I refuse to be the old friend.....I will be the young friend with long standing!

Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for your prayers. I feel calmer today but yesterday was really hard. I was mad. Just mad at everything. Sad, mad and more mad. And I couldn't even talk about it until dinner time.

I was mad at H for trading all the time. Found out how much he has lost since he started doing it full time about 4 1/2 weeks ago and just wanted to scream at him! Not because of the money, but I just wanted to ask if maybe he just needs to spend a little more time at it or try just a little harder!!! Argggg.... He is on the computer from the time he gets up until the market closes and then most of the evening as well. Looking, thinking, researching, just maybe there is something that will make it all work better. So, my thinking was highly sarcastic. Not good.

Went to the chiro with my son. He has a compression fracture and whiplash. It may be an old fracture that is re-injured, but come to think of it, he has had back aches and such but not pain like this. He is not in a lot of pain, but I can tell it's bothersome and painful when he sneezes/coughs. I think the whiplash has been there before and was aggravated by this accident. Just my unofficial opinion of course. So, he is to stay off work for a bit because he does very hard heavy labor. He is bummed about that but his boss was real good and said he won't lose his job, just heal up right. Son goes to chiro again today. And he got the insurance claim underway, so the paperwork nightmare has begun.

Oh, and MIL called and my BIL got beat up while walking through his neighborhood (very rough part of town) trying to find his dog. Spent the night in the hospital. Pipes, hammer, rake and possibly a gun all involved. The two attackers were arrested and BIL was able to move out of there already. Second time for him. He got mugged last year in the same place.

I had a rough time yesterday. I don't want to hear anymore bad news. Just leave me alone.

But, today is gonna be a good one! I am gonna try to clean house, and if I can't be around H I will go to my office and clean it. No shortage of dirty stuff around here. I hope everyone has a great day!

Oh MAL! How hard...all of it.

(((((((MAL)))))))

{{{{MAL}}}}} Done like that, trading is little better than gambling. So hard for you.

We had a little adventure last night, though we didn't know it until a few minutes ago.

For a while, AJ had felt as if he ought to pull over, even though he wasn't tired. Finally, just across the MO border he felt like he really ought to stop. We were just about to come to a major storm with all kinds of severe watches and warnings anyway, so it seemed like a good time.

Well this morning, not too far down the road, we passed the scene of a major accident. No one was killed, and the injuries were minor, but it had been a mess. It happened about the time we would have been going past, and the description of the truck that caused the pileup matched the truck that passed us just before we stopped. AJ had been running with the guy for quite a while.

How many other new Freightliners from southern CA with hispanic drivers do you suppose there were on that part of the highway right at that time?

When we went by 7 hours later, they were still cleaning it up, and hauling off the main truck in bits and pieces.

If you click this link, all those vehicles for today's date in Greene county were involved.

MO highway crash reports

So apparently tornadoes were not the only danger God protected us from last night, and we are so thankful for His sleepless care.

Oh Neak, we are so glad you are safe. Similar things have happened to us, and we (also) are glad for God's out stretched hands.

M&L,
We pray for you too. Don't let it get to you.



Thought for today -

Age is opportunity no less
Than youth, itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars,
invisible by day.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

CC, I was thinking about you last night. (some of the things you have said over the years) I hope you are OK.

SS

Thanks Neak and SS,

I am doing pretty well today. I'm not getting anything done but thats o.k.
We are starting the process with the insurance and we have never done this before so it's a little uncomfortable. They wanted son to verbally release the car for them to pick up and I said I don't think so. They haven't paid you for it and if the settlement offer is not acceptable and they have the car, then what?? It may just be my ignorance of the procedure, but I just have to ask all kinds of questions first. They would be taking it to the other side of the state, so picking it up from them if son buys it back would be a hassle as well. So, now they are going to maybe come out to the car to do the inspection. I just want to have the car here so no one can mess with it. Oh well, patience!! It all works out, right?

Neak, I am so glad you are o.k. and took that break. God sure has been busy keeping us all safe lately! God is soooo good!

Hi SS!

there seem to be many traffic problems on this thread lately! the rest of you take care!!!!!

Luckily T&l won't be able to speed on the tractor....

Found out a couple of days ago that WH and OW were off to Paris for their yearly holidays. That really hurt because it's the one place he had promised he would take me.
Luckily I've been listening to the monk so I am avoiding hating him and OW, so far. It's not that I'm becoming a buddhist but the way they explain things like forgiveness, letting go, justice, etc. is different and more understandable in many ways.

And hearing kind and compassionate things for hours is brainwashing me! In a good way I guess. I think I'm becoming a wimp!

I had a dear friend from Thailand who was a Buddhist. It is a wonderful philosophy! She came with some monks to translate for them, and then went back after a couple of years. I really miss her. But I learned SO MUCH from her.

One of my favorites was mindfulness. It was a completely new concept to me.

Hi Believer!

I had no experience with buddhism but being able to listen to 3 years worth of weekly talks of an important teacher, in the comfort and slitude of my home, has really opened up my eyes and my mind.

At first I listened because it was fun, and funny, but now I'm more interested in learning some of the concepts, or rather the way they explain the concepts. Th really become wise!!!!!!

I never had any experience with Buddhism either. I only knew about that little fat guy that you see in restaurants, with incense. Don't know if they do that in your country or not.

I learned from my friend, and it is a completely different way of looking at life.

I had no experience at all!

I think they are building a monastery in the countryside in my country....but that's all I had heard of buddhists.

This guy I listen to is in Australia and he's been a monk for more than 30 years, he's really wise.

ok - tumblebugs is addictive! I can attest.

Now, what's this about the monk?

Rella,

the monk is on the web page of the buddist society of western australia: bswa.org. His name is Ajahn Brahmavanso or also known as Ajahn Brahm. You can watch a video or listen to audio recordings.

I find him funny and wise.

As to Tumblebugs I'm on the last level of TB2 now.

I'm gonna check this monk out. I'm already tumblebugs addicted.

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went on through The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself'I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light.' After a few more minutes, they came
to another intersection and the light was red again. Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous. At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was red and they
went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, 'Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!' Mildred turned to her and said, 'Oh, shoot, am I driving ?'

I still have not finished telling about the farm. My bad. However, in just a moment I will finally tell about the toilet. First though...

Yesterday we were in the truck with the window open, when one of the IdleAire employees walked by outside and greeted another driver.

AJ turned to me with bulging eyes and asked, "Did he just say what I think he said?"

"I don't know. What do you think he said?"

"Well, would you like a box of rubbers?"

Wow, for that to be correct, IdleAire would have had to really expand their service well beyond heat/AC, internet, and TV. :eek:

"No Dear," I said without laughing too hard...not quite hysterically, "He said, 'Well, how do you like this weather?'"

Mom says AJ is too young to be having that kind of hearing trouble already. I can tell he's going to be really interesting when he gets older. Some people's kids!!!

And the toilet. Sorry, I will be as delicate as I can, but no toilet story can be truly genteel, under any circumstances. Luckily this story is about me and not Neaksis. Neaksis has no bodily functions.

So I stopped at a rest area one morning. A rest area in the desert. A rest area in the desert with water conserving toilets. Now these toilets barely mist when you flush them. It is hard enough to get the water to go down them. Never mind any toilet paper. Never mind any....never mind.

I flushed the first time, and some of the water went down. I flushed the second time, and some of the toilet paper moved a few inches closer to the hole in the toilet, the hole which was covered by a little flippy lid that closed after each misty flush.

The third flush did not go so well. The toilet paper moved, and some even made it all the way into the septic system. But not all of it. (It was not that much, okay???) A VERY SMALL bit of toilet paper kept the flippy lid from shutting all the way. Apparently that also kept the flushing water from stopping.

The toilet gurgled alarmingly, bubbled, and hissed. Still the paper stayed, blocking the lid.

I scrabbled at the stall door, trying to escape the thigh-high geyser behind me. Of course the door had to open to the inside.

Liberally spattered with flush water, I hesitated for a moment. The flood seemed to be receding at last. Without dignity I fled, physically unharmed but emotionally scarred.

And I took a shower. Another shower.

Let me guess....they had water conserving showers, too. You got, max, 3 minutes of water?

What cracks me up is almost all the desert places put a water softener on, so the water turns out to be even nicer than at home, most times.

Yesterday we drove along the Atlantic coast in CT for about an hour. In one place, I even got to see the ocean.

Hi! I would love to have nice water pressure at home. That is funny about the water quality.

We were very grateful for your water pressure, believe me.

Here are a few photos, one current and the rest trying to catch up.

Highway in PA

Skating on Fake Ice

Back in diapers???

Diva #1

Princess and Dervish on real ice