Spiritual Breathing in the Parking Lot

It was another hot Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of Terry’s Supermarket. Cars were going this way and that. I just want to get these grocery carts up to the store while I still have the strength. I don’t know which way these people will decide to go. I have found out the very most favored space to park in all of that parking lot is the one that I am dragging my butt across at the time.

I miss attending church and Sunday School but I am thankful for this job too. At lunch my sweet texted me. She told me a little about what the preacher was preaching about. Wouldn’t you know that it would be another sermon that I would have dearly love to hear! Oh well, I can catch the replay on the church web site later. 

My wife told me at lunch that Pastor said something along the lines of, “Grace is not a free pass .. ‘to sin’ or was it ‘to live in sin?’” Either way this is a subject that I have studied out quite a bit.

Campus Crusade had a little blue book that I thought was the key to “spiritual happiness.” That book messed me up big time. They taught what they called “spiritual breathing.” What that is, is this. When you sin you “exhale" out your confession of that sin and “inhale” God’s forgiveness for that sin. The definition of sin that they go with is that sin is active rebellion or passive indifference to the law of God. That did me in right there. Honest to truly I couldn’t keep up with it all. To top it off, there is James 2:10. This warns that any and every sin brings the condemnation of breaking every law in the Bible. Can you drive without passing the speed limit by even 1 MPH? If not, then you are guilty of every sin in the Book because of driving one mile an hour over the speed limit. Time to repent of every sin listed in the Bible each time I mess that one up. That makes me light headed. Now that I’m light headed from spiritual breathing, it’s best to re-confess everything once again and hope I don’t miss one. 

Another preacher warned us, “Never expect God to answer your prayer if there is sin in your life!” Well, my boat set sail from Stinky Bay and now sinking fast in the middle of Lake Deep Pooky. I was failing big time!

There is more but I will spare you of that.

I found out that I wasn’t alone in all of this. There is a book that I actually read by Bob George. This book set me free!!! The name of the book is, “Classic Christianity.” Bob talked about the little blue book too and said that he was hyper ventilating from “spiritual breathing” himself.

There is a new book! It wasn’t written by Bob but it was written by someone else from Bob’s radio show. It is called Basic Gospel. When I get the money I will get that book. Right now we just pray for God’s grace that we can buy groceries. 

If you read these books, you will be helped too.

The main thing I got out of Bob’s book was that as Christians we are forever forgiven. We should walk in this forgiveness. They show that we are dead before we receive Christ. We are made alive when we believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. When you tell God that you believe this you are then “saved.”

Once you are made alive spiritually you will never be dead spiritually ever again.

Another thing Bob covered is walking aware of your righteousness that was given to you by God Himself. We can’t earn it but we can receive it and say, “Thank you.” It is humbling to realize that it was all of God and nothing of me. He did everything necessary for our salvation and there is nothing we can add to it. 

It is better to be righteousness conscious than sin conscious. When you are conscious of righteousness you loose interest in sin. Sure we all sin but it is not a part of our new nature. If we are sin conscious all we see is where we mess up. We are defeated if we worry about sin all of the time.

My favorite example story that illustrates this is about when I was a little boy. Mother would send me to Daddy with his cup of coffee. “Sin conscious” is me looking with fear at the hot cup and worrying that I would drop it or spill Daddy’s coffee. “Righteousness conscious” is me looking at Daddy as I carry his coffee to him. I may slosh a little of it out but before I was getting it all over. 

Another example that I had heard is this. Before you are saved, you are a worm. (caterpillar) You are only interested in wormy things and anything related to being a dirty little worm. When you are born again it’s like coming out of the cocoon as a new creature. (butterfly) You are no longer interested in wormy things. Now your focus is on things pertaining to being a butterfly. You may get your wings dirty now and again but that is not part of your new nature. 

You can make sure that you are born again. If you have any questions, I will help all I can.

Right now I have to get more carts up to the store. I am looking forward to cooler weather. 

The trash cans outside are getting full. I  wonder if I can change the out real quick…

Have a great day! 

Come again soon! 

Rapture in the Dairy Department

I am working hard at Terry’s Supermarket. Some like to sit at a desk and work in an office. That is not for me. I much rather be physically active. I walk almost 30 miles a week at Terry’s. With all of the weight that I have lost the doc should get me off of a lot of meds. All of my britches are way too big for me now. Soon I will have to pray in a new wardrobe. 

What I like best at Terry’s is working in the perishable department with the milk, eggs, yogurt and juice… I can keep things filled and fresh.  All by myself, I can think about things. Hardly anyone talks to me as I work so I am free to reminisce and think about all kinds of stuff.

The other day I was thinking back remembering hearing preachers preaching about the rapture and saying, “What will the Lord catch you doing when the rapture happens?” Well, that is a good point. Some preachers are very good at getting everyone to feel guilty and down right awful. They would use the rapture to frighten us kids into obeying the preacher. Many in the congregation would walk the aisle to get forgiven again and they would promise to do better. The guys better have their hair cut and the young ladies had better not be waring pants. Don’t let God catch you in a theater! Looking back on it now it seems so goofy. I hate legalism. Legalism promotes fear and extinguishes faith. 

Not to be taken lightly. The rapture will indeed happen and it my be very soon. How scary it will be for those left behind to face the tribulation period. The rapture is when all of the Christians are removed from the planet and things go very bad for everyone who is left behind. Don’t be left! If you want more information about this, just ask me. I am no expert but I will help you all I can.

What will the Lord catch you doing when He comes? As for me, I will probably be checking the dates on the yogurt. 

Eyes Crossed in the Lotus Position

Eyes Crossed in the Lotus Position

Let me tell you about Mother’s Day.

Clean uniform and looking sharp I headed to work at Terry’s Supermarket. It was Mother’s Day. The weather was a bit rainy but not bad. 

Trudging through the store, greeting the customers as I went. Was I the only one with a , “Happy Mother’s Day” for all of the mothers that came through? All I knew is that there was plenty of them. Mothers, grand mothers and many many others came to Terry’s that day. I rather be busy than bored. This was a fun day.

Being a rainy day it was important to keep the carts dry. Manager told me to be sure that every cart I bring up to the store out of the rain was to be put under the awning so that they don’t get wet. It didn’t have to make sense. I did like he said. I went uphill to get the wet carts and put them in a dry place.

This is an old building and it was not free of the problems that come with that. This store building was a Kroger back in the 70’s. On my way back to the door I saw people standing dazed and confused at the doors. They were not opening. It happens. A much taller man on the inside was laughing at me as I did my best Hulk imitation while pushing the doors open. “That was so funny! You made my day!!” I love to make people laugh.

Crowds came in. Crowds went out. “Happy Mother’s Day!” Carts added up on the lot and disappeared as quickly as I could bring them up to the store. I was loving every crazy minute of it.

Spying out the check stand for the largest order, I staggered in that direction. “Lean on Me” by Club Nouveau was blaring over the noise of everyone on the front. I was ready to lean on something. Memory trip! When that song came out I got that record! I was grooving ands singing along, “WE BE JAMMERS! WE BE JAMMERS!!!!” I tried to sound as reggae as I could. I did ok for a white boy. Right in the middle of having a good time I was asked by someone whiter than me, “What are they saying?” With a puzzled expression I responded, “You’re kidding right? ‘We be jammers.’” and then, “What does that mean?” Roughly interpreted, “We are people who play music well.”

Zoning out, eyes crossed in the lotus position a thought comes to mind. They say that when this happens that it is indeed a form of meditation…. Buggies! Time to go gather carts again.

Hurrying through the parking lot, I was almost hit by a dude driving too fast in his white truck. He was too preoccupied with a finger up his nose to the second knuckle. 

Jamming several carts together I hear a dog barking at me. It was a Pomeranian! Imagine this dog came all of the way from Pomerania just to bark at me. I chuckled at that silly joke. If I think that was funny I must be some kind of tired.

http://pawpawtd.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-splash-from-past.html

To Kill a Paw Paw

At fifty seven, I am finding out faster than ever that I am not Superman. I cannot work as hard as  I did when I was younger. With that, I cannot work slack handed neither. 

When it comes to work there is a verse in the Bible that comes to mind, First Timothy 5:8, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” That sums up the importance of providing for the family. John Wayne said, “A man's got to do what a man's got to do.”

We went through a rough patch where we had to rely on the help of others. All through this time we prayed that I would be able to get a job. Our MLM was a washout but it was a good try. Long story short I got a job at Albertson’s! You can read about it HERE. I was scheduled at Albertson’s to change shelf tags every other week. My hours there were a feast or famine kind of thing. I would get a killer schedule, including an overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday or so few I would wonder if it was worth the gas to show up. My schedule was seldom ready at the appointed time. After seeing just what all I needed to bring in, I went to another store in search for more hours. I quit the first job for Terry’s Supermarket. I was working like crazy at Terry’s and loving it.

When my first boss found out what was going on he called me back to work! That gave me two jobs. Yes, this Paw Paw was working two jobs. One job was with Albertson’s and the other at Terry’s Supermarket. I hoped that I could do this and that I don’t end up having to choose one job over the other. I needed to work 30-40 hours a week in order to afford the things we need. I knew good and well that 20 hours was all I could get from a part time job. With two, I can get the hours that I need.  My second boss, at Terry’s, was willing to work with my schedule from Albertson’s. There are not many bosses willing to do that! This tells me that I am greatly valued. I knew then and there that Terry’s would be my choice over Albertson’s on the day I have to choose which job to keep. 

One week, it was like this. When I got both schedules it looked challenging but doable. I came in Tuesday morning expecting to bag groceries and haul in carts. When the Albertson’s schedule was changed to include that overnight shift it became impossible. Nevertheless I kept going. Seven hours at Albertson’s, four hours at Terry’s and back for eleven to whenever the job was done Wednesday. I called in sick to Terry’s for Wednesday night. I was far more than a little bit tired. In order for me to justify to myself to call in sick I would have to feel like I was never death. This qualified. I am thankful that I lived through it and can tell the story. 

This story has a part two.

http://pawpawtd.blogspot.com/2016/02/iron-man.html

Be Nice Paw Paw!

Be Nice Paw Paw!

One of my favorite sayings is this. “Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.” 

One of my favorite verses from the Bible is:  Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” 

However there is an extent to which I have a harder time about being “kind.”

Maybe you can identify.

The other night a cashier, at work, got her feelings hurt because some jack-donkey said something ugly to her. I founder her soon after this. She was crying on one of the aisles. I wanted to ask, “Need a hug there cupcake?” That was when I had to remind myself, “Be nice Paw Paw!” and just asked her the question that the manager wanted me to ask and get back to work. 

Face it! There are those who will say things that are hurtful. It is up to us to decide if we want to allow this to hurt us or not. I can tell you right now, as a short man, I have been told plenty. Some people were being ugly.  Others were just “teasing” me. I have to shake my head the ones who were just plain stupid. I was in line, not long ago, in a gas station minnie store, standing behind just such a one. This dude had a moral obligation to let me know that I was short. Did he think that I didn’t know that? He turned around and said, grinning ear to ear, “They almost made you a midget!” I just looked down, shook my head and laughed to myself. If I got as upset as she did every time someone thought that I needed to be told that I am short I would be in the nuthouse today.

You have to know when to be tenderhearted and when to be tough-skinned. 

A Study in Orange

A Study in Orange

Another fine day at Terry’s Supermarket. The sun was shining and music was festive. There was plenty to do. Red grocery carts were calling my name from one end of the parking lot to the other. “OK Paw-Paw!” I said to myself, ”Best get those things brought up to the store. Remember to only take a few at a time.” What should I do? Should I take all that I can possibly push up or take several trips with a more manageable number of carts? It’s dangerous to take more than I can handle easily.  

Something new was afoot today. There were several men armed with paint, rollers and very long extendable handles. Buggies were turned on end as barriers to protect the men who were painting the lampposts. The paint was a cheery shade of orange. There was a long extension cord stretched from inside the store to a lifting cage. I was glad that I didn’t have to go way up there! From time to time I stop to see how far they were getting along. It was looking good to me.

Later, I had to go to the back of the store for something when I saw a young mother struggling. She was trying to get her little daughter to sit still in the cart. “Look! That man will get angry with you if you don’t sit in the seat right!” She pointed at me and whispered, “Pretend to be angry with her.” What? “I can’t do that to the sweet little precious sweetie!” I gasped. Instead I tried to make her laugh. The little one didn’t want to laugh. Did she think I was angry? Is my comedy material that bad?

About twenty minutes later, they were checking out so I bagged their groceries and tried again to get the little girl to smile. She never did. Oh well, off to another order across the front. I saw a little girl there. “Maybe I can get a smile out of this one.” I thought. I talked silly to her and made faces. Nothing worked. She just looked at me like I had an extra eye in my forehead. Her grandma didn’t even know English but she laughed at me. I got a two dollar tip for it. I didn’t do it for the tip but it was  good to see just how much my comedy routine was worth. 

Lunch time came. My sweet said that I should have something more than water for lunch. I have lost a lot of weight drinking water as lunch. Orange juice sounded good so I got that and drank the whole half gallon carton. “Burp!” 

After lunch I was ready to go get more carts. Tommy Tutone was belting out his song “867-5309” as I headed out the door. “Oh look! Some silly outfit left their Sonic garbage on the pavement. I’ll leave that and grab some carts.”

After I pushed a load of carts into its place a friend called me over. “You know what? They are using the wrong paint. It’s already starting to peal off.” He told me. “They are?” He said, “It was only for a tax write off.” I don’t know much about that sort of thing. If it was up to me I would have it painted right with the correct paint. I would want it to stay nice for a long time. Maybe that is why I don’t make the big bucks.

Sock Hop from Hell

Sock Hop From Hell

Not to seem like I’m griping all of the time or ungrateful for this opportunity, but this seems too be too much for me. 

Back out to get more shopping carts, I saw that someone left the nasty little bit of their supper. Nasty! Nasty! Nasty! Old food in a styrofoam plate that would gross out a lesser man but still yucky! This was not the first time I had to clean up after someone’s meal in the parking lot. This was the third one tonight. I’m not counting the oh so many banana peals I have to touch. 

Oh look! There was a dog barking at me from inside a car. It was a flat nose curly tail dog protecting the car from strangers. I love to write about K-Dog so seeing this little guy was a great diversion. “You are doing a great job little dog!” 

Straightening several carts for the trip back to the store, I took another look at the wee fellow. “Dude! You have a sweater on.” It says, “Speed Demon” on the back. The windows are down about four inches but it is still eighty one degrees out. Who would do that to the poor dog?

Evening in the store parking lot and I am so tired. The music from the store radio has been bombarding my brain taking whatever mind I had void of anything but reverberations of the last song played. By now every step seems heavier than the last. I should sleep like a log tonight. That was until Dire Straits began playing “Walk of Life.” I use to really like that song.

There were more carts for me to fetch. I am all bruised up from fighting those abstinent nasty buggies. Interesting, not all of these carts are from Terry’s Supermarket. I saw the Target logo on some and one said Carnival. 

I have goals for the future that keep me going. The main one I kept thinking about was my three days to heal up before I come back for more. They say that I work too hard, I don’t know how not to. I have slowed down and bring in less carts at a time and they still say that I over do.

I saw an old friend from high school! Told him that I blog. “Lots of money in blogging!” I hope he is right. I love to do it. It wouldn’t hurt to get some money from it as well.

When I got home my insides were still chasing carts and dealing with trash. I was given a nice back rub. It’s amazing how much this act of kindness helps me to relax.

After a few TV shows we went to bed. Sleep was hard to come by with Stray Cats screaming their song, “Rock This Town” in both ears from the inside. I use to like that song too. 

Trippn’ at Terry’s

 Trippn’ at Terry’s

Last night I was hard at work. I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday and a five to nine shift Monday night.  I came up to bag groceries for a customer. A man and wife with about a medium size load. I bagged them up and when I finished I asked, “Carry your groceries out for you?” The man was surprised and said,“YES! We are from California. How did you know?” with a sigh “Here we go again,” I thought to myself, “NO! May I carry your groceries out to your car for you?” He answered with a smile, “No, We got it!” and off they went. Communication is a fine thing. 

There was lots to do. Buggies were continually collecting in the parking lot. I learned my lesson on this. I should keep the number of carts that I bring up to the store at a reasonable number. Four is best. Six is almost too many but I can handle it. The more I bring the fewer trips to get them. The problem with bringing more is that these are hard to deal with. These buggies are even hard to push down hill. I have bruises all over my chest and arms from man handling these carts.

I thought that I should check the floor. Was it clean or should I grab a broom? So many floor tiles! OCD says for me to count all of them. Looking at the daunting task I say, “Ok, but only the ones that are not marred, scratched, gouged, or have a sticker or gum on them.” That was easier. I came up with ZERO.

There was a child running in the produce isle. Her mother made her balloon out of a produce bag. Good idea! That kept the girl happy with something to play with as her mother continued to shop. I was outside later and saw the girl almost ran over in the parking lot chasing after her produce bag balloon. It almost got away. Good this she didn’t get hit.

After several trips gathering carts I came in to bag some more. A young pregnant mother had a cute little girl in the seat of her cart. The little girl was in a yellow shirt and white overalls. Who can resist playing with this little cutie? Being a grandpa, I teased her from across the check stand “BOO GA BOOGA BOO” with tickle fingers in the air. The mother saw her wee one with head down on the handle of the grocery cart. She is shy that way. “Olivia.” she called. She knew that I was a friendly old man playing with Olivia. They had a good size load and she had two other kids older than Olivia and the lady was pregnant with at least one more, “May I carry your groceries out for you?” she grinned and giggled, ”No English.”

Bagging the groceries I see brands of food that I had never seen before. They have brands of food that I had never even heard of. They carry a package of franks called FUD. That’s right, FUD. I have watched enough Bugs Bunny cartoons to know better than to eat anything called FUD. That is what it is called though.

Time to go home was around the corner. Carts were almost all put away. I went out to see if there were any more. I looked right and saw soapy water on the parking lot. Either that was spent mop water or Mr. Clean got really sick right there. Do they pour the mop water into the parking lot? That is odd!

The last crazy busy time was them minutes before I was to go home. At last I staggered to the car. My sweet wifey asked “How was your shift?” I said, “Ok, Lots to do. I am so tired hungry and thirsty.” Honestly I wonder how much of this I can do. I left Albertson’s because of not getting enough hours. I was offered work at Terry's Supermarket. Here I get the hours so now I better keep up. I have three days to heal before I head back. 

I miss writing about K-Dog and Little Kitty Cat Neighbor. Alas, I am not around them as much as before.  Little Kitty Cat Neighbor is still greeting the girls when they get home. That cat is wanting in our house but we can’t have that. She is boss in K-Dogs back yard and that’s bad enough.

Grin and Giggle

Grin and Giggle

Well, I am so glad that I have found a new job. Albertson’s didn't scheduled me enough hours so I went to Terry’s supermarket. I think that they like me a lot better there anyway. I am scheduled in one day as much as Albertson’s scheduled me for a full month. Now we can buy groceries again.

Terry’s customers and employees mostly speak Spanish. It can be a bit frustrating but it’s not so bad. I simply ask them if they would like some help and they grin and giggle and say, “No English.” That is no big deal. I just nod and go about my duties. I asked another worker about something, he grinned and giggled and said, “No English.” Oh well I can’t help that.

The store building is in very poor structural shape. I could go into detail but it may be better that I don’t. The carts are not in much better shape ether.

Back on the front of the store I started bagging again. The managers watched as I took assessment of size ratio of the orders as well as how fast one will be ready to bag over another. Once things slowed down I headed out to bring in the shopping carts from the parking lot. I was pushing as many as eight at a time. I learned that it was more than I should handle. Now I push only four to six. I can push that many without getting hurt.

 A tall big man with his family with a good sized order came through. I bagged for them as I would for any other’s. When I got it all bagged and into a cart I asked, “May I carry it out for you?” His wife smiled at him and said, “Imagine this itty bitty man taking our groceries out for us?” 

Yes, I am a small man. It doesn’t bother me to be five foot and two inches tall. It didn’t bother me when it is pointed out like that either. I thought it was funny. Why not? We pass through this life one time. It is more fun to laugh than it would be to look for excuses to be offended. 

There are a good plenty of other things that I would rather be doing than working back in the grocery industry. I had thoughts of buying a pressure washer and hire out to wash sidewalks. My wife could help me line up clients. I thought about blogging as a means of making income. My wife can research and write about something in a niche as I write my stories. Working with my wife in some way of another has been a dream of mine ever sense we first got married.

We have even tried MLM. We were not successful in that at all. So often MLMs people are cultish. I don’t know why they are that way. They don’t have to be. 

Flea markets would be fun to work at. Buy product and sell for a profit. We could make enough in that in a day rather than a month at a job. I could wash sidewalks, work flea markets and maybe work in a MLM through the flea market. As it is, customers come to me and ask me something in Spanish, I just grin and giggle and say, “No Español.”

Don't Judge Me

I went to the big shopping mall but it was mostly to see the sights. Don’t judge me because I’m old. Don’t judge me because of where I’m from. But I saw some strange things there. I thought you may like to hear about it.

In my walk, I passed the same mall cop several times. May as well be friendly so I would say, “hi” each time that I saw her.

Walking by a store that sold makeup, I just went on past. Then It dawned on me. The one I saw spraying face stuff on was actually a dude. He was a mixed up dude but a dude nonetheless. “Don’t be judgmental Paw Paw” I said to myself as I realized he was right behind me. It was a good thing he turned and I went straight. I wanted to turn back to see his strange clothes and made up face. I kept going. Don’t judge the old guy for freaking out just a little bit. That was new for me.

As I walked along, I started getting a bit thirsty. There was some store bought water in the car but that was not where I wanted to go just yet. I came upon a lady offering a tea sample. I don’t remember what kind of tea it was but it was tasty. The nice young lady had studs and piercings all over her face. Honest to truly I tried not to stare. She made me think of my mother’s pincushion in her sowing kit. This gal had holes in her face like big shoestring eyelets! “OK, Paw Paw here is another one to write about.”

There is a small playing area for little ones to play in. It helps them burn off energy and have some fun too. I was on the top floor looking down at the fun. One was on the slide. Another was on a climbing thing. Mothers were feeding  the babies. Three others were chasing around. Some kid was screaming to high heaven so I walked on.   

I almost lost my battle with the giggles when I saw a tall fat man who looked like his head was disproportionally small for his stature. He was a big big man with a very small head. He was one for Ripley alright. 

I heard Hall and Oaks singing over the mall’s PA as I veered to go into the sporting goods store. Funny, they are playing music from the seventies and eighties while every clothing store I passed was selling clothes for teenagers and college age folks. So with “Baby don’t hurt me” I went on in the sporting goods store.

Weight lifting is what I would like to get into. There are so many different things there for that. I picked up a thirty five pound kettle. Then I put it back before I dropped it on my foot. If I dropped that thing I would do a dance that would excite Nygel Lyithgo. I didn’t want to do that.

Walking on passed another crowd of folks, I heard a song playing “I can feel it coming to me every night.” With what I have been seeing that song took on a scary meaning. Malls are a loud place to be so I went into the parking lot to get away from the racket.

Out in the parking lot my head was still reverberating. “Where do you want to go now, PawPaw?” In the far distance I saw a furniture store. Man! Think of what I would do to refurnish the house! That would take money, whatever that it. There was so many nice things in there! If we had the money to fix the roof, the plumbing and electrical stuff in the house, this would be the next place to spend money. No! We need flooring first. I headed back to the mall after that quick visit.

  

With a mixture of excitement over what I was and depression over having no way to buy anything I went back to the mall It was a far walk from the furniture store back to Macy’s. I was almost run over by a young lady eating a candy bar while driving. It can be dangerous walking around out there. I walked into the parking garage. It was a bit spooky and mall cops were driving around looking for trouble makers. I could just hear something over the radio, “Clancy! Keep your eyes on that little fat grandpa warring a yellow sweat shirt!”  

With that levity, I went into the mall again. I passed a woman in a kiosk. She was watching TV.  Not a good sign. Looking over the great hoard I wondered how quickly I could clear the whole place if I was still working MLM.

I walked over four miles that day. My doctor would be so happy with me. 

Spammer in FB

Spammer in FB

It was TV time last night when a spammer began to plaster his ads on my face book wall. It was bad enough that I wasn’t zeroed in 100% to the TV show, but now this jack donkey from who knows where began posting his shiitake on my wall. If I had left my smart phone back yonder in the office, I couldn’t have done anything about it.

I thought to put ads on his wall as well. Tit for tat, right? That was when he did something that really got me. He tried to friend my sweet lady and sweet daughter. With my wee smart phone in hand I unfriended the spamming knucklehead.

I won’t put anything on anyones wall other than “Happy Birthday!!” On occasion their have been those who ask me to put something on their wall. Respect for others and thoughtfulness go a long way. Online educate is important to me.

I had an idea! If he tried to friend my family he would go through their friend file. This dude had to be stopped! It was a matter of time before he tried to friend K-Dog. I posted a warning on my wall telling everyone in my friend file about him. I even made sure that they knew his name.

This is the morning after. Out of about a thousand in my file, I have only heard back from less than five friends.  I did my part. 

Druid Incatation

Druid Incantation

It was a typical Monday morning. I woke up with a little more assurance of what day it was. I sat in the darkness of the office in my sleeping chair. I had been drifting in and out of consciousness for about an hour. Silly sweet dreams would come and go until I hear my sweet’s alarm.

“Ok, I hear it. Hold on till a light comes on.” I have gotten up after hearing her alarm just to find that she isn’t quite ready to get up just yet, so I wait. “I ain’t moving before I see a light come on.”

As I drift off again to the land of Snooze, a light comes on. “Good morning my sweet” was exchanged. I got up and searched through my morning cobwebs in my head to locate my duty roster for Monday morning. With the list firmly in mind I head for the kitchen. By the time I get to the end of the hall way I forgot most of my list.

“Ok, today is Monday. Breakfast must be ready by six o’clock. “Where’s that dog? There he is.” Time to turn on the coffee pot, shut the back door, feed the puppy, freshen his water, and check the temperature out side. I checked the weather app before I left the office but that was the other end of the hall way and I had long sense forgot what it said. “I wonder if we will have K-Dog outside when we leave for school. It looks like it’s outside for the goofy dog.  The temp is in the fifties. Time to turn on the TV.”

“Well, it’s an English muffin breakfast sandwich day for sweet daughter. We can eat oatmeal.” The coffee was ready so I got my first mug of wake me up. “What was the temperature outside?“ I went to the phone to see if we can leave K-Dog out when we leave. I log in and find the app while the news continued playing on the TV. I looked up after I consulted my app just to see that the weather forecast was half through.

After breakfast and clean up I went to get K-Dog ready to be outside. I went out to get his backyard water bowl. YUCK! A spider web got me right on my forehead and it was in my hair! It reminded me of when we had just moved in. Every spring there would be a huge spider web and one scary spider in the middle daring us to come out the door. That web was big enough to snare a wildebeest and that spider could eat one in no time flat. We haven’t had one like that in years but it was every spring for a while. 

I went back into the  house to get fresh water for, “YUCK!” I went through that spider web again! “I know I feel something crawling through my grey fluffy locks but I can’t do anything about it right now.”

With K-Dog’s water in hand, I went back out. By now I was watching for the web but it still got me a third time. I sat his water bowl down and looked for a stick. It was time to do battle with that spider web! With the stick in had I wave it in circles around the door and to the left and over here… “What are you doing? It looks like you are doing some kind of Druid Incantation. ” came a sweet voice from inside the door. “I am  getting rid of a spider web, My Sweet.” then she asked, “Don’t you think it’s too cold to leave him outside?”

We set him up in the den and headed for school.

Is that what he wanted to know?

Most of the day yesterday, I had been working on a story that I am trying to write. This writing project is way harder than any that I had ever taken on so far. I guess you could say that this torment is self inflicted. Mr. Sandman was late. My butt was in the chair but my head was in the make-believe world of my story that I am writing.

“Close it off and go to sleep! Tomorrow is trash day and I have to get breakfast ready by 7:30.” I told myself. Writer’s block and old man insomnia were double teaming me. I didn’t want to look at the door because there are other projects that could walk in too. It doesn’t help worrying about how Mr. Albertson wasn’t giving me enough hours to enable us to buy groceries with. I am always thinking of my dooms day prepping plans on top of that. 

When it gets late like this, and I can’t stop thinking about stuff, I think back to a time when a friend of mine and I would talk until 2:00 in the morning  on the Minyard parking lot after work. I was in high school at the time. I had very little education or understanding of the deep theological things he wanted to talk about. Thing is, it never kept me from having an opinion and I was more than happy to share my ignorance with anyone who would listen. Looking back, I think my friend knew only a little more than I did. We had lots to add to the other’s misconceptions on a variety of subjects that neither one of us actually understood.

Often, on a night like this I would check my phone, charging on the lamp stand to my left. For some reason I had the though that I shouldn’t do that. What’s the deal!?! I just want to check the temperature outside. I was a bit cold so I wanted to check the weather.

I clicked the button and shined that light so that I could find my glasses. “There they are.” I put them on as the light faded away. With my glasses on, I can focus better. I push the button and the screen shown very bright in my face. The blinding illumination of my phone was like the high beams of an on coming semi. The light slammed the back of my skull from the inside. “What is this?” The first thing I see is messages from friends in Face Book. “Oh man! I hadn’t heard from this guy in a long time. I had wondered how he was doing. What is his question? He wants to talk Transubstantiation at  about 11:30pm?”  I squinted at the clock across the room to see if it was 2:00 yet.

He said, “pondering: about 2 wks ago (4 the intellectual stimulation) i engaged a seminary friend on the possibility of transubstantiation in communion; to learn whether i could defend the idea. look at all the life forms on earth. look at pics of the 'local' universe.....if the lord can do that, transub is no big deal. since then, have taken communion (twice) assuming that transub was true....any thoughts?? (my friend--being a good baptist--freaked out.”

I responded, “Remembering our late night discussions on the Minyard parking lot back in the 70s, I'll have to get back with you on this tomorrow.” 

This morning I see that my old boss, a Catholic, was interested in what I might say as well. With great respect for him, I didn’t want to get this wrong.

What in the world is the doctrine of Transubstantiation? Is that what he wanted to know? I asked Mr. Google for a few websites with the answers I don’t have. If my friend wants to know about the doctrine, where it came from or what the Bible says about it, here is what I have found.

http://www.jesuswalk.com/lords-supper/history-real-presence.htm

http://www.gotquestions.org/transubstantiation.html

“Hold on Paw-Paw!” I told myself “What was he really asking?” Reading and rereading what he posed I zeroed in one this, “if the lord CAN do that.” 

If we are talking about the doctrine of the omnipotence of God, that is something totally different. 

Jeremiah 32:27(KJV)

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”

He can do anything He pleases. If the question is about what God can do, that is easy to answer. He made everything there is in all of its complexity. He could strip me down to my fruit of the looms and paint me bright pink with green freckles. I may question if that was of God but He could do that. It is fun to speculate about what all He can do. I can get really goofy on that but the thing is this. The only thing He cannot do is lie. 

Lazarus was dead 4 days and Jesus brought him back to life. Everyone was so freaked out that Jesus had to tell the folks there to unwrap the dude. What He can do is interesting. What is more important is knowing what He has done in the past and what He will do in the future.

PAST

1 Corinthians 15:1-6 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,  by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,  and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

PRESENT

Romans 10:13 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

FUTURE

Revelation 20: 11-15 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Is this what he wanted to know?

Skunk in the Church House

Skunk in the Church House

Resurrection Sunday! Did you know that there are those who will only come to church for Easter? We may not get an other chance to reach them with the gospel. I don’t know if it mattered but I wore a tie. I wore black slacks, red button up long sleeve shirt and a favorite tie. I don’t usually get this gussied up. We come to church for Jesus and not to dress for success. 

We were met at the door with a shocking surprise. A skunk got in the building somewhere and got a bit excited.  We smelt its exuberance coming from the vents, down the hall and whosoever came in got the same greeting from every direction.

We toughed it out. You know what? The Sunday school wing was warm! We were so glad! I don’t mean to sound gripy, but even in the summer the place is kept so cold that you could hear sleigh bells in August. 

Our Sunday school teacher was so impressed that I wore a tie that he took my picture. It was a good thing he did that when he did, I guess.  It wasn’t long before someone turned the thermostat back down to thirty degrees below brrr. Good thing that I brought my jacket. From then on, no one could tease me about my tie. 

Sunday service was great. Our music minister was in rare form. The song service was filled with great songs of praise. We sang songs that clearly contained the gospel message even more than usual. Sweet daughter interpreted one song in ASL. It was beautiful. Paster continued his series through the book of Romans. No one left without a clear presentation of the good news.

It was so great that we forgot about the skunk. No one noticed before the dismissal prayer that somebody forgot about taking up the offering as well. I guess someone wanted to be sure they get to the cafeteria way before the Methodists.

   

Terry

   

Kitty in the Wheel Well

Kitty in the Wheel Well

“What?” It’s time to get up. My sweet is up. I see the light from down the hall. “Breakfast… “ I shuffle down the hall toward the light and the sound of running water guided by the smell of fresh brewed coffee.

Standing behind the bar seats, I wait my turn at the sink and try to remember what day of the week this is.  I ask myself, “What day is this? Is it a trash day? Do I get breakfast ready by six or seven thirty? Did my sweet sleep well or did K-Dog keep her up? Where is that knuckle head? May as well feed him and get that out of the way.” One and one half scoops of kibbles for wee little doggie. I don’t care if he is a medium size dog, I like to call him a wee little doggie.

I am sure by now what day it is. Here comes my sweet with a good morning sugar smack. “Did you sleep well?” I asked. “Well, I did until about three when K-Dog had to go outside and then four when I had to let him back in.” “I’m sorry my sweet. The weather will warm up and I will sleep in the den soon. This way I will be the one to deal with that goofy dog.” Seeing him in his chair I shake my finger at him as a playful gesture of shame.

Next question I ask myself, “What was I to cook this morning?” Going for my first mug of wake me up I decide to make muffin sandwiches. Usually my sweet and I are quite content with cereal or oatmeal but if she has had a rough night with K-Dod I go ahead and cook something more. “What time is it?” Start too early we eat it cold. Start too late and we can get off schedule. “Better turn on the TV to see what’s going on in the world. Deborah Ferguson said something about Trump, don’t ask me what it was. Grant Johnston says that the weather will be fine today. Who is doing the traffic? I miss Samantha Davies.” 

Three frozen sausages in the frying pan. Fire on medium. Three muffins split on three paper towels. “Where did I put my coffee?” Three slices of cheese for the muffins and flip the sausages. Sweet daughter can’t handle the sausage if it is the least bit greasy so I get another paper towel to sop that up.

Three eggs, fried with yolk broken. Here comes my sweet! “What time is it Sweet? Am I still on schedule?” She answered, “How close are you to having it ready?” “I have to flip the eggs and it shouldn’t be long now.”

I go check the clock, “One minute to go. OH! Here comes sweet daughter,” “Good morning kid’o. Did you sleep well?” she answered “Yes.”  

Eggs in the muffins, sandwich it all together and wrap in the paper towels and serve. Sweet daughter gets her hot chocolate mix and coffee. 

Finally we are all at the table. “What time is it?” I ask myself. “We are on time. Maybe we are a wee bit late but not bad” After a prayer of thanks we start to eat. Sweetie asked “Did you take your pills?” “No. Here they go. Thank you for reminding me and thank you for keeping up with it for me.” 

Another wreck on I30. I’m glad that we don’t go that way. It is always a mess. The high way we go on is bad enough. Time for clean up. All rushing to get ready. Dishes in the machine. “Comb your hair.” 

We are almost getting late. Everyone is in the car. My sweet looked next door, “Look! Little kitty cat neighbor is in the wheel well of that truck over there.” “LET ME OUT!” hollered sweet daughter. “I have to say, ‘hi’ to little kitty cat neighbor.”

OK, Now we are late.

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http://whotoldyallthat.blogspot.com/p/lets-get-this-right.html 

With 3 Babies on Her Back

With 3 Babies on Her Back

While sitting down at breakfast we heard K-Dog in the back yard. He was going crazy barking at something. “Ok, I’ll go see what he’s barking at.” I opened the back door and headed his way. Oh! Brother!! “There is a mamma possum on the neighbor’s fence with three baby possums on her back!”  My sweet called back, “That means that there are four around here that we know about.”

Sweet daughter said that we should call Animal Control. I called them three years ago when the possums were real bad then. They haven’t come yet so why bother?

“Come on goofy dog! Let’s get back in the house.” The mamma possum stayed still while K-Dog was telling her off. When he looked away long enough she would take a step or two. Eventually she made her escape. “Come on! Let’s get in the house.” No use to letting my oatmeal get any colder. I hope that was the last we see of the possums this year. I don’t like possums. They are mean, scary and carry nasty diseases. If I got rabies while taking my meds, I may turn into some kind of mutant. 

The last time I saw a possum on my neighbor's fence I wanted to alert them but have not been able to yet. 

==========================================================

Don’t fret! Just prep!

A Splash from the Past

A Splash from the Past

On a rainy evening, many years ago, I helped a lady out with her groceries only to find that she had locked the keys in her car. I offered to get a hanger from the back of the store to unlock her door with. In the men’s rest room, there were plenty of wire hangers available. I snatched one and ran back out to where she waited in the sprinkling rain with her cart full of her groceries neatly packed in plastic bags.

It took a while but I managed to get the door opened and I loaded her groceries into the back seat. If this happened to her it could happen again to an other customer so I turned to take the hanger back with me. She quickly snatched it from my hand and stuck it under her front seat of the car. “Now if this ever happens again, I’ll have one handy."

Later, the rain got a lot heavier. Water washed off all of the litter from the black top. A river, knee deep, flowed in front of the store taking the trash out to the street and into the storm drains. It became a real challenge to get carts through the river and up the hill to customer’s cars and back to the building. I tried to keep the floor mopped up from the puddles. My plastic poncho made even more puddles when I came in from every order. The floor mats were soaked to full capacity. I helped all of the customers I could at the same time mopping up from everyone who came in. My shoes were soaked and squished water out everywhere I walked. I didn’t even give it much thought. Customer service and safety was all I had on my mind. Any personal discomfort was just something to laugh off. 

Another woman had a big order for me to package in register five. Without a thought, I offered, “Paper or plastic?” To that I added, “How silly is that? It is raining like crazy. Plastic, right?” She got a bit angry with me, “Never offer me plastic! Plastic is NOT biodegradable! Paper IS! Always put mine in paper!” I reminded her of the storm outside and the heavy rain but she insisted on paper.

I filled her paper sacks like I normally would. She brought her car up to the store and I began to load her groceries. Although I didn’t have to go far to load her car it didn’t seem to make any difference. The paper sacks didn’t have a chance. “You are right! Paper is biodegradable.” Every one of her sacks had turned to mush from the sheets of rain. I managed to get them in her back seat before they all fell completely apart.

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http://whotoldyallthat.blogspot.com/2016/03/truck-driver-spots-train-hauling.html

Shake and Shine

Shake and Shine

Paw Paw Terry

Last night, K-Dog was barking at a bush. The grass was still wet from the rain but that didn’t stop him. We have had trouble with possums and it was up to me to do something about it. I snatched up my shake and shine and a large paddle that I made from s board that fell off of an old wood fence. Do you know what a shake and shine is? That is a flashlight that doesn’t work unless you give it a good shake. Sometimes it may still fade and go out.

Sweetie said that I should call it a flashlight that doesn’t work well. Any way, I was out there with K-Dog with my flashlight that doesn’t work very well and began looking for a possum in the bush. I shined my flashlight that doesn’t work very well all over the bush and found no sign of a possum. Sweet daughter said that I should call my flashlight that doesn’t work very well a black and red thing.

Knowing that K-Dog must be aware of something out there I went along through the yard searching every bush with my black and red thing, flashlight that doesn’t work very well. I gave it a quick shake and away we went. OK, lets go in Dog. He still didn’t come in.

Until he is convinced or gets rained on, he won’t come in. I went out one more time with me phone. I used the flashlight app. It doesn’t require a good shake and I don’t have to call it, “my black and red thing, flashlight that doesn’t work very well.”

Skeptical Curmudgeon 

"Not you again!" It came back!

“Not you again!!”

Once again, K-Dog was barking at something out in the darkness. “What is it this time, Dog? What are you barking at now?” 

Walking carefully through the fresh mowed grass I was well aware that I could step in something that I rather not step in. I wished then that I had a flash light. “Hush Dog!!“  With squinted eyes and clever use of what light there was, I managed to see across the alley at a familiar outline. “Oh, It’s you again.” 

There on the neighbor’s fence I saw a nasty possum. It’s likely the one from the other night. I asked myself, “What are you going to do about that, Paw Paw?” I couldn’t shoot it. Too many things could go wrong if I did that. I shouldn’t chunk rocks at it for many of the same reasons. I couldn't reach it with my trusty hoe. We learned a couple of years ago that it is not worth the effort to call Animal Control. They won’t come. I will have to look for a possum nest in our yard in the morning. Possums are like huge rats with an extra helping of ugly. No telling what it could do to K-Dog if he decided to tangle with that nasty thing. Think of all of the diseases that critter carries!! Sure, they play dead but they don’t play dead for long. If you have one cornered and it sees that you aren’t buying that playing dead routine it would be a good idea to have the hospital on speed dial.

“You did good, K-Dog. Lets get back in the house.” He began running circles. He wanted to play. “It’s bed time Dude!” Around he comes again! “Run K-Dog! Go! Go! Go!” I hoped that I could tire him out before we went in. 

The possum made its escape while K-Dog ran and played. I hope that our little kitty cat neighbor is smart enough to stay away from it. This goofy dog may not be that smart. 

Are you a good person?

Baywatch

Baywatch

It is so nice that the weather has gotten warm enough that I can sleep in the den again. K-Dog can wake me when he wants out. My sweet gets a break that way.

We headed to bed after TV time. Everyone was tucked in. I got my fill of conspiracy videos earlier than usual. I was tired and ready to sleep. My usual comfy spot didn’t look welcoming enough so I went to another chair.

I turned out the lights looking forward to the nightly visit of the sand man. We could all rest easy. I saw K-Dog at his post looking out the bay window from atop the couch. Yes, you could say that he was on bay watch. He is ready for anything. Even a company of Storm Troopers can’t get by this dog. Lets just hope for a non eventful night. 

Sitting there with my favorite blanket. It’s a Disney sleeping bag that we bought many years ago for one of our daughters. Funny, she out grew it and now I use it. Little mermaid swimming a sea of pink while warming Paw Paw.  

I didn’t know quite what it was that kept waking me up. It wan’t K-Dog this time. At last I knocked out real good. I dreamed that I was a lumber jack because there was a loud saw off in the distance. Later, I was told that it was my snoring. 

My sweet woke me in the night. “Where is K-Dog? What’s going on?” She had been up thirty minutes. My snoring was so loud that I didn’t know the dog wanted out. “Terry! There is something out there.” I got up and found my shoes and staggered out into the back yard. K-Dog was out back, frantic over something he saw. Cautiously I approached a steep drop-off at the far back of the yard.

Yup, there is something on the neighbor’s fence across the alley but what is it? I hope it isn’t a possum. It is that time of year, you know. Those nasty things are bad news. Getting a closer look at the critter on the fence and I saw its beady little red eyes. That is a possum alright. Good thing K-Dog saw that.  Next trick is to keep that out of the yard. It looks like it is going for an other neighbor’s chickens. “Should I go and warn them or is it worth battling the language barrier at one o’clock in the morning?”

“Come on Dog. Lets get back in the house.” He did a good job. K-Dog is vigilant and I do appreciate that quality. He goes over board at times but he warns us of potential danger. 

If you can’t afford an electric surveillance system, get a good dog. 

Elections and Diversions

While I was cooking breakfast this morning, I had the news playing on the little TV. The only news that they had to report that had nothing to do with the elections was weather and traffic.

The sausage was almost ready to flip when I heard that the KKK endorsed Trump. I imagine there are many others ready to flip over that bit of information. Sounds like the kiss of death for the Donald campaign.

I reached for the waffles from the toaster as the broadcast turned our attention to Hillary, and then to Cruz, and Rubio, and eventually back to Trump. Next was time for weather and traffic again.

What is going on that we need to know about in the rest of the world? If World War three broke out in the Middle East would we have to wait until after the election in November before we are told about it? Isaiah 17 is happening right now in Syria but we are told very little if anything about it. We are told about every ugly thing each candidate for president has said about another. What ever happens anywhere else is kept from us.

K-Dog had to be set up with fresh water in the den before we leave for school. When time came to get out to the car, we looked out at the fog that just moved in. I wiped off the windows. Little kitty cat neighbor made the scene. She wanted to see us off as we head out into the fog.

The fog got thicker as we headed for the highway. It seemed to remind me once again about how we are just as blinded about important developments overseas. We are indeed in the last seconds, of the last minutes, of the last hour, before the rapture happens. With all of the election coverage that may not even say a thing about a mass disappearance of so many world wide. I think that the coverage will continue and cover up for any of the candidates who were raptured out. 

Truth be told, I am not sure that we will have an election. This world is headed for rough times the likes of which have never been seen and will never be seen again. 

Will you be ready for when Jesus returns? 

Are you ready for if He doesn’t come for a while?

Insult to Injury

Insult to Injury 

I was “admiring” our front yard as we backed out of the driveway headed for my doctor’s appointment. You should see the dandelions!  Funny thing is that it prompted me to rewrite a part of an old Beetles song. Do you remember Strawberry Fields? Here is my rewrite.

I'm going to mow that down!

Yes I'm going to! 

Dandelion field, 

No curb appeal,

 and fuzzy seeds fly all about! 

Dandelion field forever 

Today was the day I went back to the urologist. The news was not as good as I was hoping for. My salt count was way up. Apparently I have not been drinking milk as I should have been either. He wants me to have the right balance. I suppose too much and too little are both bad. Doc said that I am getting a good amount of water. That was about the nicest thing he said  to me today.

What do I have to look forward to now? I am scheduled for more study and an ultra sound. Is there another operation in my future? I sure hope not!  Come quickly Lord Jesus!! 

On the way home from the doctor’s, we took the opportunity get some gas. Sixty degrees is a bit cool and I was in a t-shirt. No problem, I could handle it. As the gas was pumping, cool wind blew all around me as I washed the windshield. The old squeegee left streaks but I managed to get the glass cleaner than it was. This is the time of year that West Texas comes over and we get dirt all over the windshields. “Would you like a receipt?” asked the pump as I hung the nozzle. I selected “Yes.” I always get the receipt. “See Cashier” Great! Dandelions taunted me on the way out, Doc had bad news, now I have to go in to get that receipt. What else can go wrong?

I walked into the little building where the cashier sat behind bullet proof glass. The warm sunshine felt great coming through the window behind me. The man ahead of me was a bit taller than I am. Most are. He turned around and smiled when he saw me, “You was almost made a midget weren’t you?!” I just looked down, shook my head and laughed it off.

When I told my sweet in the car, she got angry with him. What can I do but laugh it off and go about my business?

Back home at last, we got out of the car and headed for the front door. Before we got to the porch we were attacked by dozens of dandelion seeds hitting us in the face.  

Have a nice day…

Iron Man (part 2)

Iron Man Part 2!

It was important that I get better shoes! After I was paid we got me a pair. My sweet wanted to get me inserts. I see now that I should have gotten some. The thing is, I had no idea which to get. I didn’t want to get the wrong ones so we waited. New work pants and a few other things and home we went.

The next week was more of the same at the store. The only difference was that now my feet hurt in a different way. Well, at least I know what inserts to get! Time to get jelling! I still had to get on the floor to reach some things but it was encouraging that it was getting easer to climb the front of the shopping cart as I struggled back to my full upright position. “How long will it be before I am hardened and able to work these hellacious hours at this ridiculous task?”

Just a crazy thing….New promotion game most every sign had that. This means that the “Fancy Feast” cat food and many other signs swapped out the week before had to be changed. Tuesday during  the second overnight I had  signs swapping. Monday, I put up the fancy feast regular signs, Tuesday I was given the signs promoting the store’s game promo. Half dead Wednesday morning I switched to regular signs for fancy feast. Once that was done I was given a new stack that returned them to the game promo that I just took off.  

After that shift I asked the lady, “When do you want me back?” With a snap she said, “I don’t!” “That’s a fine kettle of fish.” I said to myself, “Am I fired? She is not able do that. I need to ask the manager.” I was sent to the one who made the schedule to work on the front. She was not there. I asked others who didn’t know. 

Once again I waited for my sweetie. Too cold to sit on the bench. I didn’t want to walk anywhere. “Maybe I better come back Friday.”  That is when the schedules are made available. 

Friday came and there I was at the time the schedules are ready. I didn’t have one. “What’s the deal? Now what do I do? I’ll come back Saturday and find out.” Saturday found me coming in the doors early. I was like a ping-pong ball bouncing between anyone and everyone who hadn’t a clue about what was going on. I saw the manager busy in his office. I should have talked to him. “Maybe this is not something to bring to his attention. I don’t know.” I was introduced to the schedule sheet. It didn’t have my name on it anywhere. Once again, “Am I fired?”

After church Sunday, we went back with a list of things to ask the manager. He doesn’t work Sundays. We went home and I made other plans for income that excluded that job. I will still do many of them as I can. It is a wise thing to have more than one income. This way if you loose one you have others still going.

Monday, I Stood outside the manager’s office for 10 minutes waiting my turn with the list in hand. At last he ended the meeting he was having and called me in. “Am I fired?” I asked that straight out and plain. I didn’t beat around the bush one bit. By now I have been there Friday, Saturday and Sunday being ping ponged from one to another who had no idea what was going on. Now I asked the man in charge. I was not leaving without the satisfaction of an answer. I think I almost knocked him out of his chair with that question because he was very animated in his response, “WHAT!!! This was the first time I had heard about this!” I told him that the lady didn’t want me working for her any more. He called her in. She answered, “I don’t need him to fill in any more. When we have a lot of tags again, I might need him then.” Communication is a great thing.

I told him that I was not on the schedule. No brag, just fact, he did not want to loose me. The customers already talk about how they like the way that I treat them. The man told me that I will be on the schedule Friday! I am so glad that I didn’t tear up my work shirt.

Today is Friday and I got my schedule! I work four and a half hours on Sunday. That is all there is on my schedule. It looks like I had better get busy with other ways to make money along with it.

Anyone want to buy a used bicycle? 

Iron Man

After twelve years of retirement, I’ve landed another job at a grocery store. I was hired to bag groceries and make customers happy that they came. On my first day on the job I was to get training to do just that. This was what I had done for so many years at another grocery chain so I knew pretty much what to expect. The only thing about it is that it didn’t work out that way.

I was looking forward to something that was simple and familiar. If I could work twenty hours or even a little more each week, that would have been just fine. They had something else in mind. 

I was early on my first day. It was important for me to be early. If I was on time, that would have been late. There was a situation at this store. Not enough workers were hired to change shelf tags. Eager to help, I was willing to step in and do anything they had for me to do. The lady who trained me was just coming off of an over night shift. That should have been a clue for me. I should have seen this a s a foreshadow of what was to come. Whatever they wanted me to do, I was ready to do it without question. Matching names of products and the number on the tags was not as easy as it may sound like it would be. It was a good thing that I had my glasses but even then, after four hours the numbers on these tags were getting harder to see. “Is this 548? No! Is that an 8 or a 6?  Hang on! It is a 659.”

The next week I worked an early seven hour shift on Tuesday. I had to return again at eleven o’clock that night to work into Wednesday morning. Every day I worked I wore what I call my cruel shoes. It was the only pair of shoes I had that met the uniform code. Good old Dr. Sholls kill your feet till they are dead cruel shoes. Every step was like being hit by a sledge hammer just before each heal. I know that it was for arch support but it hit farther back on my foot than it was suppose to. When I get busy on the job I stay on it until my task is completed so I ignored the pain and pressed on. Each step was very painful and there were many steps in that thirteen hour shift. I was so tired by the time the store opened Wednesday morning that I was delirious and extremely dehydrated. The manager was alarmed to see me laying on the floor, changing tags on the bottom shelves. I must have looked like a drunkard.  Imagine the way my feet felt and the difficulty of getting my two hundred sixty five pounds of wonderfulness back to a full stance after changing tags on all of the lower shelves! 

When I got off work, my feet were hurting clear up to my knees. I texted my sweet to let her know that I was off work. It was too cold for me to sit on the bench out side. I hurt too much to stand inside waiting. I staggered to a hardware store near by. When I went through the doors I thought, “There has to be a chair, a bench or something in here.” I walked the length of the front of the store until I came to a stack of chairs. I pulled one down and landed myself in it.

I texted my sweet and let her know where to find me. A worker asked me if I was ok. With a voice barely audible I told him about the shift I just got off of. He said, “You are Iron Man!” I smiled and chuckled. “Great! Now I am tired and hurt beyond description with a Black Sabbath song stuck in my head.” 

(STAY TUNED FOR PART 2)

Paper or Plastic

Paper or Plastic

Paw Paw Terry

Paw Paw got a job. Yes I did. I prayed for a job. I was given a job. My prayer of thanks has quickly become a  prayer for help. This is the kind of work that I had done for 22 years. There were days that I thought it would kill me. There were days when it almost did. I don’t so much blame the job as I blame myself. The way I looked at it was like this. I couldn’t stand a job half done. I couldn’t stand a job poorly done. I couldn’t stand a job left undone. “Stay out of my way! I will do it myself!” And I did it too! I pressured myself to be in 3 or more places at the same time, and pushed myself to do 3 or more things at the same time. I had a do list in mind that screamed at me until I got it all done before time to leave.

Thursday I was given a uniform shirt, a sealed package of material and was sent to orientation on Saturday. My sweetie took me all of the way to the other side of Arlington for orientation. “Here I go again.” I was in a classroom with many others. Some were half my age. No, they were closer to a third my age. Our teacher was very good. She spoke clearly and made everything understandable. We went through that packet. Everyone had theirs very neat. I had mine scattered several times. “Is this the sheet we are working on now? No! They have a different sheet. Do I sign this here? Wait. Mine doesn’t look like the one they have. OH! We did that one already? I’ll put it over here. I get the white sheet and they get the others? NO! I get the pink and all of the others go with the packet for them. Still not right. I keep the packet with the paper work on pink sheets along with the books and other things. Where were we?”

I am glad to have this job. As hard as it was on me before, how much harder can it be now that I am 57? This will indeed be a challenge. I am only part time. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I need all of the hours that I can get but my concern has to do with my capability to work the hours that I am given. 

One fun thing is that I will have more new things to write about. What crazy things will happen there? Stay tune and we will see.  

I have begun a new thing online called “Skeptical Curmudgeon.” That will be very different from “Paw Paw Terry.” I hope you enjoy it too.