The Devastation, It's Horrible Katie!

I woke up this morning feeling pretty good. It's one of those beautiful South Carolina days; Sunshine , blue skies, green trees, balmy winds....Then I turned on the TV. First there were no hurricanes, but there were three ads (not current stuff) showing footage from previous storms. TV Live 5 News was showing me how they would be be there for me in the middle of the storm. Don't get me wrong, I know the hurricanes were bad, and it will take a lot of work and time to recover, but I began to reflect on SC this season. Charleston has had one storm that gave us 40 knot winds (or maybe that wasn't a storm, just a windy day, I can't remember). The weather guy is on right now telling me there isn't anything in the 300 mile radar, but we need to keep our eye on an area in Southern Georgia because it has the potential to grow later this afternoon, and of course we all know that if a Thunderstorm develops, and if you are within a few miles of it, there is the potential for heavy winds and rain and hail and lightning, and injury and possibly, even death. There was a person who died last week in a storm somewhere in one of the Western states when his truck drove itself into a tree while he was filming a tornado. I felt like going back to my room, getting in bed, and pulling the covers up over me until this potential storm in another state blows over later this afternoon. Or maybe, if I don't have enough troubles, I could get in my car and drive to Georgia and see if I could find some trouble. Now I'm watching Katie and Matt and Al trying to tell me how everyone is panicked over the financial markets. They are outside the studios, so they are reading off papers in their hands (Scripts), and I am just not sold on how upset I should be, cuz' they are all laughing and joking, and finally Katie bursts out between giggles "Is anyone listening to me?" Al and Matt are clearly not, so the show gets off the devastating news and quickly switches to Al who sends me back to Josh Marthers (local Live 5 Weather), who immediately tells me our best chance for thunderstorms is later this afternoon, but the radar and forecast shows clear for the next two days. I'm confused, but I know it's a horrible day, I mean Katie said so.

The Best Pepsi I Ever Had

My son and I recently went on a mission trip to Guatemala. Among other things we shared were some stories of when I was growing up. He said I should I should blog the one I call "The best Pepsi I ever had." It was the summer of 1972, and I was working for my Dad at the Bamberg Public Works Dept. in rural South Carolina. He hired me as a laborer, at the lowest salary allowed (I think $2.35/hr), so no one could accuse him of favoritism. Most of the time we were digging ditches, and laying sewer lines or water pipes. But the toughest two days were when the railroad car full of rock salt arrived. It came in twice a year and was filled with millions of dusty crystals of salt. Our job was to move it from the railroad car to the water softening room (about 150 foot distance) by wheelbarrow. First, we loaded the barrows using snow shovels; then we rolled them out of the car on 2"x12" boards to the loading dock about 10 feet away. (We only lost a few over the edge) We actually considered this the time to rest because we could get out of the dusty car. Well, I was trying to get in shape for The Citadel football season, so I thought this was a great job; plus my normal OC approach to any job like this caused me to want to get in as many loads as possible in an hour, and then try to beat that record the next hour. I have to say the old hand workers were not impressed with my enthusiasm. They usually took four days to unload the salt. I was thinking we could do it in two. I believe it was a Wednesday morning in late July or August when we started. It was probably 88 degrees and the humidity matched, when we started at 8:00. I am sure it was near 100 before the day was through. The railroad car had no ventilation and it was at least 15-20 degrees hotter inside. The shoveling would stir up the dust and the deeper into the car we got, the hotter it was. You felt like you were a slab of ribs with a dry rub that was stuffed into the oven for a final braising. Oh, it was good to wheel that load outside the car and feel the slight breeze that would sometimes blow between the car and the building. Then it was back inside the building, around a few corners, through a door to where we would dump the barrow, and then return for more. Well, about that Pepsi. We worked about four hours; my shirt was drenched, my pants were soaked as well, and I am not sure I could have handled another load, as every muscle in my arms was beginning to cramp. (These were the days when we really did not understand how important hydrating was; it was some sort of manhood test to make it through practice or work without drinking, resting, or eating until the last whistle blew) Thankfully, Bamberg was one of those small towns with a noon whistle, which signalled our much needed one hour lunch break. I wandered over to the small 10x10 office where my dad worked. In the garage they had one of those old fashioned drink machines that lined all the bottles up behind a thin vertical glass door. You couldn't get the bottle out until you put your money in, but you could touch it. I would normally have chugged two or three grape or orange sodas, but that day I just felt I needed that extra carbonation of a Pepsi. I put my quarter in, (which I borrowed from my Dad's desk drawer) and pulled one of the bottles out. I think I ran it across my forehead and it felt soooo good. When I peeled the cap off using the machine's opener, I could almost hear the bubbles popping out of the top of the bottle. I took a good long swig, and held the bottle up to look at it, as if it might say something to me like "Tastes Good All the Time." As I looked at the carbonation foam that had been stirred up at the top of the bottle, it released just enough heat to freeze the top 1/2" of the soda. It turned into a slushy, icy, incredibly delicious concoction that made me forget about the railroad car full of salt, the 98 degree sun, my aching back. All I wanted was another swig of that Pepsi. It was the best I ever tasted, and I am sure, the best I ever will.
PS: We emptied the car in a PW Dept record of 2 days.

It's Wednesday and I have to go to work

OK,
So I figured out how to get back into my blog site. My wife says that it is newsworthy that I have nothing to say. I was not thinking about mankind, or the economy, or the President until she brought it up.........but now that she has. Politicians make me mad. How simple is it to figure out what history has proven. Our system of government while not perfect has given more hope, more of a chance, let more people into the middle class than any other system of government EVER!!!!!! All the while, the other major systems have led to poverty, thuggery, dictatorships, loss of freedom, squelched initiative, and forced millions to flee their own country (countries they loved, left families, homes, farms); and where do they go for a chance, where have they tried to get to for over 350 years.....THEY ARE COMING TO AMERICA. How come that's not front page news? Our number one domestic problem is there are too many people that want into this country. And yet, our politicians want us to revert to some big government, I'll take care of every problem for you monster that will kill the golden goose. All we have to do is take a big dose of medicine called VICTIMUFFERIN. Three doses daily and soon every problem you had will be someone else's fault. You won't feel the need to accept responsibility for any part you may have played in your issues (or at best you just acknowledge a small role), and you will never take on the accountability for you actions. Gratitude will be lost, while ATTITUDE increases. You will become the master of others, and you will become strong again, on the back of someone else. and ....... Well now that I am fired up....I have to go. Big Daddy signing off.

Why the Blog?

So many thoughts, so little time. I really need to get all these things sorted out. I have had a major problem in life that I think I have an answer for everything. Actually when my kids were small (3-8 yrs), the oldest began coaching the others about how to get out of a long teaching. She would tell them the answer to any question was "Jesus...Simply...Jesus. It's where he will end up and you can cut him off early by getting there first." Well it was a good strategy, but they failed to realize that while mostly correct, I need for people to understand why it is correct. This can lead to long disertations on why Bernoulli's Principle keeps an aircraft in the air, how a battery charger works, why I was three minutes early/late for something. To my amazement, not everyone cares about the fundamental building blocks that lie behind these questions of the ages. So while questions of Sin, Anger, Ego, Fear.....Grace, Mercy, and Law...... Forgiveness and Love will ultimately come down to a God who loved us so much, He gave his only son to pay the price for all our disobedience, there is a time for every sermon and a time for every purpose under heaven. I will use some blog time to write down stray thoughts and try to spend more time with others listening and building relationships. Speaking of which, the grandkids just came in the door and I know they are ready to explode with anticipation about what great teaching I might have about the anthill in the backyard. Wait a minute, I'll let you know about the anthill in a later blog, right now I have to I listen to what they think about it. Gotta go.