Sometimes even the best of people can get dicouraged and those who care just can't seem to get through to them. It happens in the best of families between parents and their teenaged children and it happens other places too and in happens in places and to people one would never expect.
But sometimes it takes the words of strangers to bring home the truth, love, and caring people can have towards one another. And sometimes, that is all it takes is the kind and understanding word that lets one know that maybe things are okay.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
I finally won
Last spring I was headed to the mountains to visit my property in Old Fort when a passenger in an SUV started throwing cans at my vehicle. I was on the phone with the highway patrol when the SUV exited off the highway onto the exit where the patrol station is located. The passenger then exited the SUV at the stop sign and attacked my car with his fist.
Finally the Morganton police showed up and while I was talking with them, the police told the other people to leave. I couldn't believe it. I then discovered I had locked my keys in my car with the engine running.
Not to worry, I called my auto club and was told they had a locksmith on the way. Thirty minutes later my auto club called and informed me the locksmith woyuld not be coming and I was on my own.
I ended up having to break a window to get back into my car and I thought it only right that the auto club reinbursement up to the amount that they would have had to fork out for the locksmith, especially since they had erred in leaving me stranded 130 miles from home.
They admitted they had erred in handling the situation and said to send them the bill. I did and they refused to pay it claimming I did not have the spare tire replacemnt option on my policy. It didn't matter who I contacted, from service reps, to the president, to the council that oversees the entire operation to public relations, I got no positive feedback. Most often I was ignored and if I received a response, it was always about the spare tire thing.
The anual membershee dues are coming due and we received the billin the mail. I asked my wife to call and ask for a free year to compensate us for having to replace the window on the car. "Nooo! we can't possible do that" AARP responded. Maybe we can give you partial credit but we can't give you a whole year free."
A year is only $56.00.
Three days later, I received a call saying we would be receiving a check for $200.00 for the cost of the window I had to replace.
They should have done that to begin with. I'm sure many people have read all the negative comments I posted about AARP auto club and I can not undo what they have read.
I'm glad they finally did the right thing in the end though.
Finally the Morganton police showed up and while I was talking with them, the police told the other people to leave. I couldn't believe it. I then discovered I had locked my keys in my car with the engine running.
Not to worry, I called my auto club and was told they had a locksmith on the way. Thirty minutes later my auto club called and informed me the locksmith woyuld not be coming and I was on my own.
I ended up having to break a window to get back into my car and I thought it only right that the auto club reinbursement up to the amount that they would have had to fork out for the locksmith, especially since they had erred in leaving me stranded 130 miles from home.
They admitted they had erred in handling the situation and said to send them the bill. I did and they refused to pay it claimming I did not have the spare tire replacemnt option on my policy. It didn't matter who I contacted, from service reps, to the president, to the council that oversees the entire operation to public relations, I got no positive feedback. Most often I was ignored and if I received a response, it was always about the spare tire thing.
The anual membershee dues are coming due and we received the billin the mail. I asked my wife to call and ask for a free year to compensate us for having to replace the window on the car. "Nooo! we can't possible do that" AARP responded. Maybe we can give you partial credit but we can't give you a whole year free."
A year is only $56.00.
Three days later, I received a call saying we would be receiving a check for $200.00 for the cost of the window I had to replace.
They should have done that to begin with. I'm sure many people have read all the negative comments I posted about AARP auto club and I can not undo what they have read.
I'm glad they finally did the right thing in the end though.
I bet you care now
I asked a fellow writer to help me with my first book and was turned down because my subject was no a popular one. "You have to write about things or people that others care about" I was told. "No one cares about prostitutes".
I suppose she was right, unless. of course, the prostitute happens to be involved with someone famous, like the governor of New York. I have found that people told care enough to even be mildly interested in finding ways to break the cycle of drugs and incarceration.
I have discovered that some of the girls that prostitute themselves do so in spite of their families and their background and there seems nothing that anyone did or could do that would make any difference. Then there are others that seemed to never have had a change to be anything but what they are and just a little care and encouragement could make the biggest difference.
Then there are others who find their way out and make something out of their lives, sometimes spectacularly. Now it seems one who did so has been outed by Kitty Wells who writes unauthorized biographies of famous people. Shockingly real, one of the worlds richest and most influential women was a former prostitute.
I suppose she was right, unless. of course, the prostitute happens to be involved with someone famous, like the governor of New York. I have found that people told care enough to even be mildly interested in finding ways to break the cycle of drugs and incarceration.
I have discovered that some of the girls that prostitute themselves do so in spite of their families and their background and there seems nothing that anyone did or could do that would make any difference. Then there are others that seemed to never have had a change to be anything but what they are and just a little care and encouragement could make the biggest difference.
Then there are others who find their way out and make something out of their lives, sometimes spectacularly. Now it seems one who did so has been outed by Kitty Wells who writes unauthorized biographies of famous people. Shockingly real, one of the worlds richest and most influential women was a former prostitute.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
What's New with Obama
"Pleading for unity in a newly divided government, President Barack Obama implored Democratic and Republican lawmakers to rally behind his vision of economic revival for an anxious nation, declaring in his State of the Union address Tuesday night: "We will move forward together or not at all."
The idea is the same. Two years ago Obama was touting bi-partisianship and imploring Republicans to do things his way and now he is still imploring that everyone should share HIS vision.
Honestly, I am one of the poor people and his ideas are to my personal benefit. I have already received the new home buyers tax credit (and I wasn't aware such a thing existed when I purchased my house). When he talks about sharing the wealth I am one of the people you have to share with.
A little extra income sures makes a big difference in my life. Believe it or not, I am actually paying less for my house than I did in rent for the tiny country apartment so buying the house was not a burden by any means. I do not mind collecting money that I earned. Veterans benefits I believe I earned the right to collect on them To this date, the only two I have used was the education one and the one for a VA housing loan.
I served four years in the US Navy, with 36 months of overseas duty (not counting Pueto Rico) and two tours of duty in a war zone. I don't think it unfair to believe that I should be able to receive medical benefits if those ailments are connected to my service.
The truth is, I didn't earn the stimulus check issued by the Bush government nor the housing tax credit give by Obama. I don't want free medical care. I've seen how people act when they see the word free. Instead of being grateful, many people try to figure out how to game the system and eventually it will become a curse to me instead of a blessing. Any time you do something nice for people, some will try to take advantage of you.
No, I think Obama needs to get off his high horse, as my daddy used to say, and stop expecting everyone to see the wisdom of following Obama blindly. maybe he should just take time to listen to the concerns of the other side and then maybe Congress could find a way out of the mess that our government has lead us in to.
The idea is the same. Two years ago Obama was touting bi-partisianship and imploring Republicans to do things his way and now he is still imploring that everyone should share HIS vision.
Honestly, I am one of the poor people and his ideas are to my personal benefit. I have already received the new home buyers tax credit (and I wasn't aware such a thing existed when I purchased my house). When he talks about sharing the wealth I am one of the people you have to share with.
A little extra income sures makes a big difference in my life. Believe it or not, I am actually paying less for my house than I did in rent for the tiny country apartment so buying the house was not a burden by any means. I do not mind collecting money that I earned. Veterans benefits I believe I earned the right to collect on them To this date, the only two I have used was the education one and the one for a VA housing loan.
I served four years in the US Navy, with 36 months of overseas duty (not counting Pueto Rico) and two tours of duty in a war zone. I don't think it unfair to believe that I should be able to receive medical benefits if those ailments are connected to my service.
The truth is, I didn't earn the stimulus check issued by the Bush government nor the housing tax credit give by Obama. I don't want free medical care. I've seen how people act when they see the word free. Instead of being grateful, many people try to figure out how to game the system and eventually it will become a curse to me instead of a blessing. Any time you do something nice for people, some will try to take advantage of you.
No, I think Obama needs to get off his high horse, as my daddy used to say, and stop expecting everyone to see the wisdom of following Obama blindly. maybe he should just take time to listen to the concerns of the other side and then maybe Congress could find a way out of the mess that our government has lead us in to.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Missing
The man sat in his usual pew, third back from the front on the right hand side when one enters the church. He looked over to his left where another family had taken their seat for years now and the seat was empty. It had been empty for several years now and other people have taken their turns sitting there. Even today, even though someone else occupied that seat, to him it was still empty.
A bond had been broken, a fellowship denied, a lonliness taking its place. he was glad others were coming and that the church, especially in these difficult times, was growing. Still, he missed the family that had sat there.
He wished that he had spoken to them when they did come.
See you in church Sunday
A bond had been broken, a fellowship denied, a lonliness taking its place. he was glad others were coming and that the church, especially in these difficult times, was growing. Still, he missed the family that had sat there.
He wished that he had spoken to them when they did come.
See you in church Sunday
Friday, January 21, 2011
Science versus God
If evolution is fact does that mean there is no God? I can neither prove nor disprove the existance of God but I have not been convinced that evolution exists either. To me, it just seems totally unlikely that a whole species could replace itself with something different. Maybe one or two creatures within a species would change and then slowly gain an advantage and eventually replace the less evoled self but the evidence discovered so far does not suggest that.
The best evidence in nature of evolution is an animal will change color to help in survive but perhaps the animal had the ability to do so prior to the need to do so.
But even if evolution is a fact, it would not prove God does not exist but only serve to show that He is even more wonderous than anyone could ever have imagined.
See you in Church.
The best evidence in nature of evolution is an animal will change color to help in survive but perhaps the animal had the ability to do so prior to the need to do so.
But even if evolution is a fact, it would not prove God does not exist but only serve to show that He is even more wonderous than anyone could ever have imagined.
See you in Church.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Baseball
I am really enjoying the tapes my son gave me for Christmas about baseball. It's great to explore the history of the game and to learn the personalities of some of the old players, managers and innovators of the game.
Growing up I played a lot of sports. I played football and ran the mile on the track team as well as playing baseball. I remember my first track meet. I really had no training but was drafted by the coach after my performance on "field day", an event in which all the students were required to entire at least three events. I choose pull-ups, the softball throw, and the mile run. I finished second in pull-ups and was leading in the softball throw until a much bigger boy made his toss and beat me by three yards. I won my heat in the mile run, beating one of the track stars who ran that event on the track team.
When I ran my first race at College Park Junior High, I didn't not know about pacing myself and gave out at the end of the third leg and was soon passed by all the other runners. I wanted to give up when all the other runners had finished and I still had a hundred or so yards to go. The fans encouraged me to finish so I did to a cheering crowd. It felt great.
I did some amazing things playing football, especially considering I was a little fellow back then. I was especially good at kick-off and punt returns and my aggressive running style made me a hard man to tackle but as the other players grew and I didn't it proved to be a more painful experience than I cared to endure.
To some, baseball seems a slower and more subdued game than football but I find that true only if one views the game as a whole rather than concentrating on individual battles, defensive posturing, and strategies.
Most sports play not only against another team but also against the clock and often times a game seems foolish when it becomes obvious that the losing team cannot possible win, even if the team that is ahead goes home but the game still goes on because there is time left on the clock. That is the height of boredom to me.
In baseball, it does not matter how far behind one team is they always have a chance to win. As long as they do not make three outs, an inning can last forever. The game is simple yet intricately difficult at the same time.
My Dad and his three sons played backyard football for five years in a vacant lot beside the house and once Dad understood the rules of the game, he and I never lost to my two brothers until the very last time we played. He had gotten too old to move quickly and I had grown too fat to run.
It was fun but since my two brothers played together, I believe that had much to do with the strained relationship among us. My two brother remained close but I have always been left out of the loop.
Baseball, on the other hand, forged lasting memories from the earliest days from playing cow pasture ball in the nurseries in Longview, NC where my older brother, because of a speech impediment, was call a swoosh hitter to the end of my baseball career when, in much pain, I asked the coach to remove me from the game.
I played sand lot ball, little league, pony league, Babe Ruth League, and on school teams and outlaw baseball. My Dad would gather up a bunch of kids and we would travel from ball field to ball fields in search of other people playing. We would stop and challenge them to a game. Eventual this practice led to an organized league with firm schedules and even a state tournament in Kings Mountain, NC.
Such things didn't happen in basketball, track, football, or any other sport that I am aware of.
Unlike many other sports where the best teams can go all season and dominate every team they play like winning all 12 or 15 footballs games or going 32-0 in basketball, no such domination occurs in baseball. Over the course of a season, the team with the better players will most likely win the championship but every game is unique. Ever the Mets won forty games their first season.
When one see a man that is six foot five, he is asked "Did you play basketball?' and when you see a big man at over six feet and twohundred and fifty pounds, he is asked "Did you play football?" The is no such look for baseball players. Some professionals have been big men at six-eight and somme have been less than three feet tall.
I think too, that with the opportunity to play a lot more games in one season than in other sports, there is more room for memories.
Of all the sermons my Dad preached, I can remember the title of only one because he preached the same message on the first Sunday of the New Year and I can recall a few, but now many, of the things he said while I was growing up in his home, but my head and heart of full of things he said and did on the baseball field. Baseball was he passion and a way of sharing with his children, a bond that was never broken with his family.
My dream for retirement is to once again to be able to participate in a ball game by being a coach, not for the glory of winning, for life is more about losing than winning, but for the memories the game leaves us with and the reflection of life that the game reveals.
It is the greatest game of all time.
Growing up I played a lot of sports. I played football and ran the mile on the track team as well as playing baseball. I remember my first track meet. I really had no training but was drafted by the coach after my performance on "field day", an event in which all the students were required to entire at least three events. I choose pull-ups, the softball throw, and the mile run. I finished second in pull-ups and was leading in the softball throw until a much bigger boy made his toss and beat me by three yards. I won my heat in the mile run, beating one of the track stars who ran that event on the track team.
When I ran my first race at College Park Junior High, I didn't not know about pacing myself and gave out at the end of the third leg and was soon passed by all the other runners. I wanted to give up when all the other runners had finished and I still had a hundred or so yards to go. The fans encouraged me to finish so I did to a cheering crowd. It felt great.
I did some amazing things playing football, especially considering I was a little fellow back then. I was especially good at kick-off and punt returns and my aggressive running style made me a hard man to tackle but as the other players grew and I didn't it proved to be a more painful experience than I cared to endure.
To some, baseball seems a slower and more subdued game than football but I find that true only if one views the game as a whole rather than concentrating on individual battles, defensive posturing, and strategies.
Most sports play not only against another team but also against the clock and often times a game seems foolish when it becomes obvious that the losing team cannot possible win, even if the team that is ahead goes home but the game still goes on because there is time left on the clock. That is the height of boredom to me.
In baseball, it does not matter how far behind one team is they always have a chance to win. As long as they do not make three outs, an inning can last forever. The game is simple yet intricately difficult at the same time.
My Dad and his three sons played backyard football for five years in a vacant lot beside the house and once Dad understood the rules of the game, he and I never lost to my two brothers until the very last time we played. He had gotten too old to move quickly and I had grown too fat to run.
It was fun but since my two brothers played together, I believe that had much to do with the strained relationship among us. My two brother remained close but I have always been left out of the loop.
Baseball, on the other hand, forged lasting memories from the earliest days from playing cow pasture ball in the nurseries in Longview, NC where my older brother, because of a speech impediment, was call a swoosh hitter to the end of my baseball career when, in much pain, I asked the coach to remove me from the game.
I played sand lot ball, little league, pony league, Babe Ruth League, and on school teams and outlaw baseball. My Dad would gather up a bunch of kids and we would travel from ball field to ball fields in search of other people playing. We would stop and challenge them to a game. Eventual this practice led to an organized league with firm schedules and even a state tournament in Kings Mountain, NC.
Such things didn't happen in basketball, track, football, or any other sport that I am aware of.
Unlike many other sports where the best teams can go all season and dominate every team they play like winning all 12 or 15 footballs games or going 32-0 in basketball, no such domination occurs in baseball. Over the course of a season, the team with the better players will most likely win the championship but every game is unique. Ever the Mets won forty games their first season.
When one see a man that is six foot five, he is asked "Did you play basketball?' and when you see a big man at over six feet and twohundred and fifty pounds, he is asked "Did you play football?" The is no such look for baseball players. Some professionals have been big men at six-eight and somme have been less than three feet tall.
I think too, that with the opportunity to play a lot more games in one season than in other sports, there is more room for memories.
Of all the sermons my Dad preached, I can remember the title of only one because he preached the same message on the first Sunday of the New Year and I can recall a few, but now many, of the things he said while I was growing up in his home, but my head and heart of full of things he said and did on the baseball field. Baseball was he passion and a way of sharing with his children, a bond that was never broken with his family.
My dream for retirement is to once again to be able to participate in a ball game by being a coach, not for the glory of winning, for life is more about losing than winning, but for the memories the game leaves us with and the reflection of life that the game reveals.
It is the greatest game of all time.
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