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Our Daily Thread 8-19-13

Good Morning!

On this day in 1812 the American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada earning the nickname “Old Ironsides”.

In 1909 the first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway took place.

In 1934 the first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton, Ohio.

In 1955, in the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane claims 200 lives.

And in 1991 Black groups target Hasidic Jews on the streets of Crown Heights in New York, after 2 black kids were struck by a car driven by a Hasidic man.

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Quote of the Day

“No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris.”

Orville Wright

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The flood of “55 is a legend around these parts. Diane’s devastation is well known. Many buildings in Easton still have the high water lines marked. It destroyed a major bridge connecting NJ and PA, and flooded the entire downtown. Many of the shots in this video were shot locally, with the bridge shots starting around the 3:40 mark.

It’s Gary Chapman’s birthday. So here he is with M.W. Smith.

And it’s Ian Gillan’s as well.

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Anyone have a QoD for us?

46 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 8-19-13”

  5. Ah, but maybe this person on trial needs someone with Kim’s heart to hear their case?

    But what do I know? I’ve never made it past the letter in the mail– and only gotten letters twice. (But the first time was when they were picking jurors for the OJ Simpson trial . . . Scary!)

    My Stargazer, OTOH, served twice before he turned 21!

    Bad night for sleeping in CA. The sun still has several hours before it will rise!

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  7. It’s OK Michelle, I have been up since 3 am. Finally gave up at 4:30 and made coffee.
    The county seat is a good hour to hour and half away. The roads are wet and it is the first day of school. I am off soon. On the bright side Bay Minette downtown and just north of town looks like any Small Town, USA and there used to be a drug store with a soda fountain just over from the Courthouse Square. I seem to remember they had good chicken salad. I know these things because the best photographer in the area was just down from the drug store and BG’s baby picures are outstanding. Perhaps later today I will post some on FB for you to see.
    I also have a Vestry meeting tonight.
    See? I really don’t have time for that j-o-b thingy.

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  8. That is so early for a California girl, Michelle. Hope you get a nap later. Monday is almost over here, glad you could all join me for a while. I was on a jury once. I think the one thing that I did was get others to agree that we needed a night to think upon our verdict and not be too hasty.

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  9. 🙂
    Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?
    Customer: Netscape.
    Tech support: That’s not an anti-virus program.
    Customer: Oh, sorry… Internet Explorer..

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  10. Good morning, all. I’ve never been picked for a jury. Of course, the last fourteen years I’ve been excused b/c I’ve been the primary caretaker of small children. I have no desire to serve on a jury — I’m not good at making decisions (this is embarrassing to admit, but not too long ago, I took so long to make a decision about a comforter for my bedroom that by the time I decided I definitely wanted a certain pattern, it was discontinued! 🙂 ). I agonize over most decisions–especially the big ones–and think it would weigh heavily on me if I had to decide guilt or innocence in a criminal case. I’ve only gotten the letter a handful of times in the last twenty years — much less frequently than my husband. And, yes, I’m registered to vote.

    I mentioned this on the prayer thread a couple of days ago, but Hubby was chosen for jury duty last Wednesday. It is a civil case that seems frivolous. It is supposed to last through the end of this week. Which means, for the duration of the trial, Hubby will be going to office in the evenings after jury duty b/c he can’t be away from projects for eight days. He’s been getting home late, around 9 or 10, and he has to report at eight in the morning to the downtown courthouse. This means he has to leave our house at 6:50. We live about 30 minutes from downtown without traffic, but traffic at that time of day is brutal. Usually, he doesn’t fight much traffic b/c he’s in outside sales and goes to the office at off-peak times. He was in quite a mood last night and I think it was b/c he was dreading today.

    The trial consists of two lawyers who are suing each other for naming rights of a group of lawyers who ride Harley Davidson’s. Evidently, both men want to use the same name for two separate groups of riders. Having this issue come to trial seems ludicrous to both myself and my husband. That it will take eight days seems preposterous! It seems more appropriate as a fight b/t sixth grade girls than a group of highly educated, adult men. Anyway…even though this isn’t the prayer thread, I’m requesting prayers for patience for Hubby. He’ll really need them!

    This thread took me so long to compose, as there were many interruptions from two adorable eight year old’s (mine and a sweet girl from down the street who was in her kindergarten class who spent the night last night and is spending the day with us), that I’m sure many more comments have posted. Oh well. I’ll just respond to those later….

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  11. Kim: Hope you don’t get picked! Sorry you slept so poorly last night. I had about the same experience, but don’t have much going on today, other than taking care of the kiddos, so I’ve got it a lot easier than you. As a matter of fact, I’m still in my pajamas drinking coffee! I have made breakfast tacos and am currently supervising the girls as they cook “soup” on the stove. Becca loves to use all my spices to create strange smelling concoctions. Sometimes, they make the kitchen smell really nice. Today she is using lots of cinnamon and cloves, which I love, so it should smell wonderful in here shortly. The girls are biding their time, letting their breakfast settle, before they swim. Both girls are strong swimmers, which makes my job much less stressful.

    I know Kim’s comment about not having time for a job was tongue-in-cheek, but I honestly feel that way! I don’t know how working moms do it. I can’t imagine working outside the home 40+ hours a week and taking care of the house and one’s family. It would be utterly exhausting. Eventually, when the girls are older, I think I’d enjoy going back to work part-time. But, since Becca’s only eight, that’s a long time from now…

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  12. I slept especially well last night — I have to get an early start today, too, though, so I’ve been much more efficient than usual this morning, getting the animals all fed right after my shower, then getting my lunch packed (I’d save time if I could get into the habit of chopping up the veggies the night before, but I procrastinate) — and I even made a cup of coffee.

    I have trouble making decisions, too, a character trait that is very frustrating.

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  14. Continuing the drivers ed discussion from the weekend: when I got my license, 1987 in Arizona, I don’t know if it was because I was an “adult” driver and not a teen, or what, but all that was required was that I have someone with a license teach me and that I take a driving test. My sister was 19 and newly licensed enough that she didn’t feel comfortable teaching me, but she knew what the law was and suggested I get a neighbor to teach me, since Mom had some horrible driving habits (such as driving with two feet and stopping to wait for an opening when she wanted to get onto the expressway). Actually, my sister was only 18 when she got her license, and she had one of our older brothers teach her, so apparently the law was true for teenagers as well.

    Mom was driving an Olds 98, so the excuse I used in order to not hurt her feelings was that the neighbor across the street drove a tiny car that would be better to “learn” on. Mom probably wasn’t eager to do the teaching anyway, so she happily accepted my excuse; no hard feelings, and I learned to drive. After a few weeks or months of driving, my sister told me I was probably ready to take my test, but “Even though the test doesn’t require freeway driving, no one should get a license until they can do any kind of driving.” So she took me out on the freeway, I did OK, and I went and got my license.

    And ever since then, I’ve turned in the license from the previous state and taken only the written test.

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  15. Kim, jury duty is an interesting experience (or can be) as well as a civic duty, and I can’t think of a better time to do it than when you’re between jobs.

    I’ve only served on a jury once, and that was as an alternate (so I was dismissed before they began the debate on the case), but it was a first-degree murder case (three days of trial) and a chance of a lifetime to be on the case. My husband was on one case, too, a case with some interesting similarities to mine.

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  16. Michelle, thanks for posting that comment about the trial needing Kim. If all the ‘smart’ people get out of jury duty, what does that say about our juries? Kind of scary if you ask me. I look on it as a solemn duty – of course, I’m not allowed to serve as I’m married to an enforcement officer. (I still wouldn’t want to be stuck in court for days on end, especially for something as frivolous as Ann’s story)

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  18. What is happen to our nation is as the Christian Church is force out it, there is a void of moral and theology views and values in society, which has been happen since the 1960’s. Since we have this void in society, man has decided to fill this moral and theology views and values in society, with its understand of the world to counter the Christian’s understanding of the world. Over the next few weeks we are going look into this conflict between the Christian’s Understanding of the World and Society’s understanding of the world. If you would like to follow this debate please check out this link
    http://pueblocommunityforums.com/showthread.php?5500-Back-to-the-begin&p=51132#post51132..

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  20. Re – Yesterday’s discussion on extracurricular activities: Karen has some good advice. When I started school, my parents were able to afford just swimming and piano lessons for us. However, that all changed when my father had an accident and we were reduced to one vehicle. We had to drop the swimming and walk a couple of kilometres to our piano teacher. It was probably the best thing that happened to me. We lived out in the country, so we had lots of opportunities to hike and skate on our own and we taught ourselves to sew, and I was able to concentrate on my music. Later, when I started violin lessons, the Lord provided two vehicles again.

    It would theoretically have been nice to play and sing and dance and paint and play sports, but it was better that I was good in just one or two things. Even here, where musical traditions are completely different, I am able to use my musical skills. The only period where I wished I had done everything was in my early teens, when we met another homeschooling family whose kids did do everything. They received a lot of attention for their abilities, and I confess I felt jealous sometimes. But I know now that all was not well in the family and I don’t envy them the cost of their success. And, just because I didn’t take something in my childhood doesn’t mean I won’t ever learn it. I took a couple of semesters of drawing and drafting in night college courses and enjoyed them thoroughly.

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  22. Hubby gets $28.00/day as a juror. It costs $15.00 to park. I suppose the extra $13. he can use for lunch. He said they have a nice judge. The man has brought in breakfast items for them each day, ranging from doughnuts to breakfast tacos. It’s very thoughtful of him.

    I realize I could cut down on the frenetic pace by reducing extracurricular activities, but I’m the one pressing the piano, Becca strongly desires to do drama and the art class is held immediately after school at school, so that just means I pick her up one hour later than normal (no extra driving involved). Believe it or not, I did tell her no to any more activities (she also wants to take dance, karate, and voice lessons, as well as be in girl scouts!). The big thing that will impact our schedule is the two hours of riding daily that older daughter will be doing. She doesn’t get out of school ’til 4, then does homework, then rides from 6:30-8:30. I have to be with her at the stables while she’s mounted, but don’t have to be there for her to tack/untack the horse. I also don’t have to be there when her trainer is with her on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, which will enable me to take Becca to drama on Tuesdays. Unfortunately, it means many evenings Hubby will miss dinner as a family as he doesn’t get home until 6:30 or 7:00 and they need to eat before riding. During the summer we were able to do all the extra activities during the day, so we were still able to spend the evenings together as a family. Even though things will be busy, I’m so happy for my eldest that she is finally getting to lease a horse. It has been her dream for many years and I feel so blessed that we were able to make it a reality.

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  23. Regarding driver’s ed: I got my license on my sixteenth birthday after enduring months of painfully boring classes. I’m sure the information imparted during those classes could have been condensed into one 8 hour class, but they drug it out to fulfill the requirements of the nanny state. I grew up in a very small town and my parents had let me start driving at 14, so I was an old pro by the time I took my test. I made a 98 on the test.

    Fast forward thirty years: I let my license expire about five years ago and then didn’t do anything about it for over a year (I know, this is the ultimate in procrastination, but I was having a lot of medical problems at the time). When you do this in Texas, they make you retake both the written and driving parts of the test in order to get a valid license. I passed the written exam with flying colors, but only made a 78 on the driving part! Evidently, I’ve developed quite a few bad driving habits over the years!!!

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  27. We don’t start school until the Wednesday after Labor Day. It makes no sense to me to go for 2 and a half days and then take a day off already. And we’ll still finish before the public schools that start this week. Why did the start of school change from after Labor Day to before? Anybody know?

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  28. In Virginia they couldn’t start school until after Labor Day. The reasoning was that so many HS students worked at the themp parks, beach, lake retreats, etc., that it took them from jobs. It hurt the economy and the kids. OTOH, if they had snow days, they had to go to school longer in the spring, so they were late getting started.
    I don’t know what it is now..

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  30. It would have been an interesting case but being a real estate agent kept me from being on the case. It has to do with a property losing value and is it an “act of God” or the city’s fault? I would have really liked to have heard both sides of it.
    I have to call after 5pm today to see if I have to go back tomorrow.
    I did meet a nice young lady who recently got out of the Army. She has a 5 month old. Her husband went in the National Guard. She starts college tomorrow.

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  31. It’s still Monday….had coffee with dear friend and came home fighting allergies….it’s always this time of year we are praying for a hard frost to squelch the pollens of those nasty, yet beautiful, sunflowers growing alongside the roadways and in all the fields around here! Eyes swollen, sneezing….and taking antihistamines just make me go to sleep….so I don’t know if the medication actually works because I’m asleep!! Trying to stay inside with the air conditioner running….come on Autumn….with frost on the pumpkin!!

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  32. Nancy Jill, they do make non-drowsy antihistamines. They do cost more, but they make them.

    When I was a child, sometimes we started before Labor Day and sometimes after. I think the partial school week is because five days straight is daunting after summer break; two or three days of school and then a weekend is a gentler start to the year, for teachers and children alike. There really seems to be a huge range as to when anyone starts these days, though!

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  33. School started for teachers. I got a refurbished computer in my classroom and spent the day waiting for the IT lady to come set up MS Office so I could read email. I tried the online but I guess I typed the password in wrong.

    As for the start date, our school starts so early so the high school can have semester final exams before the Christmas (oh, excuse me,) the Winter break. That’s in Illinois. Some Missouri schools started last week! Several years ago, Missouri passed a law saying urban schools had to start after Labor Day for the same reason Chas mentioned: amusement parks needed the workers. But rural schools can start earlier because of snow days and spring planting season.

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  35. Nancyjill: Don’t know if it will work for you, but I take Actifed when I have allergy problems and it doesn’t make me tired at all. I’ve tried many allergy medications (both prescription and over the counter) and think it works the best of all of them. I actually buy the generic at Walgreens, called Wal-fed, as it’s cheaper and has the same active ingredients. You have to get it from behind the pharmacy counter as it has pseudoephedrine in it and they try to keep that away from the meth-heads. Anyway, just thought it might relieve your suffering!

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  36. Thanks so much Ann! I have tried Allegra, Claritin, and Zyrtec….all supposed to be non drowsy formula….Zyrtec will knock me out for hours….Claritin and Allegra make me a bit woozy and light headed…..my Doc suggested an intolerance of some medications due to my light skin, freckles and red hair….I have had adverse reactions to medications when others seem not to….
    I will try the Actifed….thanks again! Here’s to no sneezing and watery eyes!

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  37. Well, I am really beat tonight, but it’s been a good day. There’s so much I want to say, but I’m very slow getting my thoughts down, and right now my head is swimming with so many details of the day! I’ll just say, Praise God for so many blessings this day. 🙂 Each of my children who are school-age (the four youngest arrows) exhibited a teachable heart today, and I did not tire out and abandon my plan for the day. Both of those things were an answer to prayer.

    Sixth Arrow was so ambitious, she wanted to do more than what I’d planned for today, so we did more — in fact, everything I’d planned for tomorrow for her, also! Then she wanted to team teach with me as I worked with 5th Arrow on his lessons. 😉 Sometimes her “help” consists of blurting out answers before he does, though, so she got a little lesson in exhibiting self-control, which she quickly learned and applied.

    All in all, a day that went very very well, considering it was the first day in a long time where I’ve got four school-aged kids again, with diverse ages and unique needs.

    God be praised for His tender mercies, and the grace and peace He provides every day.

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  38. 6 Arrows – I’m glad you had a good school day. 6th Arrow sounds like a little sweetie, with maybe with a streak of strong-will? (I’m just guessing from what you wrote.)

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  39. Peter L, I don’t think so but there is a large fire not far from here, we see the smoke billowing and have for the past couple of days. I think it is one across the river. We are several hours from the one by Willis’s house. We don’t exactly live in the same neighborhood, though some of his ilk have been known to go hunting on the place just below us.

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  40. Ann, there are a lot of ways I’d like to encourage you with homeschooling, as it sounds like you’d like to, but you have fears and doubts about your ability to handle the responsibilities of homeschooling. I think a lot of homeschool parents wondered that, as well, before they began. When God calls someone to anything, He equips the person for that task.

    Regarding your husband not wanting to homeschool, I just want to encourage you that we were in that same boat for a while. When 1st Arrow was around 3 or 4 years old, we talked about educational options for him, whether public school, church school, or home school. My husband’s preferences were in that order (home school his least favorite option), and my preferences were in the opposite order. So when the time came, we compromised and put 1st Arrow in our church’s school, which was ranked second on both of our lists.

    After 1st Arrow finished 2nd Grade, my husband changed jobs, and started working 2nd shift. Because he wouldn’t get to see our school-age kids very much, working those hours (home when the kids would be at school, and at work when the kids would be home), the choice to homeschool became very clear.

    He still had a few hesitations about homeschooling, but it didn’t deter him from deciding to homeschool, despite not knowing how it would go. The interesting thing is that, over the years as we’ve continued to teach our kids at home, he has become a big homeschooling defender around coworkers and others who may be skeptical about it, like he once was. He has seen the benefits firsthand that can come with a homeschooling lifestyle.

    My advice to you, Ann, (sorry, I know you didn’t ask for advice, but here I am offering it anway 😉 ) is to take a prayerful approach, asking the Lord for wisdom and a release from doubt and uncertainty about how you might handle homeschooling. We really don’t know ahead of time how anything unfamiliar to us might play out (or even, for that matter, how anything in the future, even familiar things, will unfold). That isn’t a reason to decide not to do a thing. Remember that God gives us His grace every day. And pray for your husband, too, that his eyes would be open to the blessing that homeschooling can be, how it can strengthen the bonds between family members as they have increased opportunity to be together.

    There’s lots more I could say on the topic, but I don’t want to weary you with long-windedness. 😉 (Don’t know if that’s a word, but hey, there it is, anyway!)

    Blessings.

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  41. Ann, my comment just above was in response to your comment to Karen O on August 18 @ 21:41:16 on the weekend thread. I should have prefaced that remark with this information. (A million things on my mind, it seems!)

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  42. Karen, yes, 6th Arrow is just as you suspect, a little sweetie with a streak of strong will. 😉 Her first name starts with an S, and my husband used to call her Sweet and Sour S______! 🙂

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  45. 6 arrows: I realized you were referencing the earlier thread. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. They made me cry. I do doubt my ability to homeschool effectively. I also struggle with not wanting to lose my alone time. It would be a major adjustment. Becca is a great kid, but she’s super energetic and needs a lot of direction. But, I have experienced a longing to do it and Becca has expressed a desire to do it. She doesn’t really like school and has a lot of anxiety about it starting next week. She’s done well, but they don’t do very much in first grade in Spring, TX! So, it’s not much of an indicator of her academic prowess. I can tell she’s bright (I know everyone thinks his/her kid is bright–but she is quick-witted, reads well and understands things readily), but I don’t think she’s been challenged very much yet. We’ll see how second grade goes, I suppose. I will take your much appreciated advice and pray about it. Both for my heart to be open and for Scott’s heart to soften towards it, if it would be in our family’s best interest. My sister has successfully home-schooled four children ranging in age from thirteen to nineteen. The nineteen yr. old took a gap year with them in Africa and will be attending Wheaton in the fall; her seventeen year old is a senior at a missionary boarding school in Kenya, where he went for the first time last year. He made a perfect score on the verbal section of the SAT as well as a high score on the math. The college counselor at the school in Kenya is encouraging him to apply to some pretty prestigious universities. Her fourteen year old will be a freshman at the boarding school this year, her first year out of homeschool. Her youngest, 13, will remain with them in Rwanda for eighth grade homeschool. She’s done a fabulous job with all of them educationally, so I know it can be done. Thanks again for taking the time to “speak” with me about my concerns. It’s nice to hear the opinions of other believers.

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  46. Thanks so much for your feedback, Ann. I’m glad it encouraged you. I never know if I’m coming across as too inflexible or dogmatic when I write about things for which I have a passion!

    This that you wrote: “I also struggle with not wanting to lose my alone time.” I really need alone time, too, and I make it a point to get it. It saves my sanity, and helps me be a more patient mom. I think we introverts thrive on that, and get recharged from not having to spend all our waking minutes with someone (or several someones).

    I think you would discover that you wouldn’t have to give up your alone time if you homeschool (although there would most likely be less of it). Homeschooling really does not take as much time as it does in the schools, as there is a lot of time-wasting going on in a classroom, for reasons I’m sure you know. Plus, I think homeschooled children overall become better able to manage their time and work independently than a lot of traditionally-schooled children are, who are accustomed to being dependent on teachers to impart information, give direction, etc. Homeschooled children become self-directed learners earlier, in general, and parents sort of work themselves out of a job, passing that baton of responsibility for the children’s learning to the children themselves eventually. This learning to take initiative is good for a child, and it’s fostered more effectively, IMO, in a homeschool environment than elsewhere. Plus, it frees up the parent somewhat to focus attention on other areas, or to simply get some quiet time to rejuvenate. 😉

    I’ll be praying for you and your husband, too, Ann. God really can move mountains. I didn’t foresee homeschooling in my future when my husband first expressed hesitations about it, but here we are, 15 years later, with two homeschool graduates who are doing well as adults, and four more in the trenches. If I can help you with anything re: homeschooling, don’t be afraid to ask! 🙂

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