69 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 8-24-15”

  1. Good Morning Everyone. I have been reminded why I don’t make comments on other sites. Last night on FB—do you notice a pattern here? They all start with “on Facebook”. There was posted a photo of a naked woman who had recently had a c-section and the baby was lying on her legs. Its face was covering most of her woo hoo. I made the comment that while I wouldn’t want a photo of me floating around out there and I thought is was a little gross where the baby’s face was that it really didn’t matter what any of us thought. If the mother wanted the photo fine, but I wouldn’t have posted it on Facebook. The important thing was that both the mother and child were safe, healthy, and alive. Without a c section one or both could have died.
    The response? I am intolerant and I don’t know what women who have c sections go through. Right now there are 11 replies to my comment and if they could they would take me to a public square and hang me for my ignorance and intolerance. What is wrong with people? Why can’t people allow other people to have opinions without the attacks?

    Me? I have to go to work today. I am dreading it. It’s a Monday and those are always demanding and hard. Last night I had trouble falling asleep so I took a stroll down memory lane of all the situations that haven’t worked out for me job wise. I prayed. I tried to see where I was at fault. What have I done to cause all of this? I have tried reading all those positive affirmations but none of that is working. I hate what I am doing, There is nothing “fun” about it.

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  3. Kim, you just gave me another reason to be glad I am not on Facebook. That is horrible. I am with you. And it does not make sense because I had a c-section, and no one in their right mind would put a baby or anything near the incision. They made that cut way low on the body so those inclined to wear a bikini would not have the incision scar showing. I wonder if that photo was even real.

    I hope you will find some peace in your day. I would send you some rose colored glasses if I could find any.

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  4. All those people on facebook are your “friends”?
    Like Janice, no facebook for me.
    As before, “like” doesn’t mean that you LIKE the post, just that we’re with you on this.
    .

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  6. Skies are gray again this morning. The grass and weeds are getting so thick I will have to take a break and empty the grass catcher bag after each row I mow, that is if it ever gets dry enough to mow.

    I am being encouraged to join the choir at church. I don’t read music and choir practice meets when the prayer and Bible study group meets. I need to pray about this. The choir has dwindled and as we look for a new worship leader, we need to have people in the choir so that when potentials visit they will see enough choir members to make them feel hopeful with what they have to work with.

    Miss Bosley was checking out my coffee cup a few moments ago. I do not understand why she needs to do that…still. It must be that overdose of the cat’s curiosity gene. Maybe it comes with a touch of Alzheimers so she forgets day to day that it always smells the same.

    Son’s first day of teaching. I am trying to keep lifting him in prayer.

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  7. It was a public “feed” that I get. It is more of the “militant woman” mindset. Most recently they are all stirred up about women breastfeeding. I am not against it. I did it myself. I am of the mind that when a child is hungry you feed them, but you have some decency and you don’t whip your breast out for all to see. I am also of the opinion that if you are going to school twice a day to breastfeed your child you may want to start thinking about weaning them.

    I have had two women in my life not have their dream delivery and rosy after glow. My cousin had an emergency C Section. She got depressed because she had “failed”. My response was to “Shut up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You AND your child are both alive. Aren’t we glad you live in Modern America where you delivered safely and are alive.
    My best friend from childhood hemorhaghed and almost died when she had her child. She was in ICU for a couple of days. She wasn’t able to breastfeed so she was losing out on so much. My response. “Shut up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Aren’t we glad you and they baby are both alive and God gave someone brains enough to develop formula”. There are many paths to motherhood. Whichever path got you a healthy baby is the path you were destined to follow.

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  8. In looking for a verse to post on Twitter, I found this in my book on a devotion titled, “Working Women.”
    “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men.”
    Colossians 3:23

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  9. Becky, my oldest GD breastfed all three of hers.
    In public.
    No one saw anything.
    She put a blanked over them and they had dinner in the dark.
    They are a happy bunch of kids now, so it seems to have worked.

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  10. Kim, I have a first cousin who had a hard time having children. She and her husband adopted two, and were in the process of adopting a third when she came up pregnant, 11 years into marriage, age 39. When the baby was very young, I think it was two weeks old, she had a fairly serious stroke that landed her in the hospital for several days. I remember thinking myself that it was kind of sad she finally had a babe she could breastfeed, and here she is separated from him for a week or whatever, but also, yes, at least she survived.

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  11. I don’t care for the song, but thought I would share it anyway for those of you who have never had the experience of the Flora-Bama. Remember that several years ago I met Adios and her daughters there. They also open it up for church on Sunday morning. The frozen concoction you will see is called a bushwhacker. One and you are done.
    I am showing you this mostly for the scenery. It is more than just a dive bar. They have good food and earlier in the day can have quite a bit of family atmosphere. I think they close at 2am. I only shut them down once. It was a Mom’s Night Out and I was with some other mothers.

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  12. The butterfly photos: at top is a giant swallowtail. After I photographed one last summer, I saw in the butterfly book that they are uncommon. Well, they like our yard OK, and I see them several times a summer. The tricky thing is they seem to be getting a sugar high as they drink; they flutter their wings constantly in a little jiggle. This is the first totally sharp photo (no blurring) I’ve gotten of one from the side, and you can even see the powder on its wings and its front leg drawn up against its chest. The outside of its wings is mostly black with some yellow.

    Next row is a red-spotted purple. These are common in the Smokey Mountains in October, but we rarely get them in our yard, and when they come they just fly on through without stopping. This was a slightly breezy morning and I guess he thought he needed to just find any flower and hang on. At left you can see the contrast between the coloring on the outside and that on the inside of its wings; at right, just the inside.

    Bottom, two monarch caterpillars. At left is a little one (second instar, I think) in my backyard, and I think it’s cool that we’re looking through a hole he has eaten in the top leaf to see him. He has just gotten his stripes and his horns; the tiniest caterpillars don’t have either. At right is a much larger caterpillar on milkweed down the street. This one is either fourth or fifth instar (I think fourth); there are five instars, or growth phases, total as the caterpillar sheds its skin and grows, and then after five it molts again, this time into a chrysalis. If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you’ll see that where its head is off the leaf, there’s a little strand of silk attaching him to the leaf. His head isn’t totally in focus, so a nature magazine wouldn’t accept this shot, but it’s the only one I’ve gotten that shows the silk.

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  13. I wrote a white paper for my department discussing the use of Facebook by business folks based on a good article I’d read. Below is an excerpt from it, in case it’s useful for those of you still in the workforce:

    Social media has greatly expanded our opportunity to get to know one another. “Friending” our co-workers and our clients is a wonderful way to identify common bonds and build relationships. Of course, we must be careful about what we post, always keeping in mind that we are viewed not only by our immediate “friends” but potentially by the subsequent audiences created when they share with their friends, who share with theirs, and so on. Here are six intentional “posting” strategies from the site http://stu.me/7-facebook-post-ideas-that-will-increase-social-engagement/:
    1. Use a Quote Image: Not just quotes, but images that have the ability to bring the quote to life. Select those that reflect your values, what you stand for, or what is important to you. Invite your friends to engagement in sharing theirs. For example, post an image of a beautiful autumn tree along with, “Fall is my favorite time of year. What’s yours?”
    2. Honor an individual: Take time to honor someone like your spouse, children, grandchildren, good friend, or a colleague.
    3. Honor a Group of People: Give a shout-out to a group you respect, such as “I’d like to thank all the softball coaches who gave up their weekend to support a great tournament.”
    4. Fun life pictures or videos: Self-explanatory.
    5. The “Vulnerable” post: A sweet friend, stay-at-home Mom of four, posted this morning, “We all got sunburnt at the playground… Once again ‘mom of the year!’”
    6. Recurring Theme: For example, I frequently post a “Quote of the Day” followed by something cute one of the granddaughters said.
    He concludes the article with this advice, “The other lesson I learned is that we also need to be more strategic with our posts. In the past I would just post whatever I felt like at the time. Now however, I’m going to be more intentional about making sure I have certain types of posts scheduled because it’s important to me (and my business) that I be strategic about building that connection.”

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  15. I didn’t think of this Saturday when we had R&R. I wasn’t dealing with it then.

    Elvera subscribes to a magazine called “Reminisce”. She likes it. But they sent her a book. It’s for $25.98. Thing about that is:
    She didn’t order the book. I kept the book in its package and didn’t send the $25.98. They sent two bills requesting the money. After the last one, I called them and told them that she wasn’t paying the bill, but we would send the book back.
    They sent me a “Merchandise Return Label” with instructions.
    I have prepared the book for return. A bit of doing but it only took about 15 minutes.
    The book weighs over 13 ounces, so I have to take it to the post office for mailing.

    OK, you say. “It’s only $25.98. You can handle that. Just send the money.”
    You’re right. I wouldn’t go through what I did for $25.98. So what have I saved?

    Just this. If I keep the book and send the $25.98, they will send another book. They didn’t say that, but I know that’s what happens. There’s no end to it.
    When I was a child, an aunt or someone I knew belonged to “Reader’s Digest” book a month club. She had dozens of books she never read.

    I’ll take the book to the post office when I get a chance.
    It looks like it would have been a nice book to have.

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  16. I have posted this on FB before because I happen to have a kitchen towel that says this:

    Dear Lord, Please give me Patience, because if You give me Strength I am going to need bail money.

    that is how I feel today. Facebook was fun before it became “social networking for business”. Now it is more of how you promote yourself for your job.

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  17. The people I know who do Facebook don’t use it for business. From my point of view it has been used for getting info that causes covetous reactions, hurts, and more negatives than positives. It has been used for boastfulness not in the Lord but in other ways. I know it has been used by families to share photos and keep up with each other. It seems email would serve that purpose and keep it more private. IMHO There I go being critical of something I have not tried first hand!

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  18. Chas–you never have to pay for something you did not order. However, you do have to make sure that someone in the household did not inadvertently order it. Those places can be very sneaky.

    Kim–as someone who had an emergency C-section, plus two, I think the whole thing was ridiculous. We seem to have tons of victim mentality people these days. Was I sorry I needed a C-section? Yes. However, I am aware both my baby and I could have been dead.

    How to respond to the ‘woe is me’ posts is tricky. Prayer is helpful, as is knowing the person and situation. Some just need to hear you are sorry they are experiencing something or feeling bad about it. Others need a kick in the rear, so to speak. We have all been there.

    The need to demonize people who disagree with you seems to be growing. Nothing like some faux righteous anger to make you feel like a saint and justified in what you do in response. 😦

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  20. Just an FYI for companies that make you wait on hold for 45 minutes. It gives the person on hold plenty of time to email everyone in the company that has an email address posted on the internet.
    Everyone from the head of engineering to the director of customer service got an email about how long I had to hold the first time before the system hung up on me and how long I had been on hold at that very moment.
    Amazing but after I hit the last “send” button someone answered the phone.
    I also let them know that if they are a company in Moe-BEEL they probably want to have a recording that pronounces it correctly rather than one that says “mobile” as in mobile phone
    I am just Little Suzy Sunshine Today.

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  21. Chas, sixteen year old got into that book issue. He really wanted to help nine year old read, so when he saw an offer of four Dr Seuss books for one dollar, he bought it. He then learned he had joined a book club and they were going to send three every six weeks and he was going to spend twenty plus dollars on each delivery. I left him to pay it the first time, then discussed the possibility of me absorbing the cost or him calling and stopping the membership. He got three more deliveries that he paid for and then he called and stopped it. Lesson learned, I hope. But, little feller is enjoying reading the books and sixteen year old is glad he got them.

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  22. There’s a company in Hollywood called Bad Boys Bail Bonds. I smile every time I pass the sign for some reason.

    So summing up what Linda says: No woo-woo on FB. 😉

    FB is an adventure — the good, the bad and the ugly of human nature, all on display. I dislike campaign seasons as I have so many left-leaning friends who like to use FB for their personal political sign (although my sense is that fewer people do that now than say 4-8 years ago?). We’ll see … I have a few dependables who can always be trusted to post leftist rants. 🙂 , election season or not.

    Praying for you Kim, that today will be a smooth one.

    I’m supposed to get together with the city editor today to talk about how we should proceed on our coverage of this homeless issue that has exploded. There’s another community meeting tomorrow night but right now I’m inclined to pass on covering it unless I hear that something specific and new will be proposed and discussed. Or maybe I go to listen, but not plan to write anything out of it necessarily.

    I’s all (as my editor put it) a bunch of hot air swirling around at this stage. We’ve covered the hot air well, but I don’t see any reason to keep covering it until something changes and the issue is somehow moved forward.

    I also put a request in on Friday to connect with the council office today (one of our former photographers is the media point person). I’m guessing they’re busy plotting a way forward on the issue, but they’ve been mum and I really need to connect with them to get a better feel for where this goes from here. Meanwhile, the council office is sponsoring a Sept. 3 forum that will draw hundreds of people.

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  23. I do use FB for ‘business,’ in many ways — there are several community pages I check in on to see what people are talking about, and many of my FB friends are sources. And from my end, it’s a good way to share links to our stories that wouldn’t get read otherwise.

    I’m careful about what I post in general — and I have a smaller (50+) friends list I use for Christian links I want to post. They are all believers or seekers, I especially think about those folks on the list who may not know Christ but are not openly hostile and have (in real life) shown signs to interest.

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  25. I’ve been reading this FB pro & con discussion with some amusement. As you probably remember, I was firmly in Chas and Janice’s camp for the longest time. Last year, I realized that I needed more contact with family and friends, and most of them are on FB – so I joined. My privacy settings are as high as I can go without being invisible to my friends. I avoid memes and eschew debates. The very few times I have had brief exchanges, my experience debating on World has stood me in good stead. I do get a few news feeds, but I never comment on them; they are just there so I have links to any news articles I might want to read. FB is far from perfect, but so far, I’ve not found it a problem. Like any tool, you can control it to your benefit.

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  28. Roscuro, You are among those who only have one or two looks at Facebook rather than among the hooked on Facebook! You are utiliing it properly, but many do not. I am sure others here use it 8n the best ways, too.

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  31. A few more books are left this month for anyone who would like to get a free book for review at http://www.bookfun.org

    I noticed one book is by a football player who is now a pastor. Sounds good for a guy.

    You need to become a member of the overall site at bookfun and then join the group “For Readers Only.”

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  32. Calling an editor …. 🙂 Janice, I loved being in the choir two churches ago. I learned a lot about reading music (I’m a definite amateur) and it all made me a much more confident singer. We don’t have a choir at my current church but all of the songs are sung by the congregation as a whole.

    (When I visited our sister church a few weeks ago, I was amazed that so many in the congregation were singing parts — apparently their rather amazing choir there is *off* for August so they’re all interspersed throughout the congregation; beautiful).

    I’ll check out Lynn’s blog. We’ve moved away from blogs at the newspaper, they weren’t bringing in many readers & they’re a definite time drain (and sort of “yesterday” — my sense is that social media replaced blogging in a very big way). I enjoyed the pets blog for more than 6 years, but then really just started getting burned out. Sometimes I miss it, but not often 🙂

    RE FB, a very high portion of our online readers come from links posted on either Twitter or FB so for media outlets, social media platforms can’t be ignored.

    At least until the “next big thing” replaces it …. 😉 (And younger colleagues all use Instagram for their personal posts, not FB — which is, they say, for, ahem, “older” people like their parents — but most of the community I cover as a journalist congregates on FB still.)

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  33. I’m on FB all the time, of course, probably because Donna and I share some of the same reporter genes. I learned a lot from our time on World Magazine about what to share and what not to share. Because I’m required by my writing “job” to be on social media, there I am.

    But, for me, it’s been very helpful to connect with lots of people I wouldn’t see otherwise. As Donna noted, community boards have put me in touch with all sorts of information about my home town I wouldn’t know otherwise (the group is really upset about the homeless situation, Donna). Does that make a difference in my normal life?

    Well, I’m headed south this weekend to a big deal family wedding. I have things to talk about with my relatives because of FB. I know where some of their triggers are because of FB. I know several of them because of FB.

    For me it works. But I do spend too much time there. 😦

    And for the record I think Roscuro, Kim, Ann, AJ, Donna and Linda all do a fine job with their posts. I’ve never been insulted. 🙂

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  36. I enjoyed being on Facebook more than I expected to, but I didn’t like insinuations that Facebook “owned” anything posted there, including any photos I might post. I didn’t like the concerns that somehow it made one vulnerable to identity theft. And one time when I was heading to California for a wedding (but didn’t say so on Facebook), a friend posted, “Enjpy California!” I took her post down and e-mailed her. (I was living alone, and really didn’t need anyone who saw my Facebook to know that my house would be empty long enough to travel to California and back.) I decided I pretty much had to be off it before my wedding, or people would be posting wedding shots and commenting on us going away on our honeymoon and then moving to Indiana, and I really just didn’t need someone breaking into a house I was trying to sell . . .

    It also took too much time. I tended to go online, check e-mail, check World, check Facebook . . . and by the time I’d checked all those and written any responses, sometimes I’d go around and do it again. So when World was closing their blog, I thought OK, maybe I’ll sign up for Facebook again. But when we reopened here, I stayed off Facebook. (Also my husband doesn’t want me using my last name online except for business-related ventures like a Website. So when blog friends asked to be my Facebook friends, I had to decline, since anyone who found one of you would also find me.)

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  37. I guess what bothered me most about the photo was where the baby’s head was. A perv could twist it and make it child porn. Had the head been towards the knees it wouldn’t have been as bad.
    Many years ago one of the adult sponsors of a youth group I was involved in (after I was an adult) told the story of being and EMT and picking a month or so old baby up on a choking call. You DON’T want to know what the baby was choking on.
    When I looked at the photo it made my stomach roll.

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  38. Kathlena, I knew I didn’t have to pay for it nor send it back.
    But the only issue I have is not getting any more books.
    Besides, they are paying the return $5.70 postage.
    I have to take it to the USPS office.

    The YAHO mail. I understand this is what when you get free service. However, my YAHOO isn’t free. I pay a bunch of money to ATT every month for TV, phone and computer service, of which e-mail is part. They give me YAHOO.
    In Virginia, Prodigy was my carrier, but I couldn’t get it here.
    I don’t know what ever happened to Prodigy and AOL.

    It’s smart on YAHOO’s part because they can tell advertisers that everyone looks at their mail and show the number of times their mail is opened.
    They know when one is open or deleted without opening.
    Even my spam gets opened now because I don’t know what it is before deleting it. It’s easier that way.

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  40. I like the Subaru commercials. The one I liked best when the daddy was giving the little (about eight years old) instructions about driving. Then and eighteen year old girl says, “Yes dad” and drives away.
    All of we dads relate to that.

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  41. Well, I went on Facebook to check on the fires. And then, because so many folk have been telling me “your children sure do like Facebook,” I decided to check some of their pages. Yep, the one living with grandparents is on twenty four hours a day. She claims she does not get on at night but her posting times would indicate otherwise. My dad and stepmom, with whom she is living, are quite concerned with it because she is talking with men all over the country and in the next country that she has not even met. She is in denial. Next daughter also posts a great deal and carries her device in her hand all of the time. She is living with eldest daughter and her husband and they try to limit her a bit. Their bio brother is also on a great deal, though not anywhere as often as them. Today, I realized that their bio mom, an addict, is posting more than all of them combined and hers is a lot of x rated stuff. So, not only are my children way overdoing their time on Facebook, but they are getting a very deviant education from their bio mom. One is eighteen and on her own. Another is seventeen and starting college on her own. The third is living at home and controls his time much better than they do. I have told him, if he is ever late for anything, he will lose his device. The other boys almost never go on Facebook, at least, they have not for months. They play video games on their devices. I have about given up the battle but I won’t. They are both eighteen in less than a month and will either abide by the rules or move out. The rules will not mean no use of the devices, but that they devices do not interfere in any way with my life. I never see the devices or ear buds.

    Eighteen year old daughter, who uses the thing way too much, is still living in this community, though she moved out almost eight months ago. She is not engaged where she is, and wonders why she is gaining weight etc. I feel bad for the country. But more so when I hear about Planned Parenthood.

    Rant over. For now.

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  43. My daughter made an 8 minute video of her mission trip to Nicaragua: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4mYp4MJeRfbU25BMFJpbmMxNXM/view?usp=sharing

    They saw 1000+ people in three days and gave away lots of glasses, 600 Bibles, 200 kid story books, countless bouncing balls and some stuffed animals.

    The significance of the glasses cannot be overstated–they saw lots of children this trip who needed glasses for nearsightedness. This will help them in school. There are few churches and among the people who got glasses are a local pastor.

    As the young woman who fitted the pastor said, “I kept thinking, I’m helping a man who will study the Word of God and use it to help all the other people! Cooll!”

    That same young woman had to spend an afternoon in the medical clinic getting their version of an IV. My daughter’s comment: “I have more equipment and better meds in the back of my EMT rig than that clinic had in the whole building.”

    A pleasure to serve. Our church’s annual mission has been the only source of optometry care in the southeastern corner of Nicaragua for the last nine years. We take a Managua opthamologist with us each year and she and some American opthamalogists will return in January to perform cataract surgery.

    Our pastor went on the trip for the first time this year: “What amazed me the most was to see the pure joy on people’s faces when we gave them a Bible. You hear about it, but until you see it, you can’t appreciate how important a Bible can be to people who don’t have one.”

    Thanks be to God.

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  48. I just went to the nearby Great Clips and got ten inches of hair cut off to send to Locks of Love. My haiir is pretty short now, a sort of bob, longer in the front and short in the back. It was fourteen dollars, and I gave a five dollar tip. I am use to paying about forty dollars for a similar type cut. This may not be the best time of year to have a short cut, but I can always wear a hat. This will encourage me to mow the grass!

    The lady who cut my hair put something on it that I think she called Argon Oil to help with frizz and give a little shine. Has anyone here heard of that?

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  50. What a great video, Michelle. They helped a lot of peoplr. And they got to make chocolate to top it off! You did not warn about that really big snake. The group all look like they get along well together.

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  55. BTW, that tiny little caterpillar on the left is just three days old, and has shed its skin once. It’s less than a centimeter long. I haven’t seen it for a few days, so I don’t think it survived, but I thought it was pretty cute at that stage.

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  61. Michelle,

    I checked out Lynn’s blog. 🙂

    I even left a comment. 🙂

    And now I’m offended! 😦

    Don’t these people know who I am? I’m a blog administrator for cryin’ out loud, and I just went to moderation! You do that to other people, not me!

    Where’s the professional courtesy? 😯

    🙂

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  62. Amazing that I have to explain this to 2 people responsible for educating today’s youth, but…. 😆

    “thank you to all of you for participating,” – That covers all of you folks,

    “lurkers but not commenters included.” – That covers the folks who lurk but don’t comment.

    This isn’t rocket science people! 🙂

    I’m still a little cranky about being moderated…….. the nerve……………….

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  63. She’s moderating everything for now–I was there, too, but it meant that when I read a mistake, I could ask her to fix it before she released it.

    Such a nice lady, she corrected it for me! 🙂

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  65. I just ate a delicious supper of fresh caught walleye with corn on the cob (fresh from the garden) and brown rice. My husband caught the fish, filleted it, picked the corn and then made supper – he’s the best!

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  66. Arctic Char is really good. Ex husband used to go somewhere in Canada to fish. One of the paper companies he repped had a fish camp called BillyBob’s or some silly name like that.
    It was really funny the year the airline lost his box of fish packed on dry ice. They were giving him the run around. They were not being very helpful. He told them not to worry about it they would eventually find it when it started to smell. They delivered it to our house the next morning.

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