OK, so if you don't cross country ski and you don't snowmobile, why in the world would you go to Wisconsin in January?

Well, this might be one reason

But other than an obvious reason like seeing Neal, for Christmas I was given tickets to see Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Late Show January 26th

So we went north.  We got to spend most of the day with Neal.  He even let his parents come along and we visited a furniture store. Neal liked the rocky horse, but old tightwad Grandpa didn't buy it for him

I think I might have been able to get a real horse for less. It was a REALLY nice furniture store.  But I thought $999 for this chair was a bit high

Of course, then I saw this dresser for $1670

I guess my style is more early American Yard Sale

For supper we went to the New Seoul Korean Restaurant

 It wasn't the West Union Cafe, but it was good.
Later in the evening Sue and Jim and I went to the show. We were up where you could see just about everything

One thing that was amazing was Garrison's not using notes or script for a 2 hour show

Fred Newman was equally amazing with his ability to do sound effects with just mouth sounds

We had a great time.

We have a ventless heater in the living room for those times we have a cold north wind (it's an old farm house). So I put a FirstAlert Co detector in the living room.

 

It seems to randomly beeps and says "TESTING! co2 detected. co2 levels of 0 ppm" A bit annoying, to say the least.

A little Googling and I find we aren't alone. I found a discussion onine at http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/wiring/msg111948236128.html  It seems the FirstAlert SC07 can be tested by pointing an infrared remote control at it. And others have found that CFL bulbs and flat screen TV's can set them off.

I moved the CO detector to another room and will have to go shopping for one for the living room. Hopefully that cannot be tested by a TV remote control.

I had an interesting dream last night. I was in a service truck dangling off the top of a building. I had called for help, but had no clue where the guy was who was driving, what was holding us up, how we got there, or how to get out of the situation.

And then I woke up.

I was a bit disappointed because I'd really like to know how I got out of that mess.

But you know, life is kind of like that. Often times we find ourselves in a total mess. We're not real sure how we got there other than we know some really bad choices were made that looked like good ones at the time. And unless some external power else helps us it is most likely we are going to crash and burn.

It's times like this I like to remember Romans 8:28: We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. (NCV)

Oh, and I hope it's not a prophecy. Just to be safe I won't be riding in any service trucks driving around the tops of buildings this week.

On the road

Things on the farm were caught up, so Sue and I took the opportunity to go to North Carolina and see Jill and Chris.  It's been a fun and educational week.  For instancewe stopped in Vincennes and got a drink.  I learned not to waste my money on

 Absolutely the worst tasting stuff I ever drank that did not involve a prescription.  We made it to Cookeville, Tennessee the first day.  When we first started coming to Tennessee we got a BP credit card because they offered promos on prices for company cards.  They still have deals like that.  We had some bonus points on out BP card so we filled up while there.

 Yes, that is the price we paid.  Just to prove it here is the receipt and the regular pump price

 I did figure out I need to work on my marketing.  Organic hard red wheat is selling for $115 a bushel at two different grocery stores we stopped at.

 I could go to some extra effort for that price.  Well, enough for now.  More in a few days.

In class again ?

Yep, in class again.  I spent Saturday in a First responder refresher course at Lakeland College's Effingham campus.

Got to meet some new people (this is about half the class)

Brushed up on a few things

Learned a few new things

And even passed the test!

I want to thank the Air Evac folks for the training.  Their part of the class fees was $60 and they had 3 people there all day, one coming from near Henderson, Kentucky

I learned any day you don't ride in one of these on a stretcher

it could be called a good day.

www.Honeville.com

I was talking to Danny Hone about his business

 ( http://www.honeville.com ), and when I got home  I decided to do a little searching.  I found an article about him on Sheep Boutique (http://sheepboutique.tumblr.com/post/6076205466/internet-retailer-finds-success-in-small-town)

I also found he is ranked one of the top20sites.com for firefighting shirts ( http://www.honeville.com/hofit.html )

The business has grown to the point of hiring a new employee.  His wife Cindy has given notice to the an she is a manager at and will be starting Monday full time at www.honeville.com

She posted this on Facebook:
"YES yesterday was SUPPOSED to be my last day BUT it wasn't LOL. Usually you are thanked for your notice but just excused early (I have seen that sooooo many times that is what I was expecting). BUT when they sat down with me they asked me if I could stay another week. After much negotiating with my new "boss" I decided to stay BUT I am only working FOUR DAYS/ 34HRS this week. Then I will be off to new things."

If things go as planned they hope to be totally debt free by the end of the year.. Great job, Danny!

Have we become complacent?

I'm bouncing around ideas for a communion meditation for Sunday.  This is a collection of various thoughts.  I guess you'll have to come to church to hear the final version.

Have we become complacent about communion?  I feel safe in saying we have more people here today who have been taking communion more than 20 years than less than 20 years.  Do you remember the first time you took communion?

I'll admit, I do not.

But recently I got to watch some young ladies taking communion for the first time.  The excitement.  The wonder.  The mystery.  I fear most of us have lost that. We come to church and ...Oh yeah, communion time again.  These girls were so excited to be taking communion they could barely contain themselves Oh that we old folks would have such enthusiasm.

Don't misunderstand,  I don't think the elements of communion are something mystic.  It's just bread and juice.  It has no mysterious power.  It's just common food Jesus used as an example.

The mystery, the power, is in the remembering what it symbolizes.  In declaring by our actions and our belief.


Some say that is why we should not have communion every Sunday, because it makes it less special.  I worry that having it less often makes it too special. There is a mystery about it, a holiness to it.  But at the same time I don't think it needs to be something mystic.  It's just bread and juice.  It has no mysterious power.  It's just common food Jesus used as an example.