Now that I'm done with Thr3e, I'm reading a book by CJ Box that I bought off the shelf on a whim at a retail store a while back. It's called Blue Heaven. I made a point on Facebook to mention that I had finished one book and was starting another. I told everyone the book's name, and wondered if anyone had read it. Then I got into the book, and after a few chapters in became apparent that this was perhaps not the kind of book that would be in a Bible bookstore. It wasn't really bad, but the bad characters in the story curse a lot, plus there was one scene where one of the guys is at the main character's house, hoping to have some "fun" and the book uses a sentence or 2 to describe his actions that you probably wouldn't see in a Christian book. This happened in the first several chapters. Now that I've gotten further into the book, there's been no more of that, and it doesn't seem that bad now. But at the time, I was worried the book was going to be full of this stuff. And I was afraid some of my Garden Way friends on Facebook, who are very, very conservative, would read the book and think I was into bad books or something. So I posted again on Facebook, warning about the content, but I think I made the book sound worse than it really is now that I've read further into it.
Now that I've read a good ways into it, it's not too bad. I think I just haven't read very many books outside of the Christian bookstore, so I kind of overreacted at the first swear word. So anyway, some of you family members should read it and say what you think. I always read books and I wish I had someone to discuss the book with, but I seem to be the only one reading it. The book IS a very nice thriller. I can't wait to see what happens.
Well, anyway, talk later. Bye.
Anyhow, in other news, I'm hoping to go swim at Granny's pool soon. I need to do it while the weather is hot, and I kinda feel I owe the pool a swim since I've driven up there a couple times to see about getting it ready. It'd be stupid to spend all that time trying to get it ready and never actually swim in it. So, I hope to do that. What really needs to happen is for them to fix the vacuum so it actually works. I wouldn't mind vacuuming the whole thing, it's just that the vacuum doesn't work very well, and so the pool is dirty anytime we get around to swimming in it. I did actually kind of rub the vacuum all over the pool floor last time I was there, but all I really did was stir the green stuff up. I was hoping it'd all go through the filter. I haven't been able to see if it worked yet though. Anyway, I'm sure everything will work out somehow.
Well, my pizza is done, so I guess I'll go. Just thought I'd write something for you all to read. Hope you enjoyed it.
Tonight I went up to Oakridge to see the synchronized swimming event. I hadn't ever been to anything like that, and it was interesting. It was nice swimming too. I was impressed. While I was there, I saw a few people I hadn't seen in a while. I saw several people from church that I knew back when I was going to the AG church in town, and I saw a few people from high school. That was also very nice.
Anyhow, see you all around.
I went to Oakridge yesterday to see about swimming, but the water was green. I'm not sure if it was in the water or if it was because of the green, dark, dirty floor. I've never seen it like that before though. Marlee got in and walked along the side of the pool while we were trying to get the vacuum to work. We never got it to work very good, and we stirred a lot of the green stuff up. We put 4 jugs of chlorine in the pool, so hopefully that will do something. I got my legs in the water but that was it. The water felt good once you got used to it. I just didn't want to get in with all the green.
Anyway, hope you people in Central Oregon and Eastern Oregon are surviving. It must be even hotter there. I hate to think what hell must be like. Haha. Anyway, see y'all later.
There was a nice lady, a minister's widow, who was a little old fashioned. She was planning a week's vacation in California at Skylake Yosemite campground (Bass Lake, to the uninitiated), but she wanted to make sure of the accommodation first. Uppermost in her mind were bathroom facilities, but she couldn't bring herself to write "toilet" in a letter. After considerable deliberation, she settled on "bathroom commode," but when she wrote that down, it still sounded too forward, so, after the first page of her letter, she referred to the bathroom commode as "BC." "Does the cabin where I will be staying have its own 'BC'? If not, where is the 'BC' located?" is what she actually wrote.
The campground owner took the first page of the letter and the lady's check and gave it to his secretary. He put the remainder of the letter on the desk of the senior member of his staff without noticing that the staffer would have no way of knowing what "BC" meant. Then the owner went off to town to run some errands.
The staff member came in after lunch, found the letter, and was baffled by the euphemism, so he showed the letter around to several counselors, but they couldn't decipher it either. The staff member's wife, who knew that the lady was the widow of a famous Baptist preacher, was sure that it must be a question about the local Baptist Church. "Of course," the first staffer exclaimed, "'BC' stands for 'Baptist Church.' " And he sat down and wrote:
Dear Madam,
I regret very much the delay in answering your letter, but I now take the pleasure in informing you that the BC is located nine miles north of the campground and is capable of seating 250 people at one time. I admit it is quite a distance away if you are in the habit of going regularly, but no doubt you will be pleased to know that a great number of people take their lunches along and make a day of it. They usually arrive early and stay late.
The last time my wife and I went was six years ago, and it was so crowded we had to stand up the whole time we were there. It may interest you to know that right now there is a supper planned to raise money to buy more seats. They are going to hold it in the basement of the 'BC.'
I would like to say that it pains me very much not to be able to go more regularly, but it is surely no lack of desire on my part. As we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort, particularly in cold weather.
If you decide to come down to our campground, perhaps I could go with you the first time, sit with you, and introduce you to all the folks. Remember, this is a friendly community."
Anyway, I remember back in about the year 1991 or 92, when this calico cat belonging to one of the neighbors down the street showed up at Marlee's house. The cat had kind of a scratchy voice. The cousins were in town visiting, but they went somewhere and left me at Marlee's, and I let this cat in the house while they were gone. Anyway, that night, I was sleeping in my sleeping bag on the floor, near the door, and this cat apparently liked me because it just stayed out on the porch meowing to be let in. Finally, I got up and let it in, but I knew Marlee didn't want the cat in the house, so I took it to the garage, and put it on the washer/dryer. From then on, me and Gena would come from Oakridge to stay with Marlee on weekends to give Granny and Grandad a break, and this cat would be there on the washer/dryer, waiting for us every week. The neighbors ended up saying we could have the cat, and I think they told us it had been named Mamba, and was 2 years old. At that time, Marlee wouldn't let cats in her house, so it lived out in the garage basically. But eventually Marlee succumbed and let the thing in. And it basically became our house cat.
When Marlee moved to the new house, Mamba disappeared when we first took her over there. We didn't know where she was for a week or so, until we found her one evening eating cat food we left out on the deck. She was Gena's cat until Gena moved away, then she became Marlee's cat basically. She never seemed to forget who I was. Even when I was gone for long periods at a time, she always acted like she knew me or least wasn't scared of me, whereas she generally ran off and hid when a stranger came. When Marlee inherited Tigerlily, who was one of the kittens that me and Gena got when we were living in the apartment in Springfield, Mamba had a fellow cat to live with, although I don't know if she ever liked having another cat in the house.
Anyway, she was in poor health the last several months of her life. She was pretty old. If she was 2 yeas old in 1992, then she was about 19 when she died. But I'm pretty sure she was at least 17. Anyway, I've never known a cat for so long. RIP.
"Hello" ... January 11, 2008
Lately, I've just kind of been following stuff on the news. Michael Jackson died of course, the same day news of Farrah Fawcett's death broke. I remember hearing someone in the news, years ago, talking about the chances that Jackson would die by the time he was 50. Given all his problems, I kind of wondered what exactly would happen with him. Although, he seemed to be on the verge of a comeback. Interesting though, how both the King of Rock and Roll and the King of Pop died of apparent drug overdoses. Anyway.
I began reading "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis the other day. I wanted to read the book, but I couldn't get it right off the bat, so I ended up getting the text of the book online and just reading it that way. It is a very nice book, if you like books of its kind. I have not finished the book, but in the beginning he kind of establishes that there is this higher law that humans seem to follow. By the end of the book I think he shows us why Christianity is the best religion to follow, but for now, where I am, he is still establishing that there is a generic Right and Wrong. Anyway, I'm making it sound stupid, but it's a great book.
Well, I hope you all are doing nicely. I plan to return to college in the fall. That'll be fun. Now that I was successful this last fall in that one class, I think maybe I have a monkey off my back. Anyway. Until next time.
I mowed the farm down in Oakridge. It took like 8 hours to finish the whole thing , probably because the grass was so high. I was telling Granny that it used to only take 4 or 5 hours to mow the whole thing, but lately it takes forever. Oh well. I got paid well for it.
Well I guess that's all for now. Hope you all are staying healthy and having a great time.
Anyway, I've been nitpicking at Granny and Jim to get the riding lawn mower fixed so I can mow the farm down. (For you non-family people reading this, it isn't really a farm, that's just what I refer to it as.) Granny says he had the mower jacked up, so he apparently is working on it. I remember when Grandad taught me to use the riding mower. He wouldn't let me operate the thing for the longest time, until one morning he got me out of bed by saying I could run the thing. The unfair thing was that Gena was 2 years younger and got to start using it at the same time. Hehehe, not that I really cared, it's just kind of funny. By the way, Gena just had a birthday, right? Hope you had a happy one.
Anyway, in other news, I still haven't seen Star Trek. I may go out to see it tomorrow perhaps. I've heard overwhelmingly that it's good, although a few people, including Gwendy, said they thought it missed the mark.
Until next time.
Anyway, I am glad for the warmer weather. When you have a job that involves driving, I guess you kind of like milder weather. The roads are better when it's not snowy or icy. I think part of the reason I don't like colder weather on the job is because I'm never prepared for it like I need to be. I never seem to get the studs on until the day before or after it snows. So I'm always more nervous than I'd be if I had everything I needed to deal with it. Next winter I plan on being prepared for whatever I end up dealing with. That way, maybe I can actually enjoy the snow rather than dreading it.
I'm hoping to attend a summer class or two. I'm thinking I'll take math or something, but I'm just not sure yet if I'll even be attending in summer. I'll be attending college in the fall for sure though. College is fun when you're doing well at it.
Anyway, there's my post just to let you all know I'm still alive. Hope y'all are doing well.
A couple days later, it was snowing on the route, and actually accumulated about an inch or so on the road, which I had to drive through with no studs. It really wasn't too bad, just a little nerve wracking. When it snows, the snow falling kind of affects my mind. It's hypnotizing to drive along in the dark with snow falling. It was getting light by the time I finished though, and it looked really pretty. :-)
A couple days after that, my supervisor called me to let me know that someone had made an obscene phone call to one of my customers, claiming to be their paper carrier. Said stuff like "I've been watching you!" and scared them pretty bad. My boss says he told the lady that he couldn't imagine the obscene caller was me. :-) That makes me feel good. I'm sure you all know it wasn't me. I have no idea who it was, probably some prank caller. Anyway.
Today I went to Oakridge to mow the grass but the lawn mower battery was dead so it will have to recharge all night, and I'll have to do it tomorrow. The sunshine was nice though. Weather forecast says it'll be up to 80 degrees in Oakridge tomorrow.
Tonight I went to Marlee's so she could use my laptop to listen to a sermon from Willamette Christian Center. They put their stuff online now on the web site at WillametteChristian.com.
Anyway, I really hope you all are doing well. God bless.
This first link has 2 different movie clips on it. The first one is of Kirk and Uhura at a bar, and how a bar fight gets started. The second one is one of Kirk and Dr. McCoy. McCoy is pretty entertaining it looks like.
http://trekmovie.com/2009/04/07/new-sta
This next link has a video clip of Kirk, Scotty and Spock. Kirk and Spock are having a disagreement.
http://www.collider.com/entertainment/n
So tell me what you think.
But anyway, a bike ride might be kind of fun. They have a bike trail in Oakridge that goes into the woods along Salmon Creek, near the fish hatchery. They have bike paths in Eugene which are also fun and scenic, and go into the country, I think. But I would have to buy another bike, as Matt and I both had our bikes stolen from the patio. The bad thing about living dowstairs is that it's less secure than it was upstairs. When we were upstairs, the deck was fairly secure as a place to put a bike. I guess it would have just been too much work and risk for a thief to try to steal a bike from up there. But downstairs, all a person has to do is walk by and take whatever they want. They even broke the lock Matt had on his bike. This is actually not too bad a place to live. It's pretty quiet, and the neighbors seem like nice people, but I guess if I get a new bike I'll keep it inside. :-)
On another subject I guess it was Grandad's birthday yesterday. He would have been 97. In just 3 years, we'll be observing the 100th anniversary of his birth. Today is Rochelle's birthday. So I guess don't forget to say Happy Birthday if you get a chance.
Ok then, I guess I'll write again another time.
Well, I took Amber's suggestion and got back on Netflix. I had been on it a few years ago but let my membership lapse. Anyway, what I like about it is that you can watch streaming movies and TV shows on your computer, in addition to renting movies by DVD. I watched Jaws on streaming video and Last Temptation of Christ a few years ago, before I let my account lapse. The only reason I watched the latter movie is because I remembered the controversy when it first came out and was curious as to what exactly the movie was about. I had originally had the idea that it depicted Christ as gay, but I guess that isn't really what it's about. It does have a pornographic scene with Christ and Mary Magdeline. I really don't understand why people have to make these type of movies. Why do they have to show a porn scene of someone like Christ? Just to make devout people mad? Maybe that's not it, I don't know.
But anyway, I got BACK on Netflix, and so far I've watched several movies. Dark Knight and The Love Guru on DVD, and Expelled and Ratatouille on streaming. And bits and pieces of other movies on streaming. I hope to get a little more up to date on movies, since I have seen very few movies in my life compared to my cousins.
I watched the Assassination of Jesse James with Marlee the other night at her house, and she didn't like it because of the violence, although she watched it to the end. She made comments and asked questions during the movie. It IS kind of violent, but I guess it probably depicts the life back then.
But anyway, another thing, I enjoyed the pizza dinner we had the other day. It was really nice to see Gretchen and the kids again. We should make a point to go out and eat every once in a while. Anyway, I guess I'll see y'all again later.
P.S. Any suggestions as to what movies a totally movie-deprived person should see?
Well anyway, I have jury duty coming up on Friday. It might turn out that I'll call on Thursday evening and they won't make me come in, but
I guess being on a jury would be a nice experience.
I enjoyed going to dinner on Friday with the extended fam at Outback Steakhouse. It was nice to see Rochelle again. I had steak, which I hadn't had much of in the recent past. It was good. We had an interesting waiter. Some of us went out again Saturday evening to Chili's - just me, Matt, Marlee, Marc and Cheryl, and Gabe. Marlee called me to see if I wanted to come as I was eating Taco Bell for dinner. I came, but since I wasn't that hungry, I just got dessert. When it was time to pay, I realized I didn't have my card with me, so I had to run out to my car to see if it was there. I couldn't find it, so Marlee ended up having to help me out. As it turned out, it WAS in my car, but it was in a spot where I couldn't see it. Embarrassing. I need to keep better track of these things.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing everyone again soon. Hope y'all are doing great. Some of you haven't posted in a while. You should post some pictures or something, keep us all up to date. See ya'll later. God bless.
This one I'll never forget, because of the picture itself, and because of the situation when I first saw it.
By the way, the Bible verse about forgiving a person not 7 times, but 70 x 7 times crosses my mind on this. A person should have at least 490 chances. :-)
Anyway, just my brief opinion. :-)
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