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Random thoughts, inconsistent posting |
 My meandering thoughts |
| If you were given a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do? This is an easy question. Most of us have thought about it at one time or another. Mostly around the time the lottery gets over 250 million dollars. My first check(s) would be tithe. 10%. I may not send it all to my headquarters church. I would probably send half there and then divide the other half to our branch churches for upkeep, outreach and to purchase a new church. There might be some to the missions also. That's it. End of question. I didn't feel that was a very good prompt. I'd have asked "If you were given one million dollars how would spend/invest it? One million dollars doesn't last long in this economy. By the time you've paid off your house, bills and car there goes about half or a little less of what you had. So for kicks and giggles lets say your bills, car(s), mortgage comes to about $300,000. Some will be more or less depending on their house and car, maybe their bills too. That leaves you with 700,000 to spend. Lets say taxes were already paid. If you want to upgrade your house and car lets say the difference in what you need to add to buy new, adds up to another 300,000. You know you're going to want the pool/hot tub with the new house, Harley Hog for you and the wife, an RV and some new clothes and household furniture. Now you have $400,000 left. We take 200,000 away since you gave your kids (4) of them $50,000. Each. They got mad and wrote you off for not giving them half of what you got. You paid your grand kids college loans off (2) at $35,000.00 (They had grants for some of it.) $165,000 is all you have left now. If you don't invest it somewhere or just put it away and I hope you didn't give up your day job, you'll have a nice retirement if you get a good interest on it. As you can see, One Million Dollars in this day and age doesn't go very far. If you are frugal it will be a lot more. If you are stingy it could be even more. There is a presumption of the part of those who are around a "Winner" that for some reason if you didn't earn it you are obligated to share your winnings with everyone you know and it should be a sizable amount. I've decided, if I should ever come into any sizable amount of money, I will tell those outside my family members that they will have to submit to my charitable foundation a request and write an essay why they should get it. I don't believe in handing out money to people to freeload. I'm not the government. I want responsibility. So If I had more than one million dollars (anything less and they'd have to just lump it. I'm not giving any of it to anyone outside my kids) I'd hire someone to control donations and divisions to people and charities, so I know who and why they are getting it. I loved watching the millionaires go to different cities and find deserving people to give their money to. There are well meaning and deserving people they donated to. I loved seeing these people find out they were on the receiving end just for helping others. That's the way it should be. If I had millions, the foundation would take all applicants and read their story, follow it up to qualify if its true and have people monitor that it was given to the hospital, college, or used for what it was intended. To GIVE money away without some kind of responsibility makes you just like our government and look where we are today. |
| Magic: Exists or not? After pondering how to answer this prompt. Let's discover what MAGIC is. Webster's defines it as: "a power that allows people (such as witches and wizards) to do impossible things by saying special words or performing special actions. : tricks that seem to be impossible and that are done by a performer to entertain people : special power, influence, or skill They also use this as a FULL Definition: 1. a : the use of means (as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces b : magic rites or incantations 2. a : an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source b : something that seems to cast a spell : enchantment 3. : the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand I rewrite the question here Does Magic Exist? I don't believe in magic, as it is described above in 1 and 2. At least not in the sense that the average person can study to perform magic alone without outside influence. Incantations and spells are subject to the belief of the hearer. If you didn't hear a spell was cast on you and you were in an accident, you aren't going to believe it was magic. If you went to a soothsayer or witch or physic and they told you a bunch of things then they all happened, would you think it was MAGIC? Our human mind normally (here's that word we talked about yesterday) discounts it. Only when someone begins to recount coincidences they determine to be magic. Humans are tied to this earth by gravity and are subject to its boundaries cannot create anything out of nothing. The old story of the contest between satan and Christ went something like this. satan: "I can create anything you can." Christ: "Go ahead and try." Christ spoke and a tornado appeared. satan waved his arms and a hurricane blew up. Christ spoke and dirt formed into a man. satan waved his arms and dirt formed a woman. Christ spoke:"You can't do that. I created the dirt, get your own dirt." What I'm trying to say is, magic is slight of hand tricks. Supernatural things like telekinetic, where things fly around a room isn't magic to me. I am suspicious. However I love to watch "magic tricks." I love to watch David Copperfield and very good illusionists. I wrote a movie review for "Now You See Me." I cut this part to paste here. The following is taken from the internet as an explanation of what a magic act contains. All these elements are portrayed in this movie. Is it real or a slick trick of the movie effects? The Pledge,The Turn and The Prestige Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called The Pledge. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course it probably isn't. The second act is called The Turn. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part called The Prestige. Prestige has also come to be known as the finishing act in a magician's trick, a finale of sorts, where, for example, the object of the magician's trick is returned from disappearance or a woman reappears unharmed from a box of swords. That's why magic is most always followed by the work "trick." |
| Define what "Normal" means to you. I don't belive in normal. What is it? No one likes the word mediocre, yet that's what nomal is. It what the middle of the road people do, say and act. We've heard the order "Try to act normal for once." To someone with a disorder of some kind that causes them to react in a violent manner, or laugh hysterically, or even just remain silent when others are screaming is difficult. What is normal? In a classroom its the teacher that determines "normal." Their comfort level of noise, chaos or tomfullery what is considered Normal, FOR THEM. If the class is full on first graders, its normalness is far different than a class of college students. My definition of "normal" is what does 75% of the people do or react in any given situation. If the floor begins to shake and everyone around you is scraming and running for the hole under the desk and you are standing by the window looking outside going, "Hey, guys its cool! The buildings are falling and the road is buckling." I'd say you aren't NORMAL. But if you laugh when someone else is quiet, or you wear bright colors to a funeral, or even ride a bike wearing a tutu, I'd not be real quick to call you AB-NORMAL. You might be a free spirit. You might just see life differently in that situation but be "Normal" in others. If you are Rain Man you are not NORMAL. But if you act like Sam in Benny and Joon, I'm not so sure you aren't Normal and everyone else has a problem. I've watched this movie a few times. I'm still on the fence if Sam just wants a break from trying to be normal, or if he is just been told he isn't normal so many times, Joon's acceptance of his excentricity make his feel Normal. If you haven't watched this movie I suggest you do. My favorit parts are making grilled cheese and when Sam plays Charlie Chaplin with the buns. This Character baffles me because as times I get the feeling he's laughing at "normal society." he gets along with Joon's brother and Joon on different levels. Who is normal in this movie? I challange you to watch and tel me. |
| I probably won't be back to posting here until Tuesday. Sat I have to so some major cleaning at home and check the new Fellowship Lodge at the campgrounds where we will be holding our Memorial Day clean-up and picnic. I've been in charge of the food for about 7 years now. I'm looking to hand it off to someone younger. But then if it goes real easy, I might not. I just got a call from Hubby and he's invited a business contact to our house to attend our campmeeting in July. I'm excited to meet them. They are good Christian people and I know they will love the meetings and meeting so many International guests. I planted watermelon, cantaloupe, cuc's, bell peppers and tomatoes. I found a Lemon Tomato plant. I don't like raw tomatoes so maybe this one will be better. I have a problem remembering to water them. I'm thinking of looking for one of those watering systems if these grow okay. I may have to bring in good dirt. What's in the boxes has a lot of weed roots. Its hard in some places, BUT I have free potatoes! They are growing when I thought there were none left from last year. The previous owners must have planted loads of potatoes. We moved in last May and I thought I harvested them all. They weren't very big. I threw them in soups. Now I see there are more growing. They are Hearty! That's all for today folks. If I have time I'll drop a line if not, have a great weekend and see you on Tuesday! |
Prompt: What is your birth order? (eldest, middle, youngest or only child) What impact if any do you think it has had on your life? I'm the eldest of my siblings. Its funny this should be the prompt today as its my Birthday. I'm not the typical first born. Growing up I did have the job of taking care of my younger sisters. I babysat for them and others. Being mature for the time, but still sheltered, I was trusted to care for others. I did not have the Nursing gene as did my much younger (#5) sister. I left the home at age 19 and was married at 20 and had my daughter a year later. I understand, typically the first born is the take charge person. I'm not. I'll hang back until I'm asked and then delegate. I'm not self-confident in most scenarios. I'm not organized, I'm a fly by the seat of my pants. When I married I lived apart from my family. My #2 sister really took the roll of #1. My sister wrote me letters about their lives and I gave my sage advice. #4 & #5 sisters came to live with me for a while before going off on their own. Other than a yearly visit I didn't interact with them except phone calls/letters then emails when that became available. Now that I'm living in the same city with #2, #5 and the "Baby boy" (now 44). I have been included in all the family meetings. Just Tuesday night we siblings had a meeting about Mom's living situation. Its been resolved but we had a great time hashing and filling in the younger ones more about our live with Mom growing up. I don't have the Roll of the Eldest. #2 is in charge of her finances. #5 her health care and "Baby Boy" has moved in with her to help her. I appreciate my siblings. They each know their roll, I put in my two cents and all is well. Our unique dynamics gives us room to express our views. We don't always agree but chose to make that the exception. I googled this: As the leader of the pack, firstborns often tend to be: Reliable Conscientious Structured Cautious Controlling Achievers Firstborns bask in their parents' presence, which may explain why they sometimes act like mini-adults. Firstborns are diligent and want to be the best at everything they do. They excel at winning the hearts of their elders. Believe me of that list Reliable and Cautious are the only adjetives that describe me. Even reliable is suspect in some situations. |
| Your past makes you who you are today. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?{c\/c} "YOU ARE NOW WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN BECOMING" This took me awhile to figure out. I just didn't get it at first. Now I understand. This is so true. Growing up I watched my mother's action's change over the years based on her childhood and all the conflicts he endured in her lifetime. As each of us pass the time, meeting people, dealing with the issues of our life, we have the opportunity to learn, grow emotionally and spiritually. What we do with these opportunities is what makes us the person we are at this moment. These choices mold us in to compassionate or intolerant beings. They help us to see that everyone has choices and we are prompted by our conscience to make good choices. It is our own will that determines that outcome. You chose to show mercy even when mercy isn't extended to you. You chose to retaliate when mercy is offered. What you are now is determined by the choices, not the events but the CHOICES you made when faced with these events. Choose wisely what you do as many both young and old are watching your actions. Follow this link and see what you are being watched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uzK3VwzraM Tina Weaver ** Image ID #1988770 Unavailable ** |
| Prompt: A blogger, a short story writer and a poet walk into a bar . . . I have no idea what the above is about. Maybe someone ran out of prompts. I saw ♥ Jbradford is writing ♥   's post about what made her happy. I thought about what she said and it came to my mind that over the years what brings me joy has indeed changed. When I was pre-twenties a book and not having to do dishes would make me very happy. My joy was spending time with my Dad, hunting or even fishing. That was something he enjoyed but not with us girls so much. After I got married I could list a number of things that brought me joy but none are a positive thing to say about one's spouse. Still a book in hand was a constant companion. I've read at least a hundred thousand through my years, most I don't even remember. In the last few years I've come to accept the little things that make me happy aren't the same things I used to look forward to. I love getting calls from my daughter. She gave me tickets to see a movie as a pre-birthday gift. I love that my husband travels and is gone for weeks at a time. We talk on the phone and he is less about the nitpicking the small things until he gets home. (I'm a procrastinator) "Why do it today when you can do it tomorrow or the next day, or when it rains?" When I started getting some response about my manuscript, a couple of people mentioned to him about my story. He has no idea what its about or what I've been doing to get it published. All of the sudden its, "Just go out there and pay to get it done." Apparently he's heard people asking when it will be ready to read, or what's it about or how soon do you think you'll be published. He just want's it done so he isn't bothered by it. How odd. Now that he's given me some leeway to pay to have it edited and published, the process isn't all that easy. I asked on one of the writers sites on Facebook about that and got slammed with all the bad things about vanity publishing. I know there has to be good publishers out there. I've come to the conclusion I need to pay for editing and then work on getting is published. I have sent it out to a number of literary agents and publishing houses. One of the forms for an agent, included the question was: Why do you want to publish? The choices were thought provoking to me. I can see that some might have applied to memoirs and family history projects. Some were targeted to self-help books. I had to stop and think, "Why DO I want to be published?" It certainly isn't some ego trip, but then I can't ignore the fact I would like to see someone reading my story. I'd love to have someone say, "I couldn't put it down." (That did happen) Is that ego? I shamefully have to admit there is a bit of ego involved. What I think is more important is that its the confirmation that I can craft a story others enjoy and are willing to put down hard earned money to buy. |
Prompt: Do bystanders have a responsibility to intervene when someone is in trouble? Why or Why not? Since it was first recorded, the good Samaritan story has touched hearts and people have responded with a helping hand to someone in need. Whether it be assisting someone from a burning car, stopping to help a person in a fight or just rescuing an animal in danger. It is in our nature to help the helpless. Then in the last decade or so, greedy lawyers, insensitive judges and the less than honest public have shut the door to people coming to the rescue. These upholders of the law, interpreters of the constitution felt the need to line their own pockets or make a judicial precedent with their name on it. Then of course someone had to side with them and not over rule their judgement, and I 'm sure that included lining someone's pocket or bed. As you can tell I have very little respect for the judicial system in place today. To counter this hand-chopping of the helpful citizen, the good lawyers and judges came up with the Good Samaritan Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law) Should we help or not? We do out of instinct but then reality checks us and we access the situation as a possible law suit and offer to call 911. Some just walk away like those who left the poor man in the roadside. It is a question we all think about. In fact there is a TV show that asks that question. They put actors in situations and watch the public's reaction. They interview them. I remember the little boy in the winter sitting on a bus bench with no coat. What happens is pretty heartwarming. Most of us care about our neighbor. Jesus told the parable then asked, "Who was thy neighbor?" When they answered, he encouraged them to look out for their neighbors. |
| After driving my new car I have to say the only thing I would like to have but I'm not sure where to put it is: A purse hanger. I drive most of the time by myself and just put my purse in the passanger seat. There are times when I have a guest or hubby wants to ride shotgun. Where can I put my purse that I can easily get to it? Maybe if there were a hook somewhere behind the seats where I could hook the handle of my purse on to it and if I need to acess it, just reach behind the passanger seat and ther hangs my purse. even a retractible one from the ceiling that adjusts to the weight and holds it between the front seats. I don't know if the car mfgr would do this but I hate having to find my purse dumped upside down on the floor or slid so far behind me I can't reach it unless I have to get out of the car or climb over the back. I'm just saying, a little more thought for women might be appropriate. |
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She is a great woman and so kind to me.