Saturday and Breakfast Out

It's Saturday again and I am glad.  Most days my work at the library seems like an ordeal. I will continue as long as I can though so I can get my car paid off early.  This morning my hands are still sore and swollen. I can no longer get my ring off even with soaped up hands.

I will pick Bob up in about an hour and we will have breakfast at Sirloin Stockade. They have a fine breakfast buffet. At this point I don't know what I will do with the rest of the day.

Missy is waiting patiently for an opportunity to go outside. I make her wait until daylight and we are just now at that point.

I received a letter yesterday from the property manager. The rest of the four of us did as well. It is a six month lease agreement with all sorts of regulations in it. We didn't have a lease with Wayne as owner. We just rented from month to month. He didn't even require a deposit. One good thing about this agreement is that we are given the information that we can pay our rent here in town where the bank is located that holds the trust. We have been sending our rent to Independence to the property manager.  Now that the mail is so undependable it sometimes takes almost week for the rent to arrive there and Independence is twelve miles north of here. So now I will pay locally. The property manager also holds our checks to deposit until the middle of the month. That holds up or makes balancing the checkbook later in the month. Now the bank will immediately deposit it and that will be a good thing.  She also says we are responsible for replacing any broken windows. The only thing that would break a window here would be the mower she hires to mow. We should not be responsible for any repairs we have not caused.

The one thing I really resent is the clause where it says NO PETS. I wrote on the lease agreement that 12 year old Missy was grandfathered in. I do not intend to give her up. I have not yet sent the lease agreement back to the property manager. What a mess! I also mow every other week because these new owners will only mow every other week and I do not want the grass to be so high before it is mowed. I don't know if I can still mow after it gets really hot.

I would move if there was another suitable place with a carport and enough room for my furniture.  And moving is very expensive. I bought all my own Roman blinds when I moved here because Wayne had long drapes at the windows and I knew that would not work out with a cat in the house.  Besides, I like Roman blinds. I also brought my own refrigerator and range and bought a microwave that is mounted above the range. I put an extra cabinet in the bathroom above the commode for storage. So I have quite an investment here.

More later....

Well, I talked to Betty who actually administers the trust and she said to just disregard the letter. We are not included in it but legally, it had to be sent to all the renters that they have to avoid charges of discrimination. Nothing changes for the four of us.   I will need to talk to Marilyn and Jeannie and tell then what Betty said.  Missy is also grandfathered in so I don't need to worry about her either.

Bob and I went to Bartlesville this afternoon and all I bought was Leslie's birthday gift. That woman is practically impossible to buy for anymore. If she wants something, she just buys it herself. I bought her a gift card. That's something I know she can use.

Bob will be over this evening to watch the news and have wine. I bought some more Roscotto.

Friday Again At Last

I am always so glad to see Friday come. I have scanned twice this week..perhaps three times..I forget. The days seem to run all together with this job. There are always dozens DVDs to be put away..sometimes hundreds. Then the scanning is very hard on my hands. They sometimes ache for hours and swell up.  By bedtime the aching is over most of the time.  I don't take Aleve for it unless it really bothers me.

Today Bob and I will go out to Dearing to the drive in and have chicken and noodles there. We haven't done that for a long time. It gives me a break from cooking.

I tried to take Missy out on the carport earlier this morning but the black cat was across the street in the drive and Missy was very uncomfortable out there. So we came back in. Now she wants to go out again but I am busy with my blog just now and she will have to wait.  I want to have my coffee first.

I got my sermon for the 28th finished last night so I won't have to work that into my schedule next week.

If you recall, my niece will have her surgery next Friday and Bob and I will take turns staying with her to help with her pain control.  I am concerned about her. She has had the cancer for awhile and has just ignored it until she couldn't ignore it any longer.

There was another church shooting this week. Nine innocent people died. The only way we will have any control over that sort of violence is to have at least limited gun control. People who own guns always have the possibility that in a weak moment, a sick moment, or a moment of anger, they will shoot someone and kill them.  No other first world country has the type of violence we have here in America. Most of our gun problem is caused by the power over congress of the National Rifle Association.

If we actually read the Bill of Rights (The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed, and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person) we will notice the guarantee over arms is for a "militia". We no longer have a militia. We have police  and a standing army.  That part of the Bill of Rights is outdated.  How many shootings does this country have to endure before we finally limit the ownership of guns to those who really need them...the army and the police and hunters who actually eat their kill.

We went out to the Dearing Drive In for our chicken and noodles but they had messed up their order so we had chicken fried steak instead.  Bobbie and Karan came too. They had to choose something else too. That was disappointing but the food was good. 

My niece's surgery has been moved up to Tuesday according to my brother-in-law.  I will need to cancel my hair appointment Tuesday to be there when she comes out of her surgery. She has two fibroid tumors and another large dark area the doctor will have to identify when he gets in there.  We can only hope for the best.

Work today was especially horrendous. There were many large books that I have to heft down and hold while opening the covers to scan the bar codes and there were numerous DVDs to be put away too. I put those away from 12:45 until 2:00 and then began scanning bar codes. I finished an aisle by 4:30 and put the scanner and tablet on Katie's desk. She had already left by the time I finished.  The worst part was the noise though. People talked very loud and I found it hard to concentrate on my job. Finally I asked one family to lower their voices.

But the worst was a woman with a three year old she had in a stroller for two hours. He took turns screaming and crying and trying to get out of the stroller. She must have told him to "shut up" a dozen times.  No one at the library said anything to her. She ended up running several people who were sitting across from her out of the library. I could see they wanted me to say something to her but it was obvious it would have done no good.  Besides, the librarians should have told her to take the little one home for his nap. He was obviously exhausted. This job is exhausting and the worst part is the noise.  I hope I can make it until September 30, 2016.

Bob came over and we had our wine then he went home. There's really nothing on TV on Friday evening. I have taken my bath and am in my pjs now. I will go in to the recliner and let Missy lay on my lap until bedtime.

My June 28th Sermon

Next week on Friday my brother-in-law and I will be staying at the hospital with his daughter after she has her cancer surgery. I am to have the sermon the following Sunday so I have prepared ahead of time. I am not sure what all that will entail.  I may be presiding as well since he was to have presided. That's not a problem for me but I felt I needed to be prepared early..just in case. This is my sermon for the 28th.

Act in Faith

June 28^th, 2015

Mark 5:21-43New King James Version (NKJV)

I’d like to share today’s scripture with you. It comes from Mark 5: 21 - 43

²¹ Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to him; and he was by the sea. ²² And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw him, he fell at his feet ²³ and begged him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed him and thronged him.

²⁵ Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made well.”

²⁹ Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. ³⁰ And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ But his disciples said to him, “You see the multitude thronging you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”

³² And he looked around to see her who had done this thing. ³³ But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?”

³⁶ As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” ³⁷ And he permitted no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸ Then he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. ³⁹ When he came in, he said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”

⁴⁰ And they ridiculed him. But when he had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with him, and entered where the child was lying. ⁴¹ Then he took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴² Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. ⁴³ But he commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

There is an important part of this lesson that we should address. Jesus was on his way to provide ministry to Jairus’ daughter and was interrupted by the hemorrhaging woman.  Jairus was an important person in the community and the woman was considered a social outcast and unclean by that society. 

The theological lesson we find here is that Jesus took care of the immediate need of the lost, least and lonely person first before dealing with the needs of those powerful and socially connected. Jesus not only healed her of the hemorrhaging but also addressed her directly and wanted to meet her. He called her “daughter”, an endearing term that brought her back into relationship with others.  He encouraged her to go in peace and liberated her from her physical affliction.    

The rest of the story is important too. Consider this: both the hemorrhaging woman and the girl were powerless. They were female in a male dominated society. They were both considered unclean. The woman was bleeding and the girl was dead. Jesus ignored these considerations and healed them both. Both were restored to faith and trust in God. 

Faith calls for humility, persistence, risk and courage. All are needed in difficult situations and even seemingly hopeless situations.  Sometimes healing is simply facing a seemingly impossible situation with courage. In times like those, we have a decision to make. Are we fearful and distraught and unable to act or do we summon our courage and resign ourselves to whatever life consequences we face.   Our faith and trust is tried when our most serious and steadfast pleas do not result in the answers we want.  

When we have real faith, we learn to face life’s difficult occasions courageously. As psychiatrist, Scott Peck, always said, “Life is difficult”.  In his book Further Along the Road Less Traveled, he added “Life is complex”.  

The journey of life is not always what we envision when we are young.  But we do not have to make that journey alone. We always have God along with us, attempting to guide us along the way. God is a force we all see differently, but whose presence most of us are aware. As we make our way on our particular journey, we also have friends and we can help one another.  There are no easy answers in life’s journey as some of us have discovered. We should abandon the urge to simplify everything and to look for formulas and easy answers and begin to think multidimensionally….to appreciate the causes and consequences that are inherent in every experience of life and to appreciate the fact that life is so complex. 

But as both the people in our scripture learned, they had to depend on others to reinforce their faith. …to find their courage.  Jairus did not say “it’s no use coming, she’s dead now”. He found his humility and then his courage and they continued their journey. The woman with the issue of blood had the same experience and she also had the persistence that is necessary as a primary ingredient of faith. Even though she could have been cast out by the crowd because of her taboo health problem, she pressed forward anyhow. She was persistent and she took the risk. 

In time, each of us will have difficulties to face in our lives.  We will need our faith, humility, persistence and courage.  We will occasionally need to take risks. Few of us will escape life’s difficulties.

I was reading my son, Scott’s facebook page awhile back and he gave a perfect example.  Scott had gone into the army at age 33, 30 pounds overweight. Halfway through basic training, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to get through it.  He went to his drill sergeant and told him. “Sergeant, I’m not going to be able to finish. I’m just too overweight and out of shape and too old to do this.” His sergeant told him, “Miller if you drop out, I have all those 18 year olds in there saying “If that old man can do this, we can do it”. I will lose half of them.  Scott stayed and recently on his facebook page he said, “Yup! I remember March 1993 Fort McClellan, Alabama, drill sergeants (past and present) for making my life miserable. It made me a better person and a stronger soldier! What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger!” He’s right, you know. 

There is such a thing as constructive suffering. The difference between unconstructive suffering and constructive suffering is one of the most important things to learn in dealing with the pain we will encounter in life. Unconstructive suffering. Like a headache, is something we ought to get rid of. Constructive suffering..or as some would call it, existential suffering, we ought to bear and work through.  It enhances our existence.

I admit that is a scary thing to do, but this is where the courage comes in. One of the things that constantly amazes me is how few people understand what courage really is.  Most people believe courage is the absence of fear.  The absence of fear is not courage.  The absence of fear is some kind of brain damage. 

Courage is the capacity to go ahead and act in spite of fear..or in spite of the pain. To take a risk when we’re scared to death! When we do that, we find that overcoming that fear will not only make us stronger but will be a big step towards teaching us the persistence and humility that go with courage as well. 

That’s what the woman with the issue of blood did…and demonstrated.  She acted in faith. She displayed humility, persistence and courage.  And because of that, she was able to be healed….not only of her ailment, but also her self-worth.  Jesus healed her but he also enabled her to exercise her own faith and take a risk, to be persistent, and to find the courage she needed to act even though she was terrified.   That is a true act of faith!

 

Thursday And House Cleaning Again

Today is my house cleaning day. I have nothing going on Thursdays except to fix lunch and go to work in the afternoon so I always clean the apartment on Thursdays and also do my laundry.  I will just fix hot dogs and tater tots for lunch today. Bob is delivering meals on wheels for a friend today and we will eat a little later.

Yesterday I put away DVDs for an hour and then scanned bar codes until 4:30 when I went back to putting away more  DVDs again.  Katie gave me a short list of books to find...books that are not in the system. How that occurred, she doesn't know. The last inventory was held in 2007 long before she started the job. There have been dozens of books found that are not in the system. It's probably a very good thing that we're doing this inventory.

When I get home in the afternoon, my hands are always sore and slightly swollen.  That's from pulling the books out of the bookcase, opening the covers and scanning the bar codes. Why they were not initially put on the covers, is beyond me.  I notice the new books do have the bar codes on the covers. Those books can just be raised a little and the bar code scanned without having to pull each and every book out of the bookcase and the covers pulled open.  I suppose it has something to do with the scanning being done now days with a hand held scanner.

More later... I'd better put my laundry in the dryer.

Well I got my laundry all done, my bed changed and the apartment clean again. That's my regular Thursday chores. 

It's only 9:00 so I have lots of time to read or whatever.

I have Missy out on the carport again now.  It's barely raining now. She took off earlier and I had to get my umbrella and go looking for her. I couldn't find her so I came back home just to find her laying on rug on the carport.  She must have circled around and come home while I was looking for her.  That darn cat!

Both neighbor cats are out now. One is on the porch across the street and the other is under the car in their drive.  As long as Missy minds her own business, she will be fine. If they try to come over here, I will run them off.

More later...

I had a huge day this afternoon. Lots of DVDs to be put away (the rain drives the kids indoors and to the TV to watch videos)  and then I scanned another aisle of bar codes. I have three more aisles in the non fiction before I do the talking books. They should be easier because they are small and not so heavy.

Bob came over and we opened the Merlow Scott and Ginger brought me. It's pretty good  but I really prefer my Mascotto.  We will drink it though.  It was a nice gift.

We will watch The Big Bang Theory. We are both disillusioned with the new writers. They simply aren't up to the usual par.

Wednesday and A Credit Card Scam

I will go to exercise class this morning and then come home to fix lunch. We will have our beans again. I may fix some more cornbread. We only have two pieces left. That probably is not enough.

I slept very well last night.  That's surprising since I had another incident of the problem with Bank of America. They can't seem to get my problem fixed. Several months ago, I received a bill from Bank of America about a Bank of America credit card charge. I had cut up that card when Bank of America sold all our local Bank of America banks to Commercial Bank out of Parsons, Kansas.

The bill was for  $61.00 and change for a charge for a transaction on 03/13/15 to Agoda in Malang, Indonesia. ....evidently a hotel there. The guest was a Myetiya Bagus. Obviously that was not me. I am a senior citizen from America who has never been out of the country so I disputed the charge with Bank of America. After three different months of calling them after receiving bill after bill and talking to three different people, one a supervisor, I thought the charge would be reversed.

Then yesterday I received a package from Bank of America saying if I did not sign and return a letter they were sending me in the package to cancel the account, I would be expected to pay the bill in full. And it had to be returned by the 22nd of this month and it was already the 16th. With our present mail service, I couldn't guarantee it would reach them on time so I went back up to the library and faxed it to them.  They had suggested that since they admitted the time was limited.  It cost me $3.00 to fax the three pages to them. That included a letter I included to them telling them that if they troubled me with this scam problem again, I would turn over all my correspondence from them and to them to the Kansas States Attorney General and let him deal with them.

I had asked that the credit card to be cancelled each time I called them. Evidently they felt they had to have written permission to do that. 

I have only had one other credit card scam in my life and that was with a different credit card company and for a video game bought in Florida.That was years ago. I had never had a video game and had never been to Florida and I called that credit card company and told them that and they said they would investigate the claim and get back to me in 90 days. They did just that. I cancelled that card.  No hassle. A year later, that same person attempted to use that same credit card again and learned that I had cancelled the card. The credit card company called me to tell me about that attempt.  Again...no hassle.

What a mess!

Folks, be sure to cancel any credit cards you are not using...even if you have cut them up.  To not do that can be a huge problem in this electronic age....especially of you are dealing with Bank of America.  Credit card numbers are stolen and used on a regular basis anymore.  If the card has been cancelled, the problem cannot occur. I had hesitated to cancel the card when I cut it up because I had understood it can affect your credit rating and I have an excellent credit rating.  Big mistake!

Tuesday and Cakes Again

I will leave about 8:15 for Independence to deliver the cakes.  Then I will go get my hair done. It is a mess! Too much rain and humidity.


I slept well last night until about 3:30 when I woke up to a noise.  It was like a snoring baby. I checked and it was Missy, lying beside me on the bed...sound asleep and snoring. I had to smile. I think I had heard her snore before but it had been awhile and it was while she was lying in my lap. I went back to sleep and awoke about 5:00 AM.

Bob just called to say his electricity had not gone out over at Sycamore Landing. Strange... I called Leslie about my loss here and she said she had seen on TV that Coffeyville had lost their power. Evidently not all of Coffeyville lost their power.

I took Missy out for awhile this morning but I heard the alarm of a bird and looked up to see the tom cat from across the street was next door on our side of the street. I got my broom and scatted him away. But, much to her dismay, I brought Missy back in the house.  She is pouting now.

I hope today at work is not as bad as yesterday. With all this rain, kids cannot go to the pool so instead, they come to the library and check out five DVDs and sit inside and watch TV all day long.  They no longer read as much. If they aren't watching movies,they are playing with their tablets at the library where there is free access to a router.  I will be long gone when these kids are running the country and won't have to deal with it but my kids will have to deal with people who no longer can write cursive or even compose a theme. ..unless they have a computer. What a shame. When I was young the US was 1st in education in the world. Now we are 16th.

More later...

Monday and Back to Work

Today is also exercise day.  I slept well last night but that's because I took a Benedril tablet.

Bob just walked in and he is having some of the coffeecake he forgot to take last night when he left. He brought his coffee with him.

I will have many, many DVDs to put away today. It's Monday and Monday is always a huge day for that.

I don't know whether Katie will have me scan bar codes today or not. Time will tell.

The library was a huge mess!  I put away DVDs from 12:45 until 4:10.  The only bigger day was the Monday following the Easter holiday.  I got home exhausted. I still had my cake to ice since I had decided to bake it at noon. I had a feeling this would be an enormous day. It has rained all last week and kids could not go to the pool so they came to the library and each checked out their limit of five DVDs each.

I have had my Chai Latte and so now I will eat my yogurt.  I am hungry. The beans at lunchtime were good but I didn't eat enough.

I haven't decided what to have for lunch tomorrow. I will need to look in the freezer and see what I have squirreled away.

Bob will be here in less then 30 minutes so I had better eat my yogurt.

More later...

Bob only stayed for the wine and cookie. There was really nothing on for Monday night. We checked the old movies but they were ancient.

After he left and I had taken my bath and put my pjs on, a terrific clap of thunder and lightening occurred and  the electricityy went out.  It was off about thirty minutes before coming back on.  Soon after, I went on to bed.

Sunday Morning and Church

Today we have church. I discovered yesterday afternoon that I am presiding this morning and I had the bulletin to get ready. It took me awhile but I got it finished. Now when I get out there at church, I will print off the bulletins.  I usually keep better track of these things. It has just been so busy lately  that I just didn't think of it.

Missy is wanting to go out but I don't let her do that until it gets light. I never know what stray cat is out there. It's not even 6:00 yet.  When the paper comes, I will read it first before I let her go out.

I also want to fix my coffee cake before I pick up Bob. Those at church enjoy having a piece while they drink coffee. We do that just before we start our church school class.

More later.....

Well the coffee cake went over well and after church we all ( well, eight of us) went to Independence to the Railroad Inn for Italian food and to celebrate my daughter and son-in-laws 40th wedding anniversary.  We had a good time.

Afterward I came home and worked on my congregational newsletter.

Bob will be over later for wine and TV. We will watch 60 Minutes. It began raining again after I got home or I would have mowed first.

It rained very little and later got hot. The lawn dried and I called Bob to come start the mower for me while it was dry. I got the lawn mowed then.

Bob came over for wine and 60 minutes but went home after the wine and cookies when he noticed it was another rerun.

I took my bath and went to bed about 9:30.