Year 2008 in Review

I lost my job early in November of 2007 and had complete knee replacement on November 27th, so 2008 started out with some physical therapy taking place on my knee and lots of questions concerning future employment. When I had my knee surgery the ulnar nerve in my left arm was damaged somehow so I had to have surgery on my elbow on February 9, 2008. They operated on my elbow, but for some reason I had one heck of a time with my wrist swelling and throbbing as if they had crushed it with a sledge hammer during the surgery.
Going into March I was getting around good with my new knee and my arm was doing OK, so Kathy decided that the inside of the house needed to be painted, and since I was not employed I got selected as the painter. While doing the painting I had a real mental lapse and thought that crown moulding would really set the new paint job off. I had never done anything like putting up crown moulding before and I have no intention of ever doing it again, but it does look good with the new paint job.
In April I made the decision to start drawing my social security and would look for some part time work later in the year. I got a call from one of my friends in late April wanting me to go to work for the S C Department of Corrections managing the Prison Industries Frame Shop. May 19th I began my new career and I look forward to going to work every day -- I love my job. What a blessing it is to like what you are doing -- It sure beats the heck out of selling construction equipment for a living - the pay is not as good, but money can't buy happiness.
When I turned my life over to God a few years ago my life has consistently improved each and every day since then. There have been several things that occurred over the last several years that I thought were not in my best interest, but each and every one of those occurrences have proven to be a blessing to me and my family.
2008 is coming to an end in a couple of days and what a ride it has been. I am excited about the new year and look forward to whatever God has planned for me and my family in 2009.

Papa Elf and all the Kentucky Elves

Momo Elf and all the Lexington Elves

"BAILOUT"

I have 7 (seven) words that I would like to say about Wall Street & the Auto Industry bailouts.

"Whatever happened to the free enterprise system"

"The Second Great Depression"

We have a customer (Warren Brussee) that we do framing for that has written a book entitled "The Second Great Depression" that was published in 2005. Mr. Brussee spent 33 years at GE as an engineer, plant manager, and engineering manager. His responsibilities included manufacturing plants in the USA, Hungary, and China. Keep in mind that this book was published in 2005.
This is a frightening book. It shows how massive consumer debt will trigger the next depression, starting about the year 2007 and ending in 2020.
The exuberance resulting from the overheated stock market of the 90s caused consumers to stop saving and go into debt. Then the dramatic drop in mortgage rates enable people to refinance their homes and go even further into debt. People are no longer living on what they can afford; instead they are living the lifestyle they think they deserve, costs be damned!
In this depression, the United States will be brought to its knees. But not unlike the mythical bird Phoenix that dies in flames and is then reborn out of its own ashes, the United States will also be reborn. However, it will be a poorer and less arrogant country that emerges from its own ashes.
I have read a little over half of this book and what Mr. Brussee predicted 4 to 5 years ago is all coming true, and if all of his predictions are correct we had better buckle our seat belts and get ready for a bumpy ride.
This book is available at most book stores.

Ater Christmas Dinner

WOW, I have never seen so much food eaten by so few people. The guys are now watching a movie, but I am not sure they will be able to stay awake after eating everything they ate. If you ever want your cooking appreciated, just cook a meal for inmates. Time is running short for me at the frame shop this year as I will be taking off for a couple of weeks beginning 12/18 and I will not return to work until 1/5/09. I just don't know where this year has gone, but there is not much left of 2008. I would bet that Kathy already has things lined up for me to do around the house.
Merry Christmas to everyone!!

Christmas Dinner

Tomorrow is a big day for the inmates that work for me here at the frame shop / computer refurbishing shop. They will get a big dinner tomorrow that is not prison food, and they are as excited as little kids. I am going to smoke a turkey tonight, Kathy is making a mashed potato casserole and baking some chocolate chip cookies -- we also have dressing left from Thanksgiving that has been in the freezer. The gentleman that we work with from the department of education is frying some cat fish, making a green bean casserole, boiling corn, and baking an apple pie. Wow, I am getting hungry just typing this. The inmates have also requested that they be allowed to watch a DVD after lunch and the movie they want to see is 300. I bought this DVD and watched part of it this weekend and I told them that it is a terrible movie, but they still want to see it. Tomorrow will be a GREAT DAY!!!

THANKFUL

Years ago I started out with nothing and I still have at least half of it, and I am learning every day to be thankful for all that I have including the half of nothing I still have. :) This morning I just got another reminder of how good God has been to me.
Once a year during the holiday season we are allowed to have a snack day for the inmates that work for us. I stopped at Bojangles this morning and loaded up on chicken and bo biscuits. I did not know that a little food could make a person so happy, but the inmates said, "that was the first real food they had tasted in a year" and I can tell you that they were very thankful for it. The inmates were also given a bunch of trail mix by Mrs.Cathy, and they were as excitied as little children in a toy store.
This Thursday is Thanksgiving and I know that each of us has an abundance of things to be thankful for, so let's just remember who the Great Provider is and take time to praise him for all that he has given us.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!

GREAT DAY!

I feel great this morning knowing that all of the campaigning is over with, and when we turn on the tube we will not be subjected to any more candidates telling us what they think we want to hear. However, I would guess that the news media will be analyzing why, what, who, how, etc for the next several weeks. Maybe by early next spring all of the election stuff will be over with.

It is now the time for us to get on our knees and pray to God asking Him to be with our leaders and have Him guide them in all that they do. This nation for the most part has turned their face from God and the CHANGE this nation really needs is to ask for God's forgiveness and start walking hand in hand with Him in our daily walk.

May God Bless America

THE LAST TWO WEEKENDS

Kathy and I don't really go out of town very often, but the last two weekends were the exception to the rule. The weekend of September 26-28 we were in North Myrtle Beach with four of our Christian friends enjoying fellowship together, beautiful weather, and some good food. We all went to see Ray Stevens at the Alabama Theater on Saturday night -- what a "HOOT" that guy is. Don't Look Ethel!

The weekend of October 3-6 we were in Hendersonville, NC for Kathy's high school reunion (I certainly am not telling what year reunion it was). All I can say is that the Class of 1968 knows how to put on "one heck of a reunion." It all started with homecoming at the football game on Friday night and ended with lunch Sunday. There was a reception after the football game for all alumni of HHS. Saturday we got to tour HHS and see what changes had taken place in the building -- this was the first time Kathy had set foot back in the school since graduation. I did enjoy looking at their old gym since I had played basketball in it when I was at Erwin HS. There was a wonderful dinner and dance Saturday night at the Cedars. Kathy and I did particapate in the dinner part, but we just sat around during the dance portion an enjoyed watching all of the old people dance. Sunday morning was the highlight of the entire reunion for me. Sandee Carpenter one of the girls that Kathy went to school with is the wife of the Rev. Bill Carpenter pastor at Shaws Creek Baptist Church and they invited the class of 1968 to attend the morning service. What a blessing this service was -- Jerry Mullinax one member of the class played the piano and sang "I Call it Home," Pat Corn another member of the class played the guitar while his wife Monica sang, Pat also sang a song, then brought the message entitled "The Gospel According to George Jones." Sandee Carpenter and her daughter Allison sang the closing song "Come Just As You Are." I don't think there was a dry eye in the church during the service.

I know that Kathy had a great time getting to see all of her classmates and friends. Being around all of the wonderful people that Kathy went to school with makes me wish I had attended HHS.

NOW & THEN

I found a magazine laying around the house entitled AARP, which I imagine that Kathy had subscribed to. There is a short article about children that I would like to share with you. Do you think the little ones of today are missing out on really having a good time?

When we were kids, we played outside. Our bodies were hard-breathing little rainbows of energy and earth--red cheeks from running, brown hands from mud, green grass streaks on our pants. We dreamed of grandiose forts that never got built, had sword fights with sticks while riding our bikes (Okay, that was more of a boy thing). But we lived, baby. We lived! Unlike so many kids today, whose every micromanaged, remote control moment is seemingly spent indoors. Oh, how the play times have changed:

THEN
Eating wild berries
Climbing trees
Walking with pals along train tracks
Stickball
"Be Home by Dark" "
Summer Camp
Doing cannonballs off the high dive
Skinned knees
Jumping on a trampoline

NOW
Eating Lunchables on a play date
Allergy tests
Walking with parents on a leash
Xbox
"Answer your cell phone when I call"
Fat camp
Wearing floaties in the shallow end
Carpal tunnel
What's a trampoline?

I don't know about all of you guys, but I would not trade the times I had growing up for all the Xboxes in the world.

"A GREAT WEEKEND"

Kathy & I went to Rural Hall, NC this past weekend to visit my cousin Juanita and her husband Azariah, and on a scale from 1 to 10 we had a number 11 good time. Azariah & I had a 9:38 tee time at Pilot Knob Park Country Club Saturday morning, and needless to say the weather was questionable due to Hanna making an appearance in NC that morning. When we teed off it was very cloudy and looked as if it would start raining at anytime, but by the end of the second hole the sun had broken through and we had a beautiful day to play. Pilot Knob Park County Club is a beautiful golf course with views of Pilot Mountain from several of the holes. It had been over a year since I had played golf and my game has not changed - it is still not good. However, I did make a birdie on a par 4 by chipping in from approximately 60 yards off the green - now that was exciting!!!. Azariah "Nicklaus" is 81 years young and still plays golf several times a week, and he walks the course when he plays. In the following video he demonstrates how you are suppose to swing the club in order to obtain maximum distance out of the little white ball!

Later that day we got to tour the Reynolda House which was built by Richard J. Reynolds (founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.) and his wife Katharine in 1917. This house is awesome! We also drove through the grounds of the Graylyn Conference Center which is owned by Wake Forest University, but was built and completed in 1932 by Bowman Gray Sr (Chairman of the BOD of R J Reynolds). The house at the Graylyn has 46,000 sq.ft. with 60 rooms. Tobacco money sure did build a couple of fine houses which are pictured below.

Saturday night Azariah & Juanita fed us a great steak dinner and we got to visit with my other cousin Dot and her husband Hassell along with with Azariah & Juanita's son Mike, wife Linda and their daughter Ashley.

Sunday morning we went with Azariah & Juanita to their church which is of the Moravian Faith. In trying to come up with adequate words to describe their church the following words seem to best fit the experience: Bright, Light, Friendly and Spiritually fulfilling. After Church Hassell & Dot took us all out to eat then we headed back to Lexington and reality. The memories of this trip will be etched in our minds as one of the best weekend trips we have ever had.

$$ - Highlands, NC - $$

Kathy and I decided that a little R&R was in order so this past weekend we headed to the mountains for a long weekend. This was one of our mini-vacations, but turned out to be a maxi-vacation dollar wise. We had never been to Highlands, NC before so we thought it would be a good place to spend Labor Day weekend. We made reservations at Mountain High Lodge which had the pricing of a 5 star resort hotel, but it turned out to be a 1/2 star rundown motel type accommodations. Saturday night we ate at Nick's Fine Foods and I must say that the meal was very good, and I also must say that I am not sure that I had ever paid that much for two people to eat. Highlands has lots of little shops, but they are apparently not for people who are accustomed to shopping at WalMart. We did see one painting in an art gallery that I started to purchase, but the cash I had in my wallet was just shy of the $12,500.00 they were asking for it.

We really did see some beautiful scenery such as Whitewater Falls pictured above. These falls are 411 ft high and are the highest falls in Eastern America. Of course the mountains were spectacular as usual. Below is a short video of Cullasaja Falls - turn up your speakers and pretend you are there - it will be free for you!

We were really excited about Monday morning as our plans were to go to Hendersonville, NC to the annual Apple festival which is always lots of fun. The closer we got to Hendersonville the harder it rained so we stopped at a roadside stand bought some apples and came on back home.We did have a good time -- good times are always present when Kathy and I are together.

Real Age Test

Yesterday I found a link on WISTV web site where you could take a test and it would tell you how old you really are. Most people know how old they are in calendar years, but don't have a clue how old they are in "REAL BIOLOGICAL YEARS". This test will tell you if you are biologically younger, older or the same as your calendar years.

Since tomorrow is my 64th birthday (8-30-08) I decided to take the test and see just how young and youthful I really am. Well, the test results did not turn out the way I thought they would. In fact the results of the test made me feel older than the man pictured in this blog or as the old saying goes "Older than Dirt". The stupid test told me that I was really 68 1/2 years old - can you believe how flawed some test are!!!!!

If you have the nerve to take this test click on the title to this post above and it will take you to the site where you can get insulted. You might save sometime by just looking in a mirror!

Have a youthful day!

WHAT IS GRITS?

I received an email this morning explaining a lot about grits, and I would like to share part of it with you. You can't acquire knowledge like this just anywhere!

Nobody knows. Some folks believe grits are grown on bushes and are harvested by midgets by shaking the bushes after spreading sheets around them. Many people feel that grits are made from ground up bits of white corn. These are obviously lies spread by Communists and terrorists. Nothing as good as grits can be made from corn.

The most recent research suggest that the mysterious Manna that God rained down upon the Israelites during their time in the Sinai Desert was most likely Grits. Critics disagree, stating that there is no record of biscuits, butter, salt, and red eye gravy raining down from the sky, and that God would no punish his people by forcing them to eat Grits without these key ingredients.

How Grits are Formed:

Grits are formed deep underground under intense heat and pressure. It takes over 1000 years to form a single grit. Most of the world's grit mines are in the state of South Carolina, and are guarded day and night by armed guards and pit bull dogs. Harvesting the Grit is a dangerous occupation, and many Grit miners lose their lives each year so that Grits can continue to be served morning after morning for breakfast (not that having Grits for lunch and dinner is out of the question).

Yankees have attempted to create a synthetic Grits. They call them Cream of Wheat. As far as we can tell the key ingredients of Cream of Wheat are Elmer's Glue and shredded Styrofoam. These synthetic grits have also been shown to cause nausea, and may leave you unable to have children.

Historical Grits:

As we mentioned earlier, the first known mention of the Grits was by the Ancient Israelites in the Sinai Desert. After that, the Grits was not heard from for another 1000 years. Experts feel that the Grits was used during this time only durning secret religious ceremonies, and was kept from the public due to it's rarity.

The next mention of the Grits was found amidst the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii in a woman's personal diary. The woman's name was Herculaneum Jemimaneus (Aunt Jemima to her friends.)

Now you know more than you did know about grits, and probably some things that you might question the validity of. Oh ye of little faith!

Hummingbirds

I think hummingbirds are one of the most fascinating birds that God created and they certainly put on a show. I really don't know how many hummers we have eating at our feeder this year, but there must be twenty or thirty of them. Our feeder is located right outside of our kitchen bay window where our table is located, and when we sit down to eat we refer to it as our private dinner theater. This time of year they empty the feeder in less than two days and you can't look out the window without seeing one are more of them taking on some sugar water -- they sure are hungry little things. The short video below will give you some idea of what I am talking about. There is Olympic music playing in the background during some of the video (as the Olympics had just come on TV). If you could only enter the hummers in the Olympics -- they would even take home more gold than Michael Phelps.

All the GRANDS' at One Time

We were blessed this past Friday with all our Children and their families being at our house all in one day :). I was able to let all the grandsons fish and each one of them caught a fish -- however, they don't touch crickets or take the fish off the hook. I always thought that was part of fishing!

We had a great supper that night with grilled pork chops; potato, pea, & pasta salad. In other words we had pork chops with bunches of different type of salads. Kathy baked a wonderful lemon pound cake that would make your tongue slap your lips silly trying to get another bite.

With eight adults and six grandchildren in the house that night I would guess that OSHA would have fined us because the decibel level reached limits that would break most meters.

Saturday Kathy and I along with two of our little familes traveled to Canton, NC for a family reunion which was a great fellowship with family and more food than you could imagine. We brought Kathy's mother back home with us for a weeks visit - and of course to clean the house some while she is visiting.

I guess I had better stop now before I get in trouble.

"LOCKDOWN"

Working for the Department of Corrections is certainly going to be a real learning experience. On Monday June 30th there was an escape at the facility where the Frame Shop is located. I received a call at approximately 2:50pm that day informing me that the entire facility was on "lockdown" and there would be no movement by any of the inmates. Now that does not sound like a serious situation, but since I get off at 3:00pm that is a very serious situation because I can't go home until the inmates return back to the main facility. After making a few phone calls I was allowed to walk the inmates, that work for me, back to the main gate at approximately 3:30pm at which time I was allowed to leave for the day.
The next day I was not allowed to get any of the inmates because the facility was still on "lockdown". However, everything returned to normal on Wednesday July 2nd.
After contemplating on this entire situation I have to admit that I don't really understand why you have a "lockdown" when someone escapes. Is that not like shutting the barn door after all the animals have gotten out?

NAME CHANGE

I know it has been sometime since I have posted anything new to my blog, but starting a new job on May 19th has limited my goof-off time.

During my 45 year career in the Heavy Construction Equipment business I was like Rodney Dangerfield never getting any respect, but now that I am employed by the South Carolina
Department of Corrections I am getting the respect a gray haired old man deserves -- my name is now MR. WELLS.

I have not been employed a month yet, but I am learning how people on the other side of the fence live and I must say it is not a pretty sight. Folks I have seen the food they eat, some of the NON-Air conditioned facilities that they live in, how they are treated, and I for one never want to be a resident of a penal system.

There were two inmates that came an spoke to us during the week long orientation (or as I like to refer to it "Hell Week") that I just attended. One of the inmates said that the only difference between them an us was they had made some bad decisions and got caught when we had made our bad decisions we did not get caught. I think there is a lot of truth in that statement.

I am sure that I will have some stories to tell about my new employment adventure.

BACK IN THE WORK FORCE

Since I will be going back to work Monday morning I thought the following cartoon was in order:

It sure was fun while it Lasted!!

The Best Show on TV

We will have a new American Idol next week. Will it be David or David?

David Archuleta, David Cook & Syesha Mercado are a talented threesome, but unfortunately one of them had to go home last night and it was Syesha. Syesha really stepped up to the plate for the last three weeks and sang her heart out, but it was destined to come down to a duel between the two Davids. However, Syesha does not have to worry about her future - she has the looks and voice to become a recording star or a movie star.

My prediction is that David Archuleta will be the next American Idol, because he has all of the little teen girls in his corner and they will wear their fingers out sending text votes in for him. I think that David Cook is the most talented of the two, but I don't think he has the following that Archuleta has.

Tune in next week to see if this is fiction or fact.

POLITICAL NONSENSE

Just think the presidential election is not until November, and all of us are worn out listening to all of the campaign jargon. McCain has won the republican nomination, but Hillary and Obama are still slugging it out for the democratic nomination. Each candidate has spent millions of dollars trying to become our next president so they can make $400K annually. There is just something that don't add up with those numbers!

Well, I have a solution to eliminate all of this campaign mess, and that is to elect our president by the same method that the American Idol is selected. You could even have Randy, Paula and Simon judging, because they are there for entertainment only --- Wow! I would enjoy hearing what Simon had to tell some of the contestants (candidates). Anyway, there would be 12 finalist and each week the candidates would have five minutes to speak, sing or dance -- ever what they thought would get them the votes they needed to stay on the show. In less than three months we would have our next president selected and also would have been entertained (maybe).

As I see it there are a number of advantages to using the American Idol method.
1. We would not have to drive to the polls.
2. Sponsors would pay for the entire process.
3. We would not have to listen to the candidates for 2 years on the campaign trail.
4. We could call or text in our votes.
5. There would be no conventions taking up good TV time.
6. There would be no need for delegates or super delegates.
7. There would not be an electoral process.
8. The president would be elected entirely by popular vote.
9. We would save 1,000 of trees that are used to make the paper used for campaign posters.
10. Finally we would end up with just as good a president as doing it the old fashion way.

Out of all the Amerian Idols there has only been one bad one (Taylor Hicks) -- I don't think our percentages are that good with presidents, so maybe it is the method in which they are elected that needs to be changed.

LOOK FOR THIS TO TAKE PLACE IN FOUR YEARS!!!!!!

Keep Working or Retire? THAT IS THE QUESTION

This is for the men who might be thinking about retiring. You never know what your wife might have in store for you. KNOW THE FACTS BEFORE MAKING A DECISION!!

CENTIPEDE GRASS -- The Devils Gift to Man

For the first 40 years of my life I lived in Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC, and I must say that I always had a good looking yard. The secret to having a nice looking lawn in those two areas was having fescue grass, fertilizing it and keeping it mowed and that it.

We moved to Lexington, SC late in 1984 and purchased a new house that had not been landscaped in anyway. When spring of 1985 arrives we are told by neighbors that it is a must to have centipede grass due to the heat and soil conditions in the Lexington area. To make a long story short we put in centipede grass and have been struggling with it ever since. First of all we found out that there was not a sufficient amount of rainfall to keep the grass green and living during the hot humid summers that we experience here in Lexington. So it was drag the garden hose and water the grass --- drag the hose and water some more. After a couple of years of this we installed a sprinkle system and now we are all set to have one of the best looking yards in the subdivision. However, there were a few things that we were yet to learn about centipede grass as there are a couple of things that will make you wish you had never seen a lawn of centipede grass, such as: brown patch, dollar spot, large patch, fairy rings, nematodes, ground pearls, moles, voles, gophers, chinch bugs, fungi, grubs, chlorosis, yellowing, iron deficiencies, excessive nitrogen, not enough nitrogen, high soil pH, low soil pH, excessive thatch & etc. Or course we have had all of these at one time or another.

The good news is that information is available on how to take care of centipede grass. You can find it all over the internet, ask a neighbor, or check with one of your local lawn maintenance companies such as Trugreen, Lawn Doctor or Lawn-O-Green. The following is some of the advice we have received concerning this subject: bag your clippings, don't bag your clippings, water often, don't water until you see it dying, cut it short, cut it long, don't use lime, put lime on twice a year, use a general fertilizer with a 3-1-2 nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium such as 12-4-8, use only 16-4-8 fertilizer. The list goes on, but I am getting tired just thinking about it.

The biggest problem that I have encountered is not with the centipede grass, but getting it mowed when it needed to be mowed.

A Relationship with God

This morning I was reading an article in the April 2008 issue of Homelife magazine. The article was by Tullian Tchividjian (Grandson of Billy Graham) telling about his life. At the age of 16 Tullian dropped out of high school and his lifestyle became so radically disruptive that his parents had to kick him out of the house. He was escorted off his parents property by the police. With his newfound freedom he begin chasing worldly pleasure harder than most others of his age. He was living his life on edge, trying desperately to find himself through promiscuity, drugs, and alcohol, but the harder he pursued these things, the more lost he felt. One night, at the age of 21, he returned to his apartment after a night out, feeling emptier that he had ever felt. That night Tullian fell to his knees telling God that he simply could not do it anymore on his own and that he desperately needed God to rescue him. Tullian said that his life did not change overnight, but slowly and surely he begin to change from the inside out. He no longer wanted to be with the same people in the same places doing the same things, but he wanted to be with Christians; wanting to pray; wanting to read his Bible; and wanting to resist temptation. In this article Tullian said that "The problem between knowing about God and knowing God is a massive as the Grand Canyon. And that distance, that separateness, is something that must be resolved."
When I read Tullian's story I could not help but think how similar our stories were. We both were raised in Christian homes, we both knew about God, but we did not know God or have a relationship with Him. Thank God for His Amazing Grace!

Cooper River Bridge Walk or Not?

Kathy & I have been going to Charleston for the last several years particapating in the Cooper River Bridge Walk. This year we went with our good friends Bob, Jane, Hennie & Bonnie, and stayed at a Villa on Wild Dunes. We had some good seafood, played cards until we saw spots in front of our eyes, and needless to say had a wonderful time.

Saturday afternoon after the big event we were sitting around playing cards again and Hennie made the comment that he was not near as tired as he expected to be. Like Forest Gump that is all that I have got to say about that.

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God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

Trip to Bowling Green

Kathy and I left last Wednesday evening headed for Bowling Green, Ky to visit Hope and her Family. We did not get very far before our stomach's begin to whine that they were hungry, so we stopped in Newberry and ate at the Cabanna Cafe. If you are a fan of Shrimp and Grits that is a must make trip so you can stuff yourself with the best shrimp and grits in the state of SC. We spent the night with Louise Garren (Kathy's mom) in Hendersonville, NC that night. The next morning we ate at the Cracker Barrell in Hendersonville with Kathy's mother, brother (Robert) and sister (Carole). It was nice getting to spend some time with them!

After breakfast we were on the road again getting as far as Tanger Mall in Sevierville, Tn before having to stop again. Wow we saved so much money at that place it almost broke us. We finally got to Bowling Green about 5:00pm (central time) just in time to watch our grandson (Jacob) play in a soccer game which they won 3 to 2. While we were visiting I came up with a new name for our 3-year old grandson Mason --- He reminds me of Calvin in the Calvin & Hobbs comic strip. He is cute as a button and he is going 90 mph all the time.

If you are not famailar with Bowling Green that is where Western Kentucky University is located and there was a tremendous amount of excitement in the air due to their basketball team playing UCLA in the NCAA tournament that night at 9:00pm (That would be 10:00 EST). That is already one hour past our usual bedtime, but we did manage to stay up and watch the game until sometime in the second half -- if I had of known that Bowling Green was going to make a come back I would have watched to rest of it (I would have loved to see them beat UCLA). I now understand that USC is talking to Western's coach about coming to SC --- that would probably be a good move on USCs part if they can get him.

We left Ky Sunday morning and stopped to visit Bernis & Louise (brother-in-law and sister) in Jacksboro, Tn. We also got to see our niece Kathy, her husband Richard and our great niece Crystal. Crystal is a beautiful young woman! Bad knees must run in the Wells' family as Louise was having total knee replacement this morning.

We had a wonderful trip! Now we have got to start getting ready to go to Charleston this Thursday for our annual "Cooper River Bridge Run" trip. We can't wait.

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The will of God never takes you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.

Frequent Forgiveness Miles

If there was such a thing as 'frequent forgiveness miles' I would be able to go on a long, long, long trip. I for one thank Jesus everyday for his love and grace that saved a sinner like me, and he continues to forgive me for my sins daily.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. Ephesians 1:7

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Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever!

Purse or Suitcase -- You be the Judge

As I was having my coffee this morning I noticed the size of Kathy's purse that just happened to be sitting on the kitchen counter. I took the following picture of said purse with a 12oz coke can beside it so you could get an idea of it's actual size. I would guess that you could get at least a case of cokes inside this purse with space to spare. I am real curious (but dare not ask) what in the blue blazes does anyone need to carry this much stuff with them for? The only things that I ever need with me is a billfold (that contains a little cash, drivers license, debit card, and etc), knife, handkerchief, cellphone and keys.I am probably going to be in trouble for this one --- if you don't see anymore post to this site you will know I did not survive.

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God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called!

Going Away Party CAKE

My good friend Mr. Comfort sent me the following with a note attached that said, "just think these same people will be taking care of us in the nursing home"

Okay so this is how I imagine this conversation went:

Walmart Employee: Hello this Walmarts, how can I help you?

Customer: Yes, I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.

Walmart Employee: Whatchu want on the cake?

Customer: Best Wishes Suzanne. And underneath that, We will miss you.

Sad but true -- This actually happened! (they say)

FUEL PRICES

Kathy and I purchased a 2004 VW Beetle with a diesel engine on October 24, 2003. The price of a gallon of diesel at that time was $1.30 -- gas was somewhere around $1.60 per gallon. I filled up the little mellow yellow fellow this morning and as you can see (or maybe not see) on the receipt to the right the price of diesel has increased somewhat in the last 4 and 1/2 years to $3.69 per gallon (Gas this morning was $3.08). According to my math that is 184% increase in 4.5 years, which is 40% increase per year or .769% per week. At this rate of increase we can expect diesel fuel prices to hit $10.50 per gallon sometime during the year 2012.

I sure am glad that we live in a county that has a free enterprise system and there is not a greedy bone in anyone's body. Just a little FUEL for thought!!

The Power of Prayer

Rocky is our pastor at Northside Family of Faith, and his sermon yesterday morning was on prayer. I would like to share with you some of his comments and thoughts from that sermon.

The Great Commandment is our passion (Matthew 22:37-40) and The Great Commission is our purpose (Matthew 28:19-20). However, The Great Omission is often times prayer!

So why don't we spend more time in prayer? Could it be that Satan has convinced us that we are to busy and we really don't believe it will make a difference anyway? Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. What would happen in this country if all of the Christians got on their knees everyday for one hour and sincerely prayed to God our Father? Do you think there might be a few changes on the horizon for this great nation if that was the case? -------- READ ON!

During our Global Mission Celebration last weekend I had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time with a missionary from South Korea and he shared the following facts: 35% of the Korean population are Christian when only a few years ago the percentage was almost zero. South Korea has approximately 15,000 missionaries serving in countries all over the world with a large number of those being here in the good old USA. ***NOW FOR THE AMAZING PART*** Every morning at 5:00am all of the Christians go to their church and spend a minimum of one hour in prayer before they start their day. Could it be that prayer is what ignited such a revival in South Korea?

Just food for thought. I hope that everyone has a great day!!

CATS ADOPT US

We used to be a 3 dog family , but one by one they all got old and went on to dog heaven (or wherever good dogs go). We really enjoyed our dogs, but it really hurts when you loose them after having them for 15 or so years. Therefore, we made the decision that there would be no more pets in our family for that reason. What we did not count on was the fact that someone was going to send us a cat or two to keep us company. In December of 2005 a gray fur ball showed up at our house and we made the mistake of feeling sorry for him. We feed him and sent him on his way, and "his way" was to make his home with us. He adopted us and after days of a lot of deliberation and deep thought we named him KC for kitty cat. KC has been a wonderful cat -- he comes home twice a day, demands food and then goes about his business of being a roaming cat. He will honor us with his presence in the house if it happens to be bad weather outside. We have only had to bail him out of jail once for $15.00, but he got sick while visiting there and it cost us another $200.00 to get him healthy again. WOW we sure do love cats!!
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The sleeping giant pictured to the left is another story entirely! Kathy and I have been opening the gym at Northside Baptist Church every morning at 5:30am for the past several years (we just retired from that job last Friday). Anyway one morning last September this poor little cat was hanging around the church meowing like she had lost her best friend, and someone told us that she had been there for a couple of days. We could not quit thinking about her that day, because we just knew that she would get run over due to all the traffic around the church. That evening we make one of our many thoughtless decisions and went to the church to save this meowing cat thinking we could find her a good home. We could not find anyone that wanted a free cat or anyone that would even take the cat if we supplied the first year of food, so to make a long story short this cat also adopted us. Again after much deliberation and thought about what to name her we came up with the original name of CC for church cat. CC does two things better that any other cat we have ever seen "Sleep and EAT". When you mix those two together what you get is one "FAT CAT"!!!

Creating Blogspot

It is Thursday morning here in Lexington, SC and I am creating a blogspot. I really don't know what I am doing, but hopefully it will be OK for a beginner. As you can see I have added a picture of Kathy my wife, best friend and soul mate who I love with all my heart. I will write more later when I get all of this put together.