Hurricane Katrina (More Perspective)

A gentleman came into the library just a few minutes ago.

He needed to use the Internet, as a visitor. As is my practice, I asked him where he was from.

He is from a suburb of New Orleans. He and his family are taking refuge here in Oklahoma. He wanted to check the web to see what the situation was in his neighborhood.

I didn't know what to say. I have read the stories on CNN.com and Foxnews.com. I knew that the chances of his home being all right were slim.

I asked him if his family was all right. He replied that they were all able to get out in time. However, they weren't sure if they still had a home. And he is out of a job now.

"I'm so sorry," I replied.

"At least we are all alright," he replied. "That's what's important. We'll get back soon."

Wow.

Perspective

I am very fortunate.

This morning, I woke up in my bedroom, chattering my teeth because my bedroom was cold. On my desk, some of my greeting cards that I have gotten from friends have fallen over. I rolled out of bed, went downstairs and waited for my electric-powered computer to log onto the Internet. I read stories about how gas prices are going to go up to near 4 dollars a gallon.

I am very fortunate.

I got up out of my chair and momentarily thought about going to a restaurant to eat. Because I was saving money for gas, I decided to eat at home instead. I pulled a bean burrito out of the cold refrigerator, and poured myself a glass of clean tap water.

I am very fortunate.

I took a hot shower. I went into my bedroom and opened the closet door. I fretted about which outfit I was going to wear to work.

I am very fortunate.

I got in my old Thunderbird and drove to my job.

I am very fortunate because:

--I have more than one outfit
--I have a roof over my head
--I have a car to put gas into
--My drinking water is clean
--I have fresh food

And most of all, I am better off than thousands of New Orleans residents who don't have any of those things right now...some of them looking for loved ones, wondering if they are alive...having to look at a city that is underwater and will stay that way for a long time.

God bless New Orleans and their people.

Some Specific Prayer Requests

Well, I had a job interview for the job at Norman today. I think it went pretty well.

Please pray specifically for the following:

--That I will be able to afford travelling back and forth on the days I have to work there (assuming I get the position)
--That my old car will hold up
--That gas prices will go down soon

That is all for today.

Today's Gas Prices

This sign is getting closer and closer to reality...

How Great It Is

Now Drinking
Diet Coke with Splenda


Soo...this weekend was the best I have had in a long time. On Saturday, I celebrated my birthday with my friends. We had a great time. Misti actually wore her hair straight! G had gotten a wonderful straightening iron, and she straightened Misti's hair for her. She also straightened my own hair. Then we all put makeup on each other. Fun times!

After the guys got there, we went to Garfield's to eat. Brian Mays found it necessary to tell the waitress it was my birthday. So I got sung to. Fun. But I did get a free ice cream out of the deal.

Then we went back home to have cake. I got an OU cake. I took a picture of it. It was so pretty. :-) Then we all played Mafia. Then people kept trying to have me see if I had something in my car (foot massager, clothes, a jacket, my brain). When I finally bit, the whole group went with me, which made it painfully obvious that they were up to something. Well, Mays had decided to plant several plastic mice in my vehicle. Bleargh. But that's not all! He had also planted two plastic tarantulas in G's bed! Mel G. called him a bizho.

Last night, I went with G to Council Road's Bible study. It was very cool. I think I will definitely be back.

In conclusion, here is a list of my birthday gifts:

--$35 from my mom and stepdad
--A free massage from Wendy (ahhhhh)
--Some scrapbooking stuff and a photo frame from Misti and Brian
--A prayerbox necklace from Cindy
--Some roses from Mel G.
--Two CD's, a Dr. Pepper Chapstick and some lotion from Leigh Ann
--Earrings from Amy
--Some lotion and body wash from Laura and Phillip

Also, Brian Craven bought my dinner Saturday night.

Thanks heaps and heaps, guys!

Christmas Time

I am way ahead of the game.

I have already started making my friends' Christmas presents. So far, I am doing OK on them. I have also purchased a coupla new shirts. I think they will be cute. One of them had a hem come undone, so I am fixing that.

In other news, not much going on. I have a couple of days off this weekend. On Saturday I am going up to the city to celebrate my birthday with some of my friends. It should be an awesome time.

In closing, I look good in red. Check it out:

Butt Dance, Butt Daaaaaaaance!

Wha....?

Okay, just WHAT in the SAM J. HADES is going on?

I am used to getting, say, 15-20 hits in a day. I have gotten 30 hits IN THE LAST HOUR!!!!!

Holy Moses on a Sit-N-Spin! I DOUBT I am that popular.

Link of the Day

How Oklahoma are you?

I scored 106, by the way.

Gosh!

Almost 10 hours of sleep last night and I am still exhausted! Gah! What is wrong with me? Maybe some multivitamins will help. Or SOMETHING. I'm sick of feeling like falling asleep at my work desk!

In other news, not much else has happened in the last, say, 24 hours. Only 4 more days till my birthday. Yay.

The One Where She Talks About Gas Rationing and Card Games

Wow...they are already mentioning gas rationing in the Oklahoman! That's not good. I have already been cutting back on eating out, etc. because gas is so high now. Pretty soon, I'll only be leaving the house to go to work. That's kind of sad, really.

In other happier news, I got to hang out with Mel G, Wendy, and Chris Friday night. We went to Mel G's new church for a fellowship they were having there. It was a lot of fun. I learned how to play this game called Speed. You have a deck of cards, and you try to cover pairs. If there are no pairs, you and your partner take the cards in front of you and start again. The first person to get rid of all their cards wins. Of course, I suck at speed games, so I lost spectacularly to my first partner. Oh, well. It was still a lot of fun. Another fun card game is called Nerts. It's kind of the same concept...get rid of all of your cards. Only you try to make stacks of numbers of the same suit. It's kind of hard to explain. But it's a pretty fun game.

Talented Musician of the Day

Stuff

Well, I apologize for the lack of meaningful updates as of late. The truth is, I haven't had much to post lately, other than the toothache stuff.

It's so very different from the good ol' days, where I had lots to post about every day. Now I am feeling pretty lonely. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, mind you.

Oh, well. 7 more days till my birthday, anyway.

Blog of the Day

This is Strong Sad's journal. He updated it just the other day. Squeeeeee!

Fun Pillow of the Day

You must admit, that is an adorable pillow, even if you don't know who Eh!Steve is.

Best. TV. Kiss. Ever.

'Nuff said.

Toothache

Well, yesterday I ended up in the Urgent Care room. Why, do you ask? Well, I had a toothache. No...let me rephrase that. I had an EXCRUTIATING toothache. It got to the point where I thought I would die...and would have WELCOMED death. But...the good news is, two hours and $150 later, I got some antibiotics and some painkillers, and I am almost as good as new. Next step is to visit a dentist. Anyone know any in the Shawnee area that are relatively cheap? I'm kind of poor, see.

In other news, I slept for 14 hours last night. So I am feeling pretty good. At least, I don't feel like the tail-end of a donkey.

Pain Medication

Well, I went to bed super early last night, owing to the fact that I was too sick to care. I feel much better today, though, thanks to several pain medications. I tried Aleve, which usually works for me great, but it didn't this time. So I tried Tylenol. Son of a gun...it worked.

Hmmm...let me see...On Sunday, I got to spend some time with Misti and Brian. Misti and I went shopping for some winter clothes. I got a button-down shirt, two sweaters, and another top. I also got a pink hoodie. (I do love hoodies!) After that, she and I went back to Brian's, then we all went to a movie. We went to see Must Love Dogs. Very cute movie. I must admit, I am tempted to find an Internet date after that. I don't think I shall, though...too much unknown. Then again, it may be a good way for me to get to know people...

Well, less than two weeks until my 20-uh....something birthday. Oh, well, let's pretend it's my 21st, shall we? :-)

Comforting Sign of the Day

I should bloody well hope not!

Gas Prices Part Deux

Well...I did a bit of quick calculation, as a way of comparison. I read somewhere that gas (petrol) in Great Britian is 1 pound sterling per liter. Soooo, I went on one of those trusty exchange calculators. 1 pound sterling is worth about $1.82. So gas there is about $1.82 a liter. Multiply that by 3.8 to convert to gallons... $6.90!

And I thought prices here in the US were high!!!

Dag, yo.

Penguin Baseball

Dag nab it! I have been playing that game for two days, and the highest score I have managed was 311.8! Gah!!!! I also played that Avoider game. I stand by my earlier assertion...That. Game. Is. Evil.

Gas Prices

Gas prices are bordering on highway robbery. I saw signs advertising gas for $2.50 a gallon! Holy crap. The worst part about it is that there's no relief in sight. They are talking that it could go up to $3 or higher before the year is out. Geez. It's almost getting to the point where people are quitting their jobs because they can't afford the gas to get there and back. That can't be good for the economy.

In other news, I am working tonight. I am looking forward to it...it will be relatively peaceful. After that...who knows what I will be up to? Probably shopping for cheap gas.

Another New Game

This game is evil.Thanks, Brian Mays.

Funny Stuff

Well, I asked for some funny stuff today, and my friends delivered. Here are some jokes compliments of Brian Leon Mays:

What did the former nun say when she was asked why she had only two outfits?
"Force of habit."

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman,"Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?

Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

Can an atheist get insurance against acts of God?

And here's a website from Booker:

Penguin Baseball

And he officially challenges everyone in the reading area to beat his score of 323.5. Mays has already beat it.

Does It Ever End?!!!

Here is another spam letter I got. Gah!


I am Mr Jones Gideon, an attorney at law. A deceased client of

mine, by name Mr. Andrew Parker,who hereinafter shall be

referred to as my client, died as the result of a

heart-related condition in November 2002. I have contacted you

to assist in repatriating the money left behind by my client
before it is confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank

where this deposit valued at 45million dollars is lodged.

This bank has issued me a notice to contact the next of kin,

or the account will be confiscated because there is a

government gazzette/mandate/authorising all banks to freeze or

consificate any account that has not been servicable in a long

period of time,this is geared towards capital flight for the

economy.

My proposition to you is to seek your consent to present you

as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my named client, so that

the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.

Then we can share the amount on a mutually agreed-upon

percentage. All legal documents to back up your claim as my

client's next-of-kin will be provided.

All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this
transaction through. This will be executed under a legitimate

arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

If this business proposition offends your moral values,do

accept my apology but if not, then contact me at once to

indicate your interest,By giving me your telephone number, fax

number and your address so that I too can contact you.

kindly send your response tojones.solicitor@virgin.net

Best regards,
Barrister Jones Gideon.

Welllll...

I went in to have my car looked at, and the repairman said that the only thing wrong with it was that my coolant was low! Wow. He put some coolant in it, and now it's not overheating anymore. So that's good news. :-)

Car

Well, I am fixing to go in to get my car fixed. It seems that the thermostat and the fan clutch went out on me. That's not a Good Thing. Sooo, I must repair it. Or have it repaired, rather.

Will come back later, maybe.

Please Read This

I think I need to make some things known on here. I think there has been too much going on on this blog, and I need to change some things.

In short, I started this blog for two purposes. First, I wanted for my dear friends to read about my day. What goes through my mind, what I enjoy, what have you. Second, I wanted to provide said dear friends a way to communicate with me. That is why I have enabled comments, where other boards do not.

Oftentimes, I am looking to give encouragement. I love to type things that make other people smile. That's why I posted the goofy sign. It made me smile. (By the way...in case you were wondering, and you probably were...North, South and Dennis is a joke on Homestar Runner. Strong Bad invented a game based on one of those old role-playing games. The promptor tells him that the available directions are North, South, and Dennis. Okay, so I thought it was funny.)

Some days, though, I need an encouraging word myself. There have been times when I have posted how blah I feel on X day. I tend to not go into too much detail, because we don't need that. For the most part, comments made to this blog have been very encouraging. I have seen so many people leave notes that say simply, "Love ya!" and that would make my day.

However, there have been some discouraging ones. Like...people pointing out what I have done wrong...why they would have to side with the other person (like there was any kind of debate!), etc. That's disappointing to me. I like to believe that I am a good person, loved by God, and saved by His blood. When people continue to discourage me, especially when I know that I did the best that I could, it makes me discouraged.

That said, I do not for a moment claim to be a perfect person. I make mistakes just like anyone else. There is not a person in the world that is perfect. If there were, there would be no need for Jesus's death and resurrection. But I have to come home at the end of the day knowing that I have done the best I could do, and learn from the mistakes I have made, as well as triumph in my successes. I think that this is what this blog is about.

There are some things I won't talk about on this blog, mainly because it involves people I know and dearly care about. If I feel for a minute that someone would be bothered by me posting something, I won't post it. I know of at least one occasion that someone was bothered by something I posted, that I meant as a joke. But I changed it the MOMENT it was bought to my attention. No defensiveness, none of that. That is not censorship nor "not being true to myself," as some would call it. That is consideration for others.

In short? I like encouraging, goofy, funny comments. They make my day. However, discouraging comments make my day hard. You know what I am saying?

A good word of advice for anyone leaving a comment on ANYONE'S blog (and I apologize, because I hate unsolicited advice, and you probably do too)...Imagine if the situation were reversed, and you were the one that was receiving the comment. Would your feelings be hurt? Or even better (since I am more sensitive than most...), would I appreciate someone talking to my mother that way? Then go from there.

Okay, I will step down from my soapbox now. :-)

The More Things Change, The More They Don't Remain the Same

Last night I decided to embark on an adventure of sorts. I actually returned to my old church, Evangelistic Center Church. I went to church there when I was in high school, and for all intents and purposes it was one of my first church homes.

I had my reasons for not returning earlier. Basically, my beliefs have changed somewhat. They believe that speaking in tongues is a gift that everyone can have and should practice. I no longer agree with that, especially reading Paul's writings on tongues. So I haven't been back until last night.

In short, I was amazed by how few people I remembered from back in the day. Most of the people I knew from back then have moved on, I guess. Like I have.

But it was still interesting. I left the service early.

Sign of the Day

If you are a Homestar Runner fan, you'll get a chuckle out of this. :-)

Phones

I am the proud owner of a Nokia 33-something telephone! Yes, I know you are impressed. Actually, I wanted to get a flip-phone, but they were out. See, Cingular was kind enough to turn off all of our towers yesterday, and Alltel was kind enough not to tell us. So, I was without phone. I go to the Alltel store in Shawnee, where I found out that they were out of the flip-phones. Sigh. But I did get a new phone, though. And I set up voice messenging. So now people can (gasp!) actually leave messages to my phone. Try it sometime!

This weekend my sister, brother-in-law, and three (3) neices came to visit. They are moving to South Carolina, and they are basically making the tour. Their next stop is Memphis to visit my grandmother. Anyway, we had cookouts on Friday and Sunday. Fridays was at Dad's, and Sunday's was at Mom's.

Yesterday, they came over, and we played Mexican Train. We also went and got snow-cones. Adam (my brother-in-law) told me that they didn't have the shaved-ice cones in Seattle. They just have the frozen-ice ones. Nice.

On Saturday night, I went with Misti, G, Leigh Ann and Wendy to see The Island. Now, I know that a lot of people think it's weird, but I liked it. It was a pretty good movie. That night, I spent the night with G and Misti, and I went to church Sunday morning.

And that's about all she wrote.

Jumping Jehoshaphat!

I have had 32 hits so far today. And that is without me stuffing my hit box, as I usually try (unsuccessfully) to do!

Maybe I am just really liked today. Who knows?

I Am What I Am

I think the title says it all.

I am my own person. With my own likes, dislikes, tastes, fondnesses, abhorations (is that a word? Oh, well...). I may not like the things that others like, and others may not like the things that I like. That's OK.

If I want to try out new things, I will do so. And I will be just as likely to do so when people DON'T put my tastes down as when people do. If not more so.

P.S. If you read this and are wondering what the Hades I am talking about, then chances are it doesn't pertain to you, so you can relax. :-)