66 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 2-4-16”

  5. Anyone have fun plans for today like going to get an emission sticker for tag renewal? One of the distinct joys of living in a large urban area. Decisions, decisions. Do I go out of the way for the fifteen dollar sticker or go for the convenience of the twenty-five dollar sticker from the facility beside the tag office?

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  6. I think I might go for the fifteen dollar sticker because that guy was nicer than the other. Customer service is still valued even in a self serve atmosphere. I still get in a cashier’s lane at the grocery store instead of the self checkout.

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  8. I’ll contribute to the race with a cat story. Janice can read it to Miss Bosley. We rescued a starving, injured kitty that showed up at our back door last summer. We think of her as a Generic Replacement for our Siamese, Buster, who disappeared the year before. The girls named her Sophia but we just call her “The Girl.” She’s totally bonded with me (probably because I was the one who took her in and I’m here with her all day) and has taken to sleeping on my pillow. Some nights I slip into the bedroom and watch a little TV before going to sleep, leaning back on some propped up pillows. Now, when I try to do that, she climbs up on my shoulder and paws at the pillows until I finally lay down on the one pillow that we share.

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  9. Sweet, Linda.

    Just want to point out, that’s a photo from my home town . . .

    I’ll be in London today 1912-1915.

    Lots of exciting news I can’t tell you about; but if you’ve got any extra prayers, please pray I stay focused on the tasks I need to do today–which are many and timely.

    Slept in to 4:30 today, and now I’m to the gym. See you later!

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  13. The second song on the album from my friend Angie …. She says these are all from The Great American Songbook. She is introducing it through Home Concerts and Leessee is hosting the first one on the 26th (so that means that Kim is helping because we always drag the other into whatever we are cooking up)

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  14. I am a little excited today. There is a meeting of the Asian Hotel Owner’s of America. It is sort of a trade show. Guy and Junior (my 24 year old work child) asked me to go with them. I LOVE trade shows–or at least I used to. It has been a while. Anyway it is from 2-7 today.

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  16. Oh rkessler it is cold here too….and the crazy dog decided to run down the drive as the plow was coming down the road….there I was at 6AM running after her…barefeet, no coat, 6 degrees….happy Thursday!! 🙂

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  18. I don’t know if it is cold outside here. I do know that I don’t have a cat sleeping on my pillow. Can’t imagine how nine year old would fare if we had one of those in the house. He comes back all congested and asthmatic if he picks up one of the outside cats.

    On the other hand, one child is eating his breakfast in preparation to go out and wait for the school bus, the others will be getting up soon.

    Amusing little anecdote: one of our eighteen year olds does not like to ask for help or be beholden in any way. He is the one who arrived very angry and potentially violent. Anyway, he told me yesterday that his credit card had been canceled and he does not know why as he paid it a couple of weeks ago. Seems he sent cash, as in dollars and cents. And no bill. So basically they got an envelope of cash with no marks to indicate from whence it came. The learning curve continues…..

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  19. I learned last night that a former pastor’s wife has ALS. 😦
    Somebody tell me what ALS is.
    I’m serious. It seems bad and I don’t think I’ve heard of it before..

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  22. Yep, Chas, what Mumsee says. One of my friends had her father die of it when she was about ten, so from about six on she watched her father lose all function. It’s still a horrifying memory for her.

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  25. Chas my maternal grandfather died of ALS….my son in law’s mother had ALS as well….and a couple years ago, a co worker/friend of Paul’s died of ALS….he was 43 leaving behind a wife and two young sons (I helped him once a week with his range of motion exercises while he was in his wheel chair to keep the blood flowing and attempts to keep the atrophy of the muscles at bay) . Because the body becomes paralyzed, many believe the mind is affected as well…it is not the case…the co worker/friend was using his computer with a spiffy eye controlled “mouse/curser” to send messages to us the day he died…frustrating and very sad to walk the path of ALS….

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  26. Chas, I have recently known someone who had the fast acting kind. She was gone within a year. I had never heard of that before. In many ways it was a blessing.
    Posting an update on the prayer thread

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  27. When we first came here, we met an elder in a church with it. He had had it for years and his arms were non functional. But, he was an elder. He kept that position for many years and was very good at it. He preached good sermons, gave wise guidance, cared for people and loved the Lord. He was surrounded by help with a loving wife and several daughters and sons. He continued to guide them well throughout. The point being, though the outside is somewhat limited, the inside is quite functional.

    My niece’s father in law was similar. He did not live as long but remained active.

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  28. Yes, it is rugged, but many people were blessed by knowing them both and watching them and being allowed to help them. And the men were blessed as well, in learning to trust their helpers after years of being in charge. And God was blessed through it as well. But, no denying, it looks very hard.

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  29. Once again, I am behind in reading all the comments, but I want to jump in here to brag about my daughter. 🙂

    As you may have seen on the prayer thread last night, Emily passed the exit exam from her LPN program. Her score was 84%, which happens to be a rarely-seen high score for this test (most people score in the 70s). Her score was the second highest in the class, with the highest score, an 87%, being a possible record. (This is a very tough exam.)

    Her score put her in the 98th percentile of those who have taken this exam. They predict she has a 99% chance of passing the licensing exam on her first try.

    We are so proud of her for her hard work & determination.

    Next stop: studying to be an RN. (She is not planning on going to school full-time, so it will take several years before she will finish.) Eventually, Emily would love to be a Nurse-Midwife (which takes further schooling beyond an RN degree.)

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  30. I have never known anyone who had ALS except for hearing of people in the news with it.

    We’ve gotten two notices this week of elderly church members who have passed. Sad 😦 I did not know the woman. The man was someone who for many years had never missed a Sunday. A while back I may have mentioned being in a Sunday morning quarterly teacher/leader meeting and a man passed out and fell on his face. He has gone downhill since then. His fall was attributed to low blood pressure at the time. He was diagnosed with lung cancer. He worked part-time at Home Depot, and I think he must have been around eighty something. 😦 Too many losses lately.

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  32. Brian, the coworker/friend was a man of deep and abiding faith….his main focus during walking the path set before him was to reach the lost for Christ. He started Brian’s Brigade….people to step up to help him with rides to work…while he was still able….people to take him to Denver for Dr. appts….participation in the annual ALS run in Denver, helping him with tasks at home while his wife attended to the children…etc. I would say most of those helping him were unbelievers….they loved him and they desired to help….his witness set before them was steadfast and only our Lord knows how it has impacted their lives. The Memorial service held for him at his church was standing room only…and the testimonies spoken at that service was entirely focused upon the love, mercy and faithfulness of our Lord…. ❤

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  33. Karen, Emily may want to consider this.
    My middle GD, Mary got her BS from U. S Carolina.
    She got a masters from Duke.
    she visited the Duke campus twice.
    The rest was on her computer.
    This is new to me, but it seems to work.

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  34. Congratulations to Emily.

    I’ve never known anyone with ALS, prayers for Chas’ acquaintance. Grateful we are at least living in a time of advanced medicines and treatments (compared to anything in the past, but realizing future generations will benefit even more — though new diseases may be around by then, too, to create their own unique challenges).

    Friend at church recently was diagnosed with diabetes, which came as a shock to her. Lots of lifestyle changes ahead, she said. I’m not close to her but often sit near her and her adult son who are faithful weekly attenders (driving in from quite a distance). Her son, a college student, is very bright, one of our bright, young, bearded ‘theology nerds,’ always wears a suit & and is extremely polite and social.

    The photo: I took that on Monday, the day after our big wind storm which swept everything clear as a bell. The surf, as you can see, was still pretty wild (it was still very windy Monday).

    That’s not a dock but the breakwater which cordons off the port, making the waters calm for entering ships. At the end of the breakwater is the Angels Gate Lighthouse.

    __________________________________________

    A little history: the Angels Gate Lighthouse sits at the end of the 9,250-foot-long San Pedro Breakwater, neither as accessible nor as picturesque as the other two (lighthouses in town).

    The original plans for the structure, which was built in 1913 at a cost of $36,000, called for it to be constructed out of wood. Wisely, those plans were overruled in favor of a larger and sturdier steel-framed building.

    Built on a 40-foot-square platform, the 73-foot-high building has withstood much buffeting over the decades. It has weathered storms and earthquakes without major damage, though a violent 1939 storm apparently left the structure leaning slightly shoreward.

    In 1973, the U.S. Coast Guard automated the lighthouse’s functions.
    _________________________________________

    I’ve actually been inside for a story on its restoration, was taken over on a boat (the only way to get there) where I had to climb up a Jacob’s ladder hanging off the breakwater. Daunting! Then we walked all the way to the top. It used to be manned, I interviewed one of the CG guys who stayed there in the ’70s, he described being in there and watching Johnny Carson on TV as storms whipped all around him. Some of the staffers had a dog for a while, too. But it really feels very remote and scary way out there, with the sea crashing at you from below.

    While I was there we saw some container ships drift by, it was surreal as they looked so small. And we were eye-level with the gulls flying by, too.

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  35. My friend went to nursing school at the community college for her RN maybe 10 years ago as a late-in-life career choice and now is getting her BA via an online program. She’s 60. 🙂

    I’m covering a night meeting on crime tonight, LAPD chief is coming to town to face off with probably hundreds of residents who will be there to complain. I’m dreading it, only because it will have to be filed “live and late” as we say, so I’ll be working well into the night.

    On the plus side, I get to work from home today. 🙂

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  36. Back to the photo — in the foreground (with the red canopy) is actually our fishing pier, so that is accessible to the public. I’ve walked the dogs out on that numerous times. The rocky breakwater is beyond that and, while people still try to walk out there, it’s to their own peril. 😦

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  38. I remember walking the breakwater as a child scrambling over the rocks. I looked in a crevice and saw a dead cat with a hook in its eye surrounded by fishing line. The sight terrified of walking the rocks for quite a while after that. Fascinating info, Donna, thanks.

    on this side, too, is the beach where we played while growing up. You all will be shocked to know the water is frigid.

    We body surfed anyway! 🙂

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  39. How awful, michelle — there are a lot of feral cats out there in the rocks. I took the photo from Bluff Place / 40th Street.

    While fishing is popular out there, warning signs are posted about not eating many of the fish that are caught. There was a DDT underwater ocean dumping ground not far away — mostly cleaned up now, this was back in the ’70s I think? But there remain concerns about actually consuming fish caught so close to the harbor and to that site.

    An artist years ago created a cartoon-like image of a 3-eyed fish in tribute to all of that and it’s since become something of our town mascot, showing up on car decals, lapel pins, etc. We’ve embraced it all.

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  40. Yes, we would go down every year to visit our body surfing cousins in the sixties, and that water was cold. Of course, we only went down in December but I understood it was cold all year round. I was shocked when we went down one summer and it was still cold but more so that my sixteen year old cousin took me sailing at Marina del Ray or some such place and to get there, she drove the truck with the trailer with the boat on it. I never imagined somebody my age could do that, especially in that traffic.

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  41. As usual, my plans for the day were foiled when I went looking for last year’s fifteen dollar emissions sticker station which had disappeared which meant I had to drive on past the I-85 congested area in order to turn around in a McDonald’s lot to go back and see how I missed it. I turned in where I thought it was and a computer repair shop was there instead. I verified that by driving to the backside where I could see there had been an opening for cars to drive into that had been filled in. I did go back to my neighborhood and found a new location that charged only fifteen dollars. I decided, while by the mall, that I would look for another dress shirt for Art since he has been clothes challenged lately. I hope what I found will fit. Maybe tomorrow I will make it to the tag office along with other errands.

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  44. We had our senior prom in Marina del Rey. 🙂 I used to love going out there when I lived nearby (my cousin lives near there now).

    We have our own marina where I live now. Some people live onboard their boats, I was asking one of them how they fared during the winds the other night and he said he clocked 56 mph winds that actually broke the rain gauge.

    Well, best-laid plans. I’d decided to take the dogs out for a walk along the fishing pier since I realized we really haven’t done that walk in a while — when another story popped up to do in my email, so now I’m having to do that. It’ll be a long day, normally I wouldn’t have had to start until maybe 3 or 4 p.m. due to the late night meeting I have to cover tonight.

    But I’m still getting to work for home, so not too painful. 🙂 Wearing sweats and sheepskin slippers.

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  45. I may have to get a smog test this year, too (it’s every other year for us, but depending on how old your car is). My old VW, which I drove for 14 years before getting the Jeep, was labeled a “gross polluter” during it’s last years.

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  47. I have jury duty Monday to make up for the one I missed when Art had his procedure. My number is in the top ten. Sometimes I just feel like I should not make plans at all! But I guess I better plan to be there. 😉

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  55. I remember having to get emissions inspections in Arizona. In those days there was still leaded gasoline. We could pass the test by putting the unleaded fuel in our old cars just before the test.

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  59. I haven’t list my trade show ability altough this was the AAHOA. Asian American Hotel Owners Association and since most are from India I thought one was asking me what kind of old woman I was. 😉 He wasn’t and I finally understood and answered his question. 😉

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  62. KarenO, I was so happy to hear that Emily had done so well with her LPN course. There are online bridge courses that work well for someone who is self motivated. RNs make a lot more money.

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  64. Long meeting, I was able to file something quick for online only, will have to fill the story out tomorrow. But the police chief announced some “real” news (the jail built as part of our new police station 7 years ago never opened due to no staffing, which is crazy — and he said tonight they’d get it open in 36 months, which was a pretty big deal for residents who have been demanding it be opened for years).

    Probably 450 people there tonight, only a few disruptions by Black Lives Matter types — for the most part it was a productive and civil meeting.

    Of course, my work computer decided to crash right in the middle of writing my story once I got back home; the blue screen of death. Ugh. Remarkably, the story — which I hadn’t saved — was still there when I finally got it back up again.

    Long, tiring day considering I worked from home the whole time.

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  65. No, Cheryl, my birthday is not til Monday. Actually, your time it would be Sunday, which is my son’s birthday. When I am across the dateline, we share a day.
    I am trying not to think of it to much since I have no one to celebrate with. I can’t imagine my class doing anything, they are 5 and 6.

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