannot blame others; I am responsible for myself.

What do you think? ... or do you?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
* HarperCollins Publishers in 1998
ISBN 0-06-019109-0 [hardcover]

Not All Super-Bowl Commercials are Equal

Some get ignored on the way to political correctness

NBC should realize who is watching

You won't see this during the game, unless NBC changes their mind. Give them a piece of yours. Go ahead and e-mail your favorite NBC official. Don't have a favorite? Then send to this one:

victoria.morgan@nbc.com after watching this ... they've turned it down and will not allow the owners to buy time to show it during the game [or any other time, either].

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Pray all pregnant women will make the same choice.

then I noticed

and then i said...

Soccer Fantacies

I never knew much about soccer

then I went to the
National Soccer Coaches Association
convention in St. Louis

This past weekend I spent 2 - 1/2 days in St. Louis with my soccer coach twin brother. He brought two of the other coaches with him from St. Benedict at Auburndale High School in Cordova, TN [eastern suburb of Memphis].

COACHES: brother Jack - Julie - Andy
[my picture is at top center of blog]

While my brother has been attending these events for many, many, years, this was a first for Julie and Andy.

Some of the highlights included the national draft for both the men's and women's professional soccer leagues. Additionally there were the awards banquets for the high-school and college All-American selections.

We had a good time confusing people who met us for the first time. Of the thousands in attendance, I think half of them knew my brother. While I had many coming up to me and talking to me, thinking they were talking to 'Coach' Jack Schenkel, we managed to keep them laughing at themselves when we presented ourselves together.

And a good time was had by all. I now know a little about a lot of different topics [combinations, 4-4-2, 3-4-2-1 and other formations, backs and forwards and wings and strikers and keepers, set-plays, counters, corner kicks, crossing, support, dribbling, heading, add-time, touches, etc.].

Always good to be home.

Pre-Presidential Election Cartoon

What do you think ... or do you?

Too Harsh?

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Clarification regarding this post:
Material below is from the site JFB and is not my own.
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This cartoon appeared just days before last November's election. It appears here, on the eve of what threatens to be the inauguration of unprecedented human slaughter, as a reminder of the sway evil has over so many Americans-- even those who've received the most precious and salutary of gifts, the Catholic faith.

JFB

Legacy

does what appears behind the comma after our name matter?

Eulogies

I knew him as Homer. Many called him Dewaine, his middle name. Maybe I didn't know him long enough, or closely enough to merit that familiarity.

We worked together off-and-on for probably 10 of the past 13 years. He was tough and strong - a real mule [yes, besides being strong, mules can be stubborn] and a workhorse. He could work at very physical things and run circles around men half his age. He was a 'steel fist in a thick velvet glove'. He'd do almost anything for someone else in need ... and he'd go toe-to-toe with almost anyone if he disagreed with them.

He died last week end at the young old-age of 69.

During the last 5 or 6 or 7 years he's been battling cancer. They'd beat it out of him in one part of his body, and then a year or so later it would show-up somewhere else. When he was able, he continued to work.

'Retirement age' meant nothing to him - he needed to be productive. When he wasn't working for a paycheck, he was working for free ... always helping others who had less [and many would look at him and his life-style and think he was the one who could have used the help]. He raised his family on very modest means.

He graduated from High School in 1957. At a time when post-high school education was not as common as today, his education served him well. He'd admit that he wasn't the best reader around, but teach him, show him, and once he learned how something was done, he owned that knowledge.

I was blessed to have been in-the-loop with his illnesses. Whenever he was doing poorly, or something else was diagnosed, or when he was hospitalized, or he just needed prayer, he or someone in his family would call me. Sometimes he would come by where I was working and see me personally - and I'd pray for him right then and there. I'd visit him in the hospital and find a noisy room full of family and friends. When it was time for me to depart I would tell him I'd like to pray with him before I left ... and the room would go dead-silent. They'd all bow their heads and honor the time for prayer - and when I was finished, the noise level went right back to where it was before. He kept the nursing staff in stitches with his jokes and funny stories.

At his funeral, I saw many pictures of a younger man with a full head of dark hair and full, long beard; now the hair was gone and the beard was mostly white. His wife, and adult children [2 daughters and a son], and grandchildren [half a dozen or so] were given the opportunity to say something about him if they would like. to The option was to write something - they all wrote something.

The preachers doing the service [one who had recently left that congregation and the other who had recently replaced him] read many of these remembrances. Any of us would love to have been remembered in such wonderful terms ... and there were more than a few references to his ability to have his say when he disagreed.

The words his family and friends wrote about him gave me another whole view of him as a person. I am truly honored to have been considered a friend. May our God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, greet him as he enters their presence and he hears the words, "Well done!"

Oh ... and behind the comma - Homer, Beloved Husband and Father

New Years Revolutions

Change something ... for the better

one day at a time

I try to think in terms of being able to make a difference. A lot of it is a matter of attitude ... and gratitude. It is the old story of throwing one star-fish from the beach back into the water ... then another ... then another ... then another ...

Compared to the millions of dehydrated star-fish that die every year, my efforts may seem fruitless ... but it is not. My efforts make a difference to each of those star-fish I pick-up and throw back to the water.

looking forward to the past

22 out of 23 isn't too bad

ring them bells

The Christmas holidays are all but past. I hope they are not soon forgotten.

Our concern for others seems to grow during this season. We can all look around and see someone who is worse off than I. For a short time some of us are able to look beyond our own needs and be willing to share some of what we have to benefit those who have not.

This was the 22nd year (out of the last 23) that I was a Salvation Army Volunteer bell-ringer. I saw a lot of generous people pass by my kettle station - I say generous because they were stopping and depositing money into the kettle.

That was then ... this is now. The needs are still there. More people than normal are out of work. More people than normal are depending on others to help them make it day to day. More people than normal have lost their home and need someplace to stay out of he cold. They still need our help.

Salvation Army isn't the only show in town. Check with your local church or other philanthropic organizations ... ask how you can help. The 12 Days of Christmas still leaves 353 days of need. Get involved - help!

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new life

fresh camera batteries make the difference

you shoulda seen it before

May I present a few 'after' shots [sorry - I didn't take any 'befores']:

Thank you for your patience. For those of our family and friends who have wandered in at anytime during the past 6-1/2 months, the mess was almost intolerable at times - just ask Rozann. And those who have wandered in anytime in the past few days, you have seen the transformation - the epiphany of our efforts.

In Review: the room is approximately 11' x 22'; the area where the TV and cabinets is now located was an enclosed closet and storage area - all of which was ripped out; the area in the corner of the room where the stacked washer-dryer units set had bad flooring which I had to rip up and repair and replace; drywall was installed all the way around; new exterior door and accompanying storm-door; new door to kitchen area; 6 new windows and accompanying storm-windows; new Pergo laminated flooring; new ceiling; new cabinets at both ends; new stackable washer and dryer; new 37-inch LCD-HD 1080p flat-panel television; 2 new electrical outlets and 1 new TV cable hook-up plug-in; new area rug; new 3-seat couch [both ends of which are recliners]; new 2-seat rocker-recliner with center drink-holders and storage.

All-in-all, not too bad for a week-end do-it-yourselfer - and the best part of all is ... ROZANN likes it and is happy [now that the mess is cleaned-up]!

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