Had a long day today – Fox channel 10 here in Phoenix did a remote at the store and we were out bright and early to get a representative sampling of the toy tester events set up for “background”. Here’s the video (I don’t know how long the video will stay up, so enjoy it while you can) – see if you can pick out a former Marine being helpful and watchful…

Then, I get home, eat dinner, watch CSI and The Mentalist (taped versions, since we’re about two weeks behind anything live) and I check my e-mail. Opened this one, and about died laughing, only because the Air Force never really had any kind of sense of humor when I dealt with them. Maybe it was just me?

Air Force Chief of Staff: Mr. President, we have perfected an invisibility cloak for Air Force One.
Obama: Really? That’s amazing!
Air Force Chief of Staff: Yes sir, it is. Will you be going on her maiden cloaked flight?
Obama: Wouldn’t miss it for the world!
Air Force Chief of Staff: Have a nice trip, sir.

Now, it’s time for bed. I’m tired! Working all day, laughing all night…

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Deli on Monday, Cab on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today, I helped my adopted mom get my adopted dad home from the hospital after his coughing-up-blood incident Tuesday morning. Big mess, their son did the big clean up job, and Serv-Pro came in and did a bang up job of taking care of everything else.

Rob over at American and Proud has compiled a big ol’ list of TEA groups across the US. You might want to make some notes, in case something, you know, happens. Big ol’ tip of the Stetson to Texas Fred for pointing this out to me in the first place.

No, I’m not paranoid. They really are after us. Have you NOT been paying attention?

So – it seems the crazies have figured out that I’m not driving night shift anymore. Since my shift now ends about the time they are managing to drag themselves out of bed for another night of fun and games in Phoenix After Dark (remember Jenny?) I have been, for the most part, avoiding them. Until lately, that is. Seems that not all guys named “Michael” with deeper voices than James Earl Jones and built like a linebacker are all that masculine – “Michael” and his friend, “Roger” were dolled up and ready to go to a certain mid-town gaybar – as that night’s dragged out queens of entertainment. Eww. Yesterday, it was two very shrill – uhm – ladies that hired me at the end of my shift to pick them up from the “Gay” Denny’s (those of you who live in Phoenix will know exactly where I’m talking about) and take them, first, to a cell phone store so the smaller of the two (sorry, that just kind of slipped out. the not-smaller-of-the-two makes most football players look like they don’t know how to bulk up for the season) could pay her phone bill. She was very vocal about the fact that her bill was well over sixty dollars for the month. Vocal meaning sailors on the street were listening in for tips the next time they needed to be “vocal.” Second stop was at a Dairy Queen, for their dinner. Last stop was the apartment. Little Girl asked Not So Little Girl to pony up her share of the cab fare. Seems LG paid for dinner, and NSLG promised to help with the cab. Amazingly, NSLG couldn’t seem to find her money in her cavernous bag. This time, Marine Corps Drill Instructors were seen taking notes. All that, and she only paid the meter – no tip. It’s OK though. There are plenty of others that more than make up for the lack of decency of the few.

Earlier in the day, I had picked up a nice lady. I usually have KLOVE on the radio, and when there is no one in the car I sing along, since most of the songs they play we sing in home group or during our praise gatherings. This time, while the nice lady was int he car, the song “How Great Is Our God” by Chris Tomlin came on. When the chorus started, I started singing along:

How great is our God, sing with me,
How great is our God and all will see
How great, how great, is our God

Nice lady did, in fact, start singing with me. People like that really make my day.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Got this in a forward – and since I am too lazy to check it out, and actually in agreement with the Judge, I’m not going to bother vetting it. After all, if the DemocRATS don’t have to vett, then I don’t, either.

FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY
In Florida , an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover Holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians and Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days.
The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, “Case dismissed!”
The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, “Your honor, How can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays.”
The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, “But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant.”
The lawyer said, “Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists.”
The judge said, “The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm 14:1 states, ‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.’ Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that, if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.”
You gotta love a Judge that knows his scripture!

May this holiday weekend be full of blessings for you and your family. Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Sometimes, in the world of meetings, trainings, and orientations, there are times when the newer people need to learn a few things from the old hands. Here on this blog, if you wish to register as a subscriber, I ask that you click on the tab in the header that says “Subscribers” and read through and follow the instructions listed there. As long as the new subscribers try to flatter me with “adding me to (their) bookmarks” and leaving a URL that spells out which drugs you are trying to spam over the ‘net, then you are not going to be a subscriber for long.

Monday I worked in the deli. Tuesday I drove a cab in the rain. Wednesday the sitter wasn’t feeling well so I ended up staying with MEG and playing and chasing and cleaning up after. Today I drove cab again, and I will probably be in a cab tomorrow morning bright and early as well.

I sure hope you all will be able to join me tomorrow night on The “O” Word at 2200 MST. I may have to shift the timing of the show after this weekend (most of ya’ll get to save daylight – we have plenty here in Arizona, so we don’t) so that I stay smack between “CyberPastor and Annie B” and “Stanger 73” – provided my other activities don’t get bunched up in the process. We’ll see how it works out.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I was cleaning out some old notebooks (trying to find some I could use to hold my music) when I ran across a piece of paper.

It wasn’t just any old piece of paper – I don’t think I could come up with a post based on any old piece of paper, although that sounds like a good challenge – this piece of paper came from a very special person.

You see, a Long, Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away, I used to belong to a group of people. Not just any group – but The Valley Cathedral PowerFull Praise Choir and Orchestra. It was a group of about 125 voices that had a very wide range of songs, under the leadership of Dwayne McLuhan. I ended up being the administrator for the Worship and Arts Department for a while. There was a lady who was part of the group by the name of Pat Fischer. Actually, I am convinced that she was an angel here on a special undercover mission. No matter what day or time you ran into her, no matter what kind of news she had just gotten from her oncologists, she always turned the conversation to you. How are you doing? Can we pray about anything for you? How is your family? She was designated as the “Warm and Fuzzy Coordinator” since she was warm and fuzzy for all of us anyway.

Yes, oncologists. Pat had cancer. She lived with it for many years. Lots of people say they fight cancer – Pat lived with it. She lived with it because God gave it to her, and as with any gift from God, Pat cherished it. Not because it was cancer and it would eventually take her away from us for a time, but because it allowed her to refine her walk by helping her to focus on the important things in life – God, service in Jesus’ name, and those around her.

I still have the last e-mail I got from her (not the piece of paper I am talking about) where she actually said something about herself: “Dear Cary, I have some not-so-good news. My doctors say there is nothing more they can do for my cancer. It’s OK, though, because it means that I get to go to sleep and when I wake up, I’ll get to see Jesus!” What a heart for God.

Anyway, here it is – I thought of Pat, and my sister LeaAnn, and all the people who have been dealing with cancer, and how this piece sure takes the sting away and puts it in perspective:

TENTMAKER

It was nice living in this tent when it was strong and secure and the sun was shining and the air was warm but Mr. Tentmaker, it’s scary now. My tent is acting like it’s not going to hold together. The poles seem weak and they shift with the wind. A couple of the stakes have wiggled loose from the sand. Worst of all the canvas has a rip. It no longer protects me from beating rain or stinging flies. It’s scary in here Mr. Tentmaker. Last week I was sent to the repair shop and some repairmen tried to patch the rip in my canvas. It didn’t help much though because the patch pulled away from the edges and not the tear is worse. What troubled me most, Mr. Tentmaker, is that the repairmen didn’t even seem to notice that I was still in the tent. They just worked on the canvas while I shivered inside. I cried out once but no one heard me. I guess my first real question is, Why did you give me such a flimsy tent? I can see by looking around the campground that some of the tents are much stronger and more stable than mine. Why, Mr. Tentmaker, did you pick a tent of such poor quality for me, and even more important what do you intend to do about it?

“O little tent dweller, as the creator and provider of tents, I know all about you and your tent, and I love you both. I made a tent for myself once, and lived in it on your campground. My tent was vulnerable too, and some vicious attackers ripped it to pieces while I was still in it. It was a terrible experience, but you’ll be glad to know, they couldn’t hurt me. In fact, the whole occurrence was a tremendous advance because it is this very victory over my enemy that frees me to be a present help to you. O little tent dweller, I am now prepared to come and live in your tent with you if you’ll invite me. You’ll learn, as we dwell together, that real security comes from my being in your tent with you. When the storms come, you can huddle in my arms and I’ll hold you. When the canvas rips, we’ll go to the repair shop together. Some day, little tent dweller, some day your tent’s going to collapse. You see I’ve only designed it for temporary use. But when it does, you and I are going to leave together. I promise not to leave before you do. And then, free of all that would hinder or restrict, we’ll move to our permanent home and together forever we’ll rejoice and be glad.”

I’ll just be sitting here missing Pat and LeaAnn and a few others for a while…

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!