52 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 9-28-16”

  3. Morning Chas.
    We had a community meeting tonight to let us know about some changes.
    Folks coming will be filling up all our housing. So glad that I own my place here, which is just right for me.
    Please continue to pray as I am discouraged.
    The next two days are our school Professional Focus days. We join with the New Tribes staff. They drive over and stay overnight in our training centre.

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  5. Pretty much no sleep last night; I’m wishing I was Linda’s granddaughter (Inside FB joke).

    The good news is a lot of you got prayed for in the last six hours.

    If the purpose of last night’s insomnia is to prove the Lord’s strength is made perfect in my weakness, I’m there. I have a full day of detail research work putting together the final pages of my stressful permissions requests for the book.

    OTOH, I’ve worried about this for a year–the permission requests have been the giants of the promised land for me–and the Lord has continually reminded me He is in charge and the book belongs to him.

    I guess He’s just going to prove it, yet again, and send me to the floor in worship.

    Hey, I’m perking up already! 🙂

    LOL

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  6. I think I’ll make coffee.

    The good news this is all I really have to do today and then I’m off with my husband on a work boondoggle to Carmel for two days. A massage is scheduled for Friday morning and it would truly lovely to have all this behind me.

    Which I will. 🙂

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  7. The frog was down the street from my home, maybe half a mile. Water runoff has to be carefully managed here, and on two sides of that family’s yard (left side and the front) are what is in effect a tributary to the creek. Their driveway begins with a small bridge over it. In the ditch/stream I have photographed at various times a muskrat (two different times), a young raccoon, two turtles, and a bunch of frogs. We also briefly saw a mink one time. Red-winged blackbirds hang out in vast numbers in summer, females presumably on hidden nests within the grasses, males shouting their displeasure at your presence from telephone wires above.

    The day I saw this frog, I saw one jump but I didn’t see it until it jumped and disappeared. So I walked along quietly after that, trying to find a frog before it jumped. And once I was looking for them, I saw them everywhere, and didn’t see any more jumping. They were all sitting still in various postures and various amounts of themselves exposed. From afar the water looks slimy, but as you zoom in you see it’s really all these tiny little plants. Farther down there’s a bit of open water between patches of green; I’m guessing the open area is where the muskrat swims. I’ve also seen dragonflies and butterflies, and one recent day I saw a cedar waxwing and heard several more. It isn’t a place for egrets or ducks or anything of the sort, though, from anything I’ve seen.

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  10. Cute story on the Kid. Yesterday at school his friends dared him to walk up to an older girl ad tell her she was pretty. He not only did it, but he got a thank you and a hug in front of everyone. Now he is, as he put it, “the man”.

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  11. I am thankful that my friend is not having that surgery today. I am hoping she will try to get with Art’s doctor who is the best. The convenience of not traveling an extra fifteen minutes to get the best in the field is not worth it.

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  12. Ahhhh a massage. Sounds wonderful. I have a great massage therapist. Her husband is a physical therapist and she works with him quite a bit so she knows some things the average massage therapist might not. I have trouble with my neck and shoulders, especially on the right from an old injury, and many years on a computer with a phone. She is very strong and a 60 minute massage often goes over about 15 minutes. I once told her she couldn’t hurt me. She proved me wrong and I spent the evening on the sofa with a heating pad, but the next day I felt AMAZING. I keep trying to get Mr. P to go see her, because her husband used to work with the pain management clinic that inserted the neuro stimulator in his back so she is knowledgeable about that as well. What he really needs is someone to work at loosening all the scar tissue in his back and I am a chicken when it comes to touching his back. I don’t want to move anything that shouldn’t be moved. (My fear comes from having my father have me “walk” on his back when I was younger and he eventually had to have back surgery. I know. Not rational but when have I ever claimed to be?)

    Busy day ahead. My Work Child is getting married Saturday. We are having a party for him this afternoon. He is such a baby at only 24! I think about how young I was when I married the first time. He is marrying a wonderful young woman. Yesterday his mother posted something on FB about “L, you have been a part of this family for a long time already but in 4 more days it will be official. I love you.” Her response was that she had been praying the this (his) family for a long time”. Isn’t that something? A young woman praying for her future husband’s family? Perhaps more young women should try it?

    I am off to the mines…

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  17. ribbit.

    Frog soup 🙂

    I had a good night’s sleep, lots of dreams as usual. Our heat should be heading out of the area, little by little, for the rest of the week. It’s also been very dry, so sinuses are causes problems. We have a staff meeting at noon (with pizza).

    New medicine cabinet arrived yesterday, either the sink or toilet is coming today, I believe. I still need to figure out a bathroom window design. And my go-between real estate guy, who said he’d coordinate with the roofers to do the bathroom demo and the tile guy to put it all back together again, just started with a new agency a few weeks ago so he is busy-busy with his real (new) job and, for the time being, seems to be out of the picture for me, which is understandable.

    So I’m concentrating on getting all the pieces ordered and pulled together, which is about all I can do right now.

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  19. Yesterday I got to listen in (via phone) on a media conference with Elon Musk about his idea to colonize Mars (sort of a “Plan B” if earth is ready to become inhabitable at any point, I guess). Interesting notion to contemplate (starting/rebooting civilization from scratch, as it were), though the logistics of getting and living there are challenging.

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  21. Good Morning…the air is brisk but the sun is shining brightly in this forest! Fall is the season when you are freezing in the mornings, furnace on, sipping hot coffee cup after cup…then in the afternoon you pull off the hoodie, open the windows, and sip on ice tea! 🙂

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  23. Well according to scientist people are killing Earth.
    That is why I don’t read or watch science fiction. It is all so bleak. I can get depressed on my own, I don’t need help. If I read or watch something I want to feel hope, not hopeless.

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  24. Science Fiction is bleak because you need a plot and to have a plot something has to go wrong. Anyway Star Trek, the series not the movies, is pretty optimistic despite the Klingons. I can’t believe “Klingon” is in spell check.

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  28. Doc Murphy

    The ride to Mars would take 6-9 months alone, but he’s promised a fun time with lots to do on board the spacecraft. Can we take our furniture? Dogs? I’m not sure. They’d have to construct a dome of some kind, which makes me think of a Stephen King book …

    What could go wrong?

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  30. What could go wrong?
    You ‘ll begin to understand when you see a pair of dumbbells for weight training.
    I once asked a former Navy Captain who had commanded a submarine, what the guys did for physical training. Interesting. “Just don’t drop the weights”.
    Michelle’s husband will understand.

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  31. Best New York Times correction, ever.

    Can’t even get the dog’s name right.

    ____________________________________

    An article in some editions last Sunday about bars where dogs are still welcome inside in violation of New York City’s health code misidentified the breed of a dog visiting a bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He is a yellow Labrador, not a golden retriever. The article also omitted part of the dog’s name. He is Captain William Trigger of Ludlow, not Captain Trigger of Ludlow.

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  33. Did it occur to anyone that not only does Mars not get much sunshine, but the soil is likely sterile? And if there is water up there, it’s probably ice.

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  34. My brother just called and said that on the Jay Seculow show today it was reported that the highest concentration of Syrian refugees is in Stone Mountain, GA, which is not far from us. The largest Jewish population around is not far from us in another direction. We are located between the two groups. My friend, Karen, lives in the heart of the Jewish community. It’s making more sense that we have security at my church.

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  35. Speaking of my husband, he loved Mary Roach’s book “Packing for Mars” which convinced him it’s impossible for us to get to Mars. Contrary to what everyone believes, NASA still hasn’t solved the “how to go to bathroom in space,” problem yet.

    We really enjoyed “The Martian,”–saw it twice– but try, just try, to get your mind wrapped around how expensive such a project would be.

    I like the idea we’re really a colony of Mars and it got wiped out . . . even though that, of course, is totally contrary to Scripture.

    After doing a hundred other things, including my Bible study for next week, dancing for an hour, cleaning the kitchen, two loads of laundry AND writing a blog post, I see it’s 1 o’clock. Time to return to Biddy . . . . 🙂

    I’ve allotted for a nap, but I’m going strong!

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  37. Jumping in without having caught up on all the other comments, although I do see Jo’s right above. So sorry the situation is so hard on you, Jo. Praying for a good outcome.

    Here is the story of my cataract surgery today. . .

    I had heard so much about how routine & easy it is that I imagined it to be almost like just lying back on the dentist chair. & having a procedure done, but in my eye instead of my mouth. I didn’t realize how much like “real” surgery it would be.

    First was the pre-op phase. I had to start by washing my hands. Then I sat back in a reclining-type chair, had a cap put on my head & booties over my sandals. They put one of those blood pressure cuffs on my arm – the kind that stay on & periodically take my blood pressure – a pulse-ox thingie was put on my finger, & heart monitor electrodes were put on my chest. Then the poor nurse had an awful time finding a vein to start an IV. Finally, she settled on using my wrist, which they don’t like to do because it is more painful. (Yes, it hurt, but not too bad.) In between these things, another nurse was administering several eye drops at various times. The skin around my left eye was then swabbed with an antiseptic, & I needed to keep my eyes closed for five minutes.

    Next, the chair was reclined all the way back & I was wheeled to just outside the operating room (with my eyes closed – that was interesting). David, the anesthesiologist, introduced himself to me, & administered a sedative. After a few minutes, I was wheeled into the operating room.

    One thing I have been curious about is what I would see while it was going on. The light from the microscope was uncomfortably bright, & then what I was seeing was like something psychedelic. Towards the end, I thought I could see something the doctor was doing, like maybe I was seeing the new lens being inserted. But that could have been my imagination.

    There did seem to be a couple minor problems. It sounded like the doctor was having a little trouble getting a piece of the cataract out, & I think the incision area was bleeding more than usual. But both problems were quickly overcome.

    Afterward, I was told I was a good patient for not moving at all. *:) happy

    There was no actual pain involved, but there was the discomfort of the bright light (which was very uncomfortable), & the feeling of some pressure in the eye. But nothing too difficult to bear.

    Following the surgery, I was taken to the post-op area, now in a sitting position, & given some Tylenol, along with the instructions for the next week – no lifting anything over 20 lbs., no bending over with my head down, keep the eye dry, schedule for three different daily eye drops, & an eye shield to wear at night.

    My vision should improve gradually over the next few weeks.

    So now, when I get my right eye done in a couple weeks, I’ll know what to expect, & to not be nervous.

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  43. I feel like I have an eyelash in my eye. I was told I would have a feeling like that. I keep blinking, but of course that’s not gonna do any good.

    For the next week I cannot get my eye wet, so I am trying to figure out how to wash my hair. I have a plastic eye shield to wear at night (with tape to keep it in place), but it has holes in it to let the air flow.

    Maybe I could put the tape over the whole shield when I take a shower. I already have the habit of using a folded up wash cloth over my eyes when I rinse my hair, because my right eye doesn’t close all the way, so that would help keep some water away.

    Oh, that reminds me! I had to ask them to tape down my right eye because I cannot close it without the help of closing my left eye. (I can close & blink my left eye on its own, but not the right one.) They took care of that. They were all very nice.

    One of the nurses in the pre-op phase has the same exact birthday as me – same day, same year. I’m just a few hours older than she.

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  44. That sounds uncomfortable 😦 But you should be good to go by Thanksgiving, all healed up.

    From yesterday’s news event:

    “There are really two fundamental paths,” (Elon) Musk said. “One path is we stay on Earth forever and there will be some eventual extinction event. The other is to become a … multiplanet species, which I hope you will agree is the way to go.”

    Ultimately, Musk hopes to sell seats on his 200-foot-tall, sleek interplanetary ships for less than $200,000 each. The rockets will each carry 42 Raptor engines than generate 28 million pounds of thrust and, ultimately, will be able to travel the solar system by hopping between planets and moons.

    “I think Earth will be a good place for a long time, but the probable lifespan of human civilization will be much greater if we’re a multiplanetary species,” said Musk, who also runs electric carmaker Tesla Motors. SpaceX headquarters are in Hawthorne and Tesla has an adjacent design studio. …

    … By 2024, Musk hopes to begin sending people to Mars. The first hurdle to filling the spaceship, he said, is making it appealing enough for nouveau explorers to want to spend months in transit.

    “It’s got to be really fun and exciting and it can’t feel cramped or boring,” Musk said. “There will be movies, lecture halls, cabins, a restaurant. It will be, like, really fun to go. You’re going to have a great time.

    “We aspire to launch in late 2024 with arrival in 2025. That’s optimistic. I would describe that as an aspiration and a lot of things need to go right” for it to happen.

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  45. In other news. . .Heidi had her hair & nails trimmed today. She looks smaller again. 🙂

    And Little Guy now has a real cast on his arm, because he wasn’t being careful enough with it in the splint & sling (he kept throwing off the sling because it was uncomfortable).

    But the funny thing is that the children’s hospital they were sent to for the cast doesn’t think his elbow is actually broken. They put the cast on as a precaution, since the urgent care place seemed to think it was broken, & Nightingale & Little Guy will go back for a re-check in a couple weeks.

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  46. Mr X sent over a couple of pumpkins for Nightingale & Little Guy, that were left on our front porch by his mother. I think he’s trying to find ways to “make nice”. It ain’t working.

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  47. Do you like the smile of the new frog? I think they’re green frogs and not bullfrogs, but I’m not positive.

    Life is crazy around here this week and so I haven’t been around on the blog much.

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  48. On living on Mars, my PhD sibling in law was talking about the idea a while back, and he said that Mars’ soil had a highly toxic (to humans) chemical compound permeating it – I cannot remember the name – which would ultimately render it uninhabitable to humans. Since the PhD is in chemistry, I took his word for it. In any case, as C.S. Lewis was trying to point out in his Space Trilogy, humans would carry their sinful tendencies to any new environment which they entered, just as the human villains brought violence and murder to the inhabitants of the fictional Mars in Out of the Silent Planet.

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  50. Jo, so sorry it’s a rough spot for you right now — hope the meetings go OK and it’ll soon be behind you.

    Got the new toilet today, neighbor helped me wheel it onto the patio where it’ll stay for now (it’s heavily packaged, of course).

    I suppose I’m just going to have to walk the dogs after dark again, coyotes or no coyotes — I can’t seem to get home before the sun goes down anymore.

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