Self Reliance

I'm struck by the different way people look at things; how some people don't see things the way I do. I'm also struck by the fact that if everybody saw things the way I do they'd be right more often. Linda and I are starting off this President's Day Monday by her doing some alterations to some clothes and I'm working in the kitchen in preparation for doing some cooking. (Green chili stew.) I was pondering some of the speaker's comments heard in church yesterday and I needed to use Lin as a sounding board. I said to her "Thinking about what Sister XXXXXX said..." and before I could finish she said "That bothers you too?" So Lin and I think alike; that's a good thing. Now about what bothered us: The speaker was talking about the answer to prayer and personal revelation. She related a story about having a flat tire in a remote area of Arizona. She had a number of children with her in a mini van when a front tire lost air. She sat in the car for 15 minutes until a stranger came along to assist her. She used it as an occasion to build her faith in human kind and that's not a bad thing. On the other hand, she freakin' sat there for 15 minutes instead of getting out, finding the jack and spare and changing the danged tire! What if it had been 30 minutes? An hour? Ok, the Lord doesn't give us what we can't handle but why not just fix it yourself? God has given us the ability to think for ourselves and to do for ourselves. I'm glad for the women in my life who will do what they can on their own and call for assistance when they need to. I feel a little lost because both of my daughters live a distance away but I feel better knowing that they can handle most situations when they occur. I'll let them tell about their various adventures with cars, one involving a PT Cruiser loaded with Japanese exchange students and a flat tire in almost the same spot as the incident above. Another more recent involved a dead alternator and the self reliance shown to get the car to where it wasn't a danger. I'm proud of my daughters and what they can accomplish. I'm glad they take care of themselves when they can. I'm also glad they like each other and help each other when they can. I worry about Linda being off in the far reaches of the Indian reservations but I also know that she can change a flat tire when the occasion arises. I appreciate my daughters' and wife's self reliance, knowing that they will pray for assistance to help with the situation but knowing that they will do what they can for themselves.

Frazzled

The morning started out badly but it also made me be grateful again that I'm married to Linda. While still in bed I grabbed my laptop to check email. I got several notices from PayPal that I'd authorized payments. I hadn't authorized any payments! I panicked, got flustered and began trying to fix an obvious hack. (Insert picture of Stan in his underwear using phrases like Egg Sucking Dog to describe the folk who hacked me, all the while wanting to throw the computer because it won't give me the information I want.) While I'm in a dither trying to get it fixed on line, Linda calmly found me a phone number to PayPal customer service. I talked with a gentleman named Colin who helped me straighten that part out; PayPal is ok. I think. Still working on the credit cards but so far nothing bad.

So after taking care of that and while Lin is at work I'm supposed to take the dogs to the groomer. I'm a big boy, I can handle that. Ever try to put a harness on a flea? The danged little red dog gets excited when she hears the harness rattle. She comes running to the sound and flits around like a flea waiting to get it on. Then when you approach her with it she backs up. I chased her for 45 minutes while she's going backwards trying to escape the very thing she wants put on. After finally getting her harnessed up, and getting Barkley in his, I look for their leashes. And I look for their leashes. And I can't find their leashes. I mean I scour the likely places and many unlikely places but no luck, can't find the leashes. While I'm looking for the leashes in the garage, the door is open and the red dog comes downstairs and out into the yard. At first that was an additional irritation but then I thought it would be a good idea if they both did stuff dogs do on our lawn instead of the floor of the groomer's, so I got Barkley and put him on the lawn. Of course by the time I get back to the lawn Kitty is gone. I wandered up and down the street and found Kitty, chased her back to the yard and searched more for the leashes. And searched more for the leashes. Still can't find the leashes. It's getting closer to the scheduled appointment time with the groomer but you can't take your dog to the groomer unless they're on a leash. So here I am, back in a dither because I hate being late. What to do , what to do? The appointment is for 10, it's a 12 minute drive to the groomers and it's 9:52. I grabbed a chunk of electrical wire, cut 2 lengths of 5 feet each and tied it to their harnesses. Walked them into the groomer and acted like it was an everyday occurrence that people use electrical wire for a leash. Coca Cola and chocolate and I'm doing fine now. Oh, BTW, the leashes are in Linda's car.