Friday follies

 Let me start this off by telling you, music wise, my top 3 did not change.  However, there is an odd statistical anomaly going on I'll let you in on in a bit.  But first, let me set up "the follies".

I have my first appointment with my new doc next week .  Thus, I realized yesterday, I need to get my blood work done.  (Results are just now coming in; if I can, I'll let you know at the end of the post).  Before that, though, last week we had the car finally paid off, and were left with the daunting task of going to the BMV to get the lien taken off the title.  I decided I could kill two birds with one stone there.

Between them, I got two letters from my eye doc's.  One was a bill for the amount I had ALREADY paid at my appointment last month; the other was for the very same things, but $20 MORE.  And there was another little thing hanging over our heads too, which I had hoped to get done this weekend (BTW: Not gonna happen.).  Our renter's insurance renewed, and as per usual, the complex didn't get the memo that we renewed.  So they said, "Well, we'll e-mail you a link so that you can send a digital copy of your new policy to this e-verify site."  Problem #1: we had never bothered to set up an online account.  Easy enough.  #2: download the new policy. Check.  #3: click the link.

Blank page.

Let them know.  Send a new link.

Blank page.

After throwing everything I could think of at it with no results, I wondered if the problem was the browser.  So I tried the back up browser.  There we go!  Asks for "the e-mail associated with your rental agreement".  Sent.

"We cannot find a document associated with this e-mail.  Please use the E-mail account associated with your rental agreement."  I do.  Several times.

I get out, try to figure out what to do next.  Think, how about we try the other e-mail? Shouldn't have anything to do with our lease, but what the hey.  I click the link on the second browser.

Blank page.

Upshot is, sometimes I can bring it up on the second browser, sometimes not.  But it NEVER takes our e-mail.  Sigh.

Next week's problem.

So now before we get to the Friday end of our show, here's that statistical anomaly on the M10.  Three weeks ago, I had a song debut at #5.  Two weeks ago, another one debuted at 5- some kind of coinky-dink!  Last week (keeping in mind I actually write down a top 15), I had a song go from 15 to 6.  This week- you guessed it- I had another song go from 15 to 6!  You might think this is artificial, but here's how I do my list- I listen to the songs on the playlist, writing them down where I think they should go, BUT not numbering them until I write them in my M10 book- all without ever looking at the last week's  chart!  Anyway you slice it, not an easy thing to just set up.  That new debut?

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Fudge.  A1C up to 7.7.  So much for getting new doc to cancel some meds....

Anyhow, just throw that into the rest of the folly side of the story, which I shall relate now.

- Talked to eye doc's office.  Why the bills were sent, we don't know.  The difference? That was because when I paid the stupid thing in the first place, I got a discount on something.  Some how they decided to send me bills for each- one with the discount, one without.  In the end, I got a new receipt with paid in full on it.

-Went to BMV, and when she asked to see my driver's license, found out that it had BEEN EXPIRED SINCE MAY... so now, I am waiting for our cleared title, AND my new driver's license, to come in the mail.

-Went to get the aforementioned blood work.  Lobby: 11 people and two very restless kids already there.  Check in kiosk tells me "There are 3 people in front of you in line."  So the lady that calls people for the lab brings in 3 people.  And a fourth.  AND a fifth.  Finally calls me.  Have to re-up my info for the new doc, fill out the HIPA thingee.  

"May I scan your driver's license?"

"Funny you should mention that..."

Three people called ahead of me for labs are sitting there with me.  Somehow, I got called second.

Then we go out to eat.  Got off to an early start destroying my next A1C reading by having root beer glazed wings.  We turned in 2 ten-dollar rewards from our rewards card.

Get the bill.  Server forgot to take the $20 off.

"Oh, that's on me, I even told you I would do it, and I forgot.  Sorry, my friends."

(She ended every sentence with "my friend/s".)

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Now that this is done, I am about to sally my expired butt to go get tonight's beer.  Hopefully, the follies are done, but you never know.

Wednesday Bible Study: Lying to myself, part three

 

One thing we are learning looking through lies, is that there doesn't ever seem to be a single motive.  In our first chapter, Satan sinned through pride, the desire to be "like the Most High"- but also to hold up a self-image that truth could not maintain.  Eve sinned through curiosity- but also in not seeking God's will.

So the next big set of liars I thought of were Abraham and Sarah.  Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister- not once, but twice.  And maybe you didn't catch Sarah's lie:

Gen 18:13  The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 

Gen 18:14  Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 

Gen 18:15  But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” 

Now, you might be saying, "We just came through that whole big series on Abraham, what more is there to learn?"  And you might be saying, "They both lied from fear- Abraham was afraid of being killed, and Sarah was afraid because the Lord caught her laughing."  And you'd be right, so far as it goes.

But I want to dig a little deeper.  Why would Abraham be afraid he'd be killed over Sarah?  Better yet, why does Pharaoh, leader of the mightiest nation on the planet, snap her, the woman of a migrant family, up so fast?  For me, that was the question.

Let's play a little logic game.  The one thing any king of that era needed most? a son to carry on the line.  What does a king need to make a son?  A woman.  And why would a king look to the woman of a migrant family?  He was royalty; while incest was frowned on for the people, a king could marry whoever he wished.  Was there no woman of royal blood available? He couldn't go to the common people- the gods wouldn't approve that, either.  So, he puts out the word- he's looking.

Just like in the story of Esther, everybody is going to be looking for a suitably beautiful candidate, in hopes of a rich reward.  All it would take to bring fear to Abraham's heart is for someone on his way to Egypt to tell him, "You better be careful down there.  Pharaoh is looking for a consort, and a woman as beautiful as your wife would bring top dollar."

What could he do?  Behind him was famine, ahead was Pharaoh.  So yeah, he lied out of fear.  BUT... he also knew he had a "hole card", just in case.  And while he doesn't mention it in this story, he does when he repeated the sin with Abimelech...

Gen 20:11  Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ 

Gen 20:12  Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 

"See?  I didn't REALLY lie..."

So he had a false security that he WASN'T lying, and thus could get out innocent.  At the same time he was lying to Pharaoh, he was lying to himself.

And what about Sarah?  One thing we learned about Abraham in that past series, every failure had its affect by influence on someone else.  Lot learned compromise from him; Hagar learned impudence.  And Sarah, she learned how to lie to herself.  Go back to the lie Sarah told above. Sure, she lied because she got caught being overheard.  Come on, we've all done that.  BUT... consider the why of her laugh.  Yes, she was 90 and all, which might not have meant the same thing then as it does to us, but was enough to make her having a child miraculous.  But she had seen miracles aplenty! She knew it was the Lord Himself- or at least an Angel- talking to them.  But she had been hearing this promise of a child now for THIRTY-FOUR years.  At a certain point, you say to yourself, "I cannot afford this hope.  It's expecting too much."  So yes, she lied to the Lord- but she LAUGHED to protect herself from the heartbreak of a broken promise.

Boiling it down, they lied outside themselves from fear- but they lied INSIDE themselves because they didn't trust the Lord to, keep his promises.  And I have to ask myself: do I use the "hole card" of my salvation to excuse my sin?  Do I refuse to change because I don't trust the Lord to, change me?  This is why I journey down the rabbit hole of studying lying in the first place.

Job 34:31 (BSB)  Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more. 

Job 34:32  Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’ 

Pictures!

 I can't say there's anything amazing on this list, but I will venture to make it entertaining.  Start with one week ago today...

You know the drill by now- hot, humid

This is where doggie Sable and his Mom used to live.  She was a Parkview nurse, which means low pay and not long tenured, as the hospital chooses to maintain a palace instead of a staff.  Next tenant will have some 'gardening' to do.

Quite the crowd at the landing...

"Not gonna stop me from cooling off!"

Must have been an extended family deal- at least a dozen people

My favorite little fall flowers have appeared- but in the woods, where I've never seen them!

Insert hot/humid/work/tired and skip to yesterday...

Maybe throw in, "hazy", too...

Our usual big ol' mushrooms starting to pop up...

(Of course, they all got decapitated by the mowing crew later in the day)

Piss ant rave...

...and another....

...and another!  Must be an ant national holiday....

Ah, there's one bush of my flowers in the canal

Misty was more interested in sniffing than river-ing...

...at first

The "Summit City Summer Festival" rolls on.

Our one bunny of the day...

And a black squirrel

Bringing us to this morning- with both heat and humid dramatically higher...

Not good breathing weather

Bunny #1

#2 was spotted dashing into the canal

Missed the hummingbird, but got the goldfinch...

...and again, just barely

They were having a good time playing

As were these good ol' country boy discers.  When we met them this first time, their music (being played at a respectful volume, a rarity among discers) was Whiskey Meyers' Broken Window Serenade (currently #8 on the M10); the second time, they were singing along to Hank Jr and Family Tradition.

Afterwards we met up briefly with Misty's new friend, a little old guy named Hoosier.  As the two of them watched a third doggie go by, I told Hoosier's dad that this was a day you really need a doggie like Misty who drags you along- Lord knows I was fading in the woods!

Martin World News

 

I will mix just a little music in with this post as I go along, but we start with:

FoxNews- You pushed it too far, Richard

Headline: Fan arrested after family member struck by adult toy at WNBA game amid crackdown

For a third time, someone tried to throw a green dildo onto the floor of a WNBA game.  18 year old Kaden Lopez had two things going against him.  The first: everyone is already over this deal, and sympathies are minimal to the point of the last guy getting arrested.  The second: his arm strength was also minimal, and he hit a man sitting with his family a few rows ahead.  Said man is now wanting to prosecute him for assault, on top of his arrest.  Plus, my guess is he won't be invited to take shots from halfcourt for a million bucks at any other basketball games.

BBC- The way to a man's funeral

Headline: Mushroom murderer tried to kill husband with pasta, cookies and curry, court was told

Aussie Erin Patterson was convicted of murder X3 after her beef stroganoff killed her ex-in-laws, an in-law aunt- but failed to take down her target, he estranged husband, a local pastor -which may have had something to do with his still being alive.

In fact, she tried to off Ian Wilkinson multiple times prior with food.  Once with penne Bolognese, which merely gave him the "standard" food poisoning symptoms.  Second attempt was during a camping trip a year later (mind you, they'd been divorced for some time- he thought, amicably) with a meal of chicken korma curry, which I am sure is a completely normal thing to serve on a camping trip.  This time, he went into a coma and nearly died.  Then, just months later, it was a vegetable wrap that briefly paralyzed him.

Despite all this, it took a doctor suggesting he keep a food diary before he managed to think, "I wonder if she's trying to kill me with food?"  And YET, he next accepted cookies "from his daughter" that may have been baked with love and anti-freeze.  And then, the dinner party, about which only Ian's sister had reservations, begging their parents not to attend.

"We'll be fine," said dear old (now deceased) dad.  I guess it ran in the family...

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Musically, all you need to know is that, not surprisingly, last week's videos, from Redspencer and Whitney are 1 and 1A on my chart, and while we didn't have another debut-at-#5 week this week, we did have one at #6...

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Moscow Times- too soon?

Headline: Belgorod Cafe Sparks Controversy Over Bomb Shelter Cake

A cafe in Belgorod, a city very near the Russian border with Ukraine, is taking some heat for serving 'bomb shelter' cakes.  But why not laugh to keep from crying?

It is not the first time a Belgorod business has tried to turn the city’s wartime reality into a marketing gimmick. Earlier this year, a local bar began selling “Bomb Shelter” craft beer, which also drew criticism, but remained on tap despite the complaints.

France24- You shoulda learned from Kaden Lopez

Headline: France arrests man who lit cigarette from Unknown Soldier memorial flame

Not much more is known about this idiot, other than he was filmed doing it by a Latvian tourist.  Obviously, the lesson for today is, "Stupid doesn't hide in a crowd."

Xinhua- Quick, we're low on Xi stories

Headline: Xi Jinping, an avid sports fan

I had made note of the fact that Xinhua's front page only lead off with 2 headlines starting with Xi.  Of course, they still had a side banner flashing alternately, "Xi's Time" and "Xi in my eyes".  But someone at editorial must have noticed the low-Xi count, and gave us this very infrmative story:

Sports have an undeniable charm. Chinese President Xi Jinping also describes himself as a sports fan.

He places great importance on the development of sports in China and has repeatedly encouraged young people to actively participate in physical exercise.

Sports have also consistently played an important role in Xi's diplomatic engagements.

Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China is making great strides toward becoming a country strong in sports, while showcasing to the world its openness, inclusiveness and cultural progress.

Now there's some real newspapering, there!

And finally:

News.ComAU- and it came with video

Headline: ‘Yuck’: Couple’s gross beach act horrifies Aussies

A man has been caught performing an intimate act on his female companion at an Australian beach, sparking public outrage.

"An intimate act".  But what was it?  Sex? Perhaps a 'medical exam'?

Nope.  Popping zits on her back.

Tune in next time when a gentleman from Londonderry picks an immigrant's nose for him.

Wednesday Bible Study: Lying to myself part 2

 

Rev 12:3  And another sign was seen in the heavens. And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads! 

Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them onto the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman being about to bear, so that when she bears he might devour her child. 

This is the passage in which we learn that Satan/Lucifer/the Dragon drew 1/3 of the angels with him in his rebellion. How did he manage this? We really don't know- but we can guess from his still-forming pattern.  It started with a lie.  One legend I read a long time back suggested he 'explained' to his followers that both he and God arose from some primordial energy, and the only difference between them was God arose first. However, I like JRR Tolkien's version in his "story of creation" in The Silmarillion:  God created the angels to be a chorus, a harmony that was used to create the physical world.  Tolkien's Satan began playing a 'discordant note' that ran against the song revealed by God, and the disharmony drew others near him in.

The difference in the stories is a bold lie versus a subtle one.  One note provokes listening. Listening provokes a change of mind.  Barely more than setting an example.  And one third of 'myriads and myriads' fell.

This is how subtle Satan is.  But you know what?  There had to be a reason that the subtle lie was listened to.  I want to show you that in the first lie to humanity.

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

Gen 3:2  And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 

Gen 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. 

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, 

Gen 3:5  for God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil. 

Now here's the part you might have overlooked.  Take another look at verse three there, and compare:

Gen 2:16  And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree in the garden, 

Gen 2:17  but you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. 

So where does, "neither shall you touch it" come from?  Step by step:  The first law God gave was to Adam, before Eve was drawn from him.  Given the man's placement at the head of the family, we can safely assume that Adam was given the responsibility of teaching Eve...

1Co 14:34  Let your women be silent in the churches; for it is not permitted to them to speak, but to be in subjection, as the Law also says. 

1Co 14:35  And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in a church. 

The point Paul was making is not to let questions interrupt and bog down the service; it was assumed that the husband, if godly, would understand first.  If we believe (and I do) that Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit, then it follows that Adam had the job of explaining to Eve.  

If Eve just accepted God's Law without question, she could have hardly added the touch part.  It makes one understand that Adam faced an Eve who questioned the why of things, and perhaps Adam added the touch part to end the discussion.  But there WAS a discussion.  Did the angels also have a discussion?

So, is questioning the root of sin? No- but trust is.

Mat 18:1  At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven? 

Mat 18:2  And Jesus called a little child to Him and set him in their midst, 

Mat 18:3  and said, Truly I say to you, Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven. 

Mat 18:4  Therefore whoever shall humble himself like this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven. 

The difference between a doubting question and a child's question: A child will receive an answer they may not quite understand, because they TRUST the One they ask.  But the doubting question?  THAT was the opening that Satan needed to tell his lie.

-Step one: Begin the questioning: "Is it so...?"

-Step two: Size up the weakness: "...neither touch..."

-Step three:  The bold part of the lie: "You will NOT surely die..."

- Step four: Cloak the bold lie in the original doubting question: "...then your eyes will be opened..."

-Step five: Await the results- is the doubt in the question enough to abandon childlike trust for human reason?  God tells us:

Pro 3:5  Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. 

Pro 3:6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 

Pro 3:7  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Jehovah and depart from evil. 

But Eve followed the doubt...

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 

If Eve had had that childlike faith that led her to trust in God- and by extension, in Adam- she would have never have been vulnerable to Satan's trick.  But what about Adam?  Surely HE had the ability to stop Eve in her tracks, and call upon the Lord.  That he didn't tells us that he had been drawn in by the discussion as well.  Again, discussion isn't the sin, but discussion that entertains doubt- that leads to an opening for Satan.  It all comes down to the ability to see God as Great.  To close off our avenue of vulnerability, we have to have the right perspective of God...

Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Jehovah, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. 

Isa 55:8  For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways, says Jehovah. 

Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 

Random Wiki Stuff II

 I didn't see a lot of hope for the news tonight, so I said, "Good grief, I'm going to have to do this random wiki thing again!"  If you wanted to run off screaming into the night, I'll understand.

Post 1- A Predicament

This was basically Edgar Allen Poe being a smarta$$.  Our heroine is walking the street with her 3-foot tall servant and her 5-inch tall doggie (yes, you have that right) when she decides to explore a Gothic cathedral.  Spying a tiny window she wanted to peek out, she finds she's peering out the face of a giant clock in the steeple- and guess what, the minute hand is suddenly pushing against the back of her neck.  Eventually, after it pops her eyes out, it severs her head which falls to the street.  Apparently still alive, she continues to narrate the story, as her servant scampers off in fear, and her tiny doggie gets eaten by a rat.  The "flip side" was a companion piece called How To Write A Blackwood Article; seems Poe disliked this magazine's formulaic horror stories.

Post 2- Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder

The original NFL today made stars of a bevy of people, including two that got bounced for outside activities.  One was Jayne Kennedy, who got canned for a "too sexy" ad for a soda, and the other was "betting expert" (AKA pro gambler) the Greek.  His offense was during what would be now called a podcast, he answered a question about the future of African-American athletes by explaining that the way they were bred by the last century's slave owners made them superior athletes.  While Jayne would have survived these days, the Greek was going to be blackballed no matter the era.

Post 3- the USS Tamalpais

This was the exciting (cough cough) story of a tanker that did two tours of duty running drinking water during WWII and shortly thereafter, later hauling oil, and finally being converted into a "floating power station".

Post 4- 2018 Ventforet Kofu season

Just as exciting was a page of results from a second-level Japanese soccer league team.  They finished 9th.

Post 5- Aradippou

This is a tiny town in Cyprus, whose one possible claim to fame was its founding by one Rhodippus, a warrior returning from the sack of Troy....

Post 6- Grammatophora

 A diatom first discovered near Guam.  Unfortunately, Poe never wrote a horror story about diatoms.

Post 7- Joseph Morgan Henninger

Well he moves the interest meter a few hairs.  Born in my own home state, in Elwood Indiana, he was an artist of some renown.  He has works in such places as the Pentagon and the Air Force Academy (where they proudly display his portrait of Chuck Yager...

Post 8- Neo Chorio

This week our focus seems to be on unheard-of small towns in Cyprus.  This one has basically become a "refugee center" for Turkish Cypriots fleeing from the Greek side of the island.

Post 9- List of California suffragists

That certainly sparks new interest in Neo Chorio....

And finally...   

Post 10- Some Wilderness

An apt name for this entire post, it was a studio lp by a Brooklyn indie band called Oxford Collapse (2002-2009);Leader Michael Pace went on to even more obscurity with The Child Actors (2012-2019).

So after a strong start, this fell into about what I expected quickly.  You can do your part to prevent posts like this: go out and do something stupid, get it on the news, so that I can find it and make fun of it!

Welcome to Friday

 Normally this would be a music post day... I'm just not feeling it.  I've done music posts every week almost since about April of 2010, and I guess I just need a break.  I think for now, every now and then I'll let you know what's up for me musically, and maybe share a new song, but I might be shelving the regular post.  I guess I'm just getting old, and for me, part of getting old is a dislike of schedules.

I do want to share this one with you- assuming I find a video!  New from Redspencer...

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That would be a debut at 5 THIS week... Now, this one debuted at 5 LAST week...

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See, I feel better already!  I guess maybe, with all the crap in the news, all the racism and reverse-racism, all the lies and liars, all the doggies crossing the rainbow bridge , I just need to get my music happy again- and when the tank's full, I'll be back to the real thing.  I don't think I realized until I started typing this that somehow the weekly post was getting lumped into "Toxic things to do", and it shouldn't be there.

In the meantime, here are some pictures, as it has been back down from "Walking on the sun" temps the last day or so:

Last night after work

I made a vow early this year, I'm just going to snap, and not pick, 4-leaf clovers.  Here's the first one that took me up on it.

Bumble bee hanging on to chickory flower wondering when it got so darn cold...

Rained better part of the day before- Misty's drinking holes are open!

This fungus looked like someone upchucked their brain...

A deer!

Then, a mama and baby

Mama looked like the drought hadn't been kind to her

This fungus looked more like thin leaves

Apparently, a fair going on in the Coliseum lot

They finally treated the Alumni Pond

More rides

South Canal full again

But the prevailing winds blew all the algae to our side of the river

Hold on, varmintage

Which brings us to a more eventful morning...

Somewhere before 0730

Found a gizmo

SPROINGG!

Grapes coming in... but stunted an VERY bitter

What have we here?

Mama has THREE babies

They were characters!  Two climbed the sand mound, and one was kicking around like a goat!

Meanwhile, I think they closed the dam... now the algae is land bound

Fair panorama

Lotta mushrooms... still no puffballs, though