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)