The marvel of electricity

First, I do not know how, or even why, it works. Flick a switch, light comes on. Flick other way, light goes off. Amazing. Plug extension cord in, truck block heater works overnight to warm diesel engine so it starts in minus 20 degree weather.

Enter (nameless) son. Half-hearted attempt to plug in cord. No work. No heat. Says, "Yes, Dad, truck plugged in." Dad get up morning. Jay get up morning, try to start truck. Whirl, whirl, whirl goes engine. No like cold weather. No start 'cause no heat. Smart Jay, check cord. Plug cord in ALL way. Hmmmm. Need 1 hour to warm at least. So - back bed 1 hour. Get up. Start truck. Cough, cough, cough goes truck. Run rough, but run. Big white clouds of exhaust. Run, Jay! Run! See Jay run house! In make coffee. Dad & Mom up too, drink coffee and tea. Say mean things about (nameless) son. Frown and laugh. Phone Aunt Sandra. Her birthday today. Sing song on phone. Make laugh. Talk Uncle Bernie. Him think buy 1999 Cadillac. Almost same same car we have. Go on truck. Have long day. Brain is done. No can think how speak or write English anymore. Can you tell?

Let them eat cake

You know, I think history has been unkind to Marie Antoinette. This morning I woke up (grumpy) to a grey looking, overcast, depressing blah rainy/foggy morning. Definitely not the type that brings joy into whoville.

I wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes, then trudged up stairs to wake any errantly sleeping children to share the joy (right) of the morning. I came back down, and, being a man, immediately started looking for some kind of food to lighten the moment. I discarded the idea of toast (no jam.) I repelled at the idea of eggs (do you know where they come from!) Cereal had no attraction (had it as a snack last night.) I then started to root around in the freezer to see if there was any back-bacon (I make no apologies - I like the stuff.)

And There It Was.

A leftover hunk of chocolate fudge CAKE. A smile slowly spread across my face. The food warden was at the chiropractor and was therefore unable to defeat my purpose. I gently, reverently, almost caressingly removed the cake from its cold, cold repository, and spoke soothing words to it as I removed the top cover to expose its dark chocolatey richness. "There, there," I said, "Daddy will soon make you warm!" I turned and grabbed a fork from the drawer behind me (Hey, we do have SOME manners in this house...) Deliberately I chunked off pieces and slid them ever so gently past the lips, over the gums, look out stomach - here it comes! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Several more forkfuls soon followed.

And then it happened.

I mellowed out. Why, I even started to smile, and began to think that maybe the day wasn't going to be so bad after all.

If only those idiot frenchmen had listened to Marie, the French Revolution may never had happened...

There are only intelligent choices

There are no easy answers. There are only intelligent choices.

Some who read this will remember it was a line used by the Caterpillar Company in the 1970's in their advertisng.

What is is about the human condition that wants the "easy answers"? Well, as Cat reminded us, there ain't no such thing. What there is, however, are intelligent choices.

The difficulty is applying the "right" intelligence. What is it to be based on? What I think? What others think? What is the populist thought? What is the contrarian thought? For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Do I discard the "whole", or just certain parts of the "whole"?

Oh where is wisdom when it is needed most? (Hey, like the heading says - there are no easy answers!)

Isa 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD...

Hmmmm, maybe there is an "easy" answer.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (Jn 1:46)

Such an innocent question, yet so loaded with a negative connotation. Can anything good come from a place with such a bad reputation? Nazareth was a city out of touch - located in a big pear-shaped depression its citizens were virtually isolated from the goings-on of the "spiritual" centre of Jerusalem, yet open to the "pagan" influences of Tyre.
(see: http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/nazareth.html )

It was a mean question, this one from Nathanael, based not on evidence but from prejudice. The tar-brush was too wide! How is it that "we" decide that "no good thing" can come out from (fill in the blank here - whether person, place, thing, or institution?) How much of the current tapestry of prejudice (unfounded) is weaved into our own lives?

Yet at least ONE GOOD THING came out of Nazareth - Jesus.

Something to think about.

Get with the program!

Now I am not so old fashioned as to fear the age of computers. I am old enough that while I was at university, hand-held calculators came out. I bought one. It added, subtracted, multiplied and divided. Period. It cost me the equivalent of six and a half days of work.

So advanced was it, that during one math exam I was not allowed to use it - because it would give me an unfair advantage over the other students who were limited to using slide-rules.

I explained to the exam monitor person that if the other students had used their money to buy one - instead of going on fancy vacations during spring break - there would not be an issue. Since I did not bring my slide-rule, if denied use of my calculator, the other students would have an unfair advantage over me.

Such an appeal fell on deaf ears. * sigh *

Just because "new technology" is available, does not mean that it will be - nor should it be - accepted by everyone at the earliest possible moment.