THURSDAY… Self control and SUNDAYs

 

                                (I did 'sink'** into her arms!)

 For now:

Sunday WAS respected in the past, by MOST folks whether religious or not. No one would ‘cut their grass or go hunting’ on Sunday. Most businesses closed so employees could rest AND/or go to church.

I am still amazed that ‘Little Leagues’ schedule games or practice on Sunday morning; looking back, most kids in our area were in Sunday School at that time.

As I ponder today’s world and the headlines such as:

‘MAN KILLS WIFE OVER FOOTBALL GAME ON TV’

‘WOMAN KILLS INFANT BECAUSE IT CRIES”

‘Driver Shoots Man for Driving Too Slow’

‘MAN THROWS BABY AGAINST THE WALL BECAUSE HE LOST VIDEO GAME’

Every day we read of someone with NO Self Control, doing something irrational in the heat of the moment and ruins their life and the lives of others.

WHAT has happened? Could it possibly be that we lost knowledge of right and wrong.  Have you ever taken time to look at the 10 Commandments? Yes, they are connected to a religion, BUT have you ever just considered them as plain COMMON SENSE!

Sunday School taught the Ten Commandments, kids heard, and they became part of our lives. So in my mind I somehow relate our worlds’ loss to lack of respect for a Supreme Being. 

Is Sunday the Sabbath? Is Sunday the first or last day of the week. I think we just need a day set aside to consider our life….

I have respect for other religions. I leave that up to GOD to decide the TRUTHS and UNTRUTHS in that respect. I do think we should ALWAYS keep in mind there are consequences (legal, physically and morally) of our actions. No matter THE regrets, how many times you say ‘I am so sorry’, wild actions and words CANNOT be UNDONE!

It seems that the crazy actions and headlines will continue until we regain respect for our fellow man and get back to following the TEN COMMANDMENTS.  I was taught them, I relate them to Jesus.

A blog that many follow begins this way:

It is no point having faith in a Master who walks on water if we do not trust Him enough to follow Him.

Quoting my dad, “In this world, Some are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good”. So here on earth we must still relate to our neighbors. An example: Old Vic suggests you follow Christ.  He also has not lost his sense of humor. He also says:

**A man who sinks into a woman’s arms… will soon find his arms in her sink.

Au revoir!

NiteShipslog

PS:  Thanks for taking your time to stop by!

This is Wednesday, Taxes…. House or mobile home

 Today’s picture:

That is our neighbors Trailer in Kirksville, MO we were in the USAF at the time.

We have build and lived in some nice homes the one below had an indoor pool.

 The double glass doors at the end was our bedroom pool was 91 degrees year round...

Some folk don't believe it, but my sweetheart and I are just as happy in a trailer as the houses I have built.

BUT for today:

It is according to your needs and personal feelings.  Many years ago we came to the conclusion that a trailer, mobile home, was best suited for military life.  And with a change of duty stations, it made moving time simpler (No packing and unpacking) and no need to adjust your living arrangements with every move.  It served us well and we never felt looked down on nor as I have heard in later years, as far as I know, we were never called ‘Trailer Trash.’

Here is Florida we have owned & lived in one house and 2 mobile homes.  AT the end of the year you learn fast, it pays to live in a Mobile Home.  Mobile home taxes are much less than half of wood/brick house.  Also taxes go down on the trailer, BUT on a home there will be an increase every couple years.

All we need is a clean solid place to live with heat and A/C.  A Mobile home has many years satisfied our needs. So Of course when we buy again here in Florida, we will be looking for a Mobile home with it’s own land.

Here I learn many folks choose a home due to hurricane season. That doesn’t bother me too much.   Once in the path of a hurricane, we decided to leave our trailer home to outrun a hurricane in the motor home and mostly did, but when we returned, we found very little damage to our mobile home and lot.

 Yep, in Florida it is hurricanes and alligators.

 

Nite Shipslog

PS:   Thanks for coming our way…

 

Tuesday… Taxes , everyones fav subject..

 

For now:

Here in Florida we go to the tax office to renew your car tags. We can renew our tags online with a credit card. To show I AM OLD: I THOUGHT I HAD RENEWED MY TAGS. I kept looking for them in the mail. Since they did not show up in 3 weeks I started checking back. The money never came out of my CC account.

Come to find out, I never hit ‘SEND’, or Go or what ever, so my tags were NEVER ordered. So, to the tag office. I renewed two tags, car and a utility trailer.  When I went out to the Utility trailer to put the little sticker on the old tag, IT WAS NOT THERE, NO TAG!!  It had been lost or stolen, most likely it was just lost. So back to the tax office. The replacement tag cost twice what I had already paid. OUCH!!!

BUT with all my fussing, I have dealt with at least 4 state DMVs, NC is one of the worst and Florida is the best I have ever encountered. They seem to bend over backwards to get you in and out. NC seems to try to find something wrong to send you back and the procedure is longer making  service much more involved and slow.

All that said, referring to taxes. I just saw a complaint article about property taxes in Florida.  The highest taxes are in the Miami area, an average of $253 a month. I looked again, realizing we are paying more than that in NC in Gaston county. About $3000 a year. WE pay $3800 a year in Gaston County, NC  OUCH, our taxes are higher than Miami, FL!!!

Our governor says we will never own our homes; we will always RENT from the state, I guess that is about correct.

It is tax time. ARE YOU READY?  At least one thing going for us in Florida,  we have no state income tax, that counts.

Nite Shipslog

PS:  Taxes are a pain but they are necessary to pay for roads, police, etc.

Monday.. Been to the Grocery store lately?

Pic of the day:

 

(I just cannot help it, this is one of my favorite views thru our picture windows! Clear road ahead. This might be Maine)

For now:

Over the years we have gotten sorta lazy. Now we buy our popcorn in bags. Stick it in the Microwave and ‘voila’, in a couple minutes you have your snack.  No pot, no oil etc.

I like nuts, now you can buy any nut in at least 3-5 different ways.  I am hooked on honey roasted almonds. I like honey roasted p-nuts too.  The other day I grabbed some coconut coated almonds; I wasn’t crazy about them.

WE definitely pay for the tasty treats and quick snacks. It has been a while since I have bought a t-bone, or higher cut of Beef. I just read that Beef (At Publix here) has climbed to actually about $50 a pound for the TOP of the line, that was about $18 per when I did buy it. I used to cook stew beef weekly, now it has been awhile, the last I bought was about $9.50 per, it is soaring up towards $15 a pound.

We can afford the prices, but I feel sorta ‘cheated’. I may be living in my mind, 10 yrs ago, possibly.

WE have now found our nitch, mostly ideas from our Batchelor sons. WE love chicken sandwiches. WE pick up a Rotisserie chicken. I slice it and clean the bones. It actually gives us 3 days of great sandwiches and 2 days of super chicken soup. LOL That is up to 5 days for less than $12, total.

WE do not do that every week, I could, but Sherry gives us some variety.  Still our weekly or bi-weekly trip to the Grocery store is $150 a trip for 2 and it was around $100.

That includes normal cleaning stuff, some vitamins, supplements, and red wine. Dr. suggested more oatmeal & small glass red wine nightly for cholesterol. I got very upset when I lost a muscle to deterioration in my right arm while on statins! (Junk is my opinion, not his)

Enough..  I just laughed big.  A car or truck near by just started the engine, it is LOUD. I told Sherry, I loved that when I was 16-17 years old, it was COOL.  NOW?  It is just noise.  LOL

Another view I like:

Stopping for a while, this was our diesel pusher, we drive a gasser now, I sorta miss that diesel, LOL

Nite Shipslog

PS.   Burger King up the road, We decided to splurge and stop by the drive thru and get a whopper. WE do love that big hamburger, BUT it is now right at $8 each.

Sunday .. I hope you are more observant than I

 Today’s picture:

 

This is Kennedy our winking great grand (She belongs to Stephen and Jennifer)

BUT for today:

Thank goodness my CC has an expiration date.  I have mentioned that I am being told to renew my MS265 or something to do with Word which I have used for years and I like it.  But originally it cost about 20$ on a disc.

Now with this new laptop they are billing me $99.99 for a year. I don’t need it that much.  If my card had not expired it would have automatically renewed.  So I am glad the card expired. Victor suggested a substitute I am going to use, I think.

I do not remember allowing them to continue to take it out, but being as dumb as I am on the stuff here on the NET, I very well may have.

WE are starting to have a paperless and cashless society.  I couldn’t believe it a year or so back when I went to buy a lawn mower the seller would not accept a check, it was in an upscale neighborhood.  He asked if I used Zelle or something like that, of course I do not.

I wanted the mower, so I had to get cash and come back, at least he did accept cash. LOL

I am getting more confused by the day with things that do not fit my mindset.

Enough, take care and have a great Sunday.

 

Nite Shipslog

PS:   Thanks for coming our way…

Saturday, Sunday is coming up!

 Picture of the day:

For now:

Florida has been our home: Key West, Tavares, Deltona and Leesburg. (Sherry cannot settle down) WE use a mail service in Eustis to keep from changing addresses too much LOL.

We arrived back in Florida a week or so ago. Many Snowbirds wait until now to move in, and the influx is obvious. We have lived in Florida full time and part time; we still appreciate Florida’s weather.  Although Florida has a lot of out of state folks, we have met many ‘from birth’ folks here.

One, our former friend and Pastor, the Rev. Wayne Carter.  Wayne was an admirable man. In his youth he was a little wild; even a stock car driver for a while.  He married the sweet Juanita and I think she settled him down. ;-0

Since Wayne had held secular jobs before becoming a minister, he knew what it was like to work and the pit falls of job insecurity.  From that perspective he (like my dad) viewed his congregation.  Knowing their normal everyday situations and problems.  Many Floridians depended on the Citrus industry. As it has folded many folks are out of work.

We talked about that from time to time; seeing churches fold because of poor planning and leadership of pastors. Many pastors walk their churches into debt that cannot be sustained with even a small set-back. That allows a church to be placed in debt so far, as income drops BIG debts cannot be paid.

One of his statements I have seen too true is: Pastors are the worst MONEY managers in the world and need a council with backbone (not yes men) to guide a church.

Very few churches have complete transparency. I feel it is common-sense to KNOW where your hard-earned money goes. I feel it is very important for church go-ers (members) to know how their donations are spent.

I have a big problem with TV ministries in general. I cannot send money anywhere, not knowing how it is used. That would bother me.

In the past 10 years we have witnessed churches in our denomination fail, and buildings sold, because of poor foresight. Churches moved into millions of $ in debt that cannot be sustained.  That is sad.

WOW, reading over this, I hadn’t meant for it to be so DOWN!  Yes, of course I need prayer, and advice. Thanks in advance….

Nite Shipslog

PS.   

I do appreciate you stopping by the Shipslog, we are transit for a while.  Hopefully SHERRY will learn and settle down.          ;-)

Friday .... Names that are initials only

 Today's pic:

 
One of my Feral kittens sleeping on my lawnmower. I miss the cats.  Maybe some will show up at our new home.

Now for today:

Sheila who moves around a lot but now in Florida mentioned my ref to R.E. and Mary. She said she had kin with the same names and the RE was just initials. This R.E. Was Robert Everett methinks, but RE to us. HOWEVER, she sure kicked in a couple memories. 

In the military I knew at least 2 men with ‘initials only.’ My nephew Ted joined the USMC with RC Jones.  When that happens the yeoman records it as R (only) C (only). At the first muster Ted recalled as names were called the DI called out "Ronly Conly Jones," no one responded and everything got quiet. RC spoke up, “I’m RC Jones, that might be me.”

Also, we have a good friend, YZ Isaacs.  He says he has brothers and sisters; all names are letters only. The funny part of that is My company built YZ’s house. I had the habit of taking a grand kid with me at times.  During that time it was Sherece.  Grandma asked where she was going and she said proudly, “To YZ IZZ’s house.”

Taken from our pier when we lived on Lake Dora here in FL our frequent visitor. Alligator.

IF l had been named letters only I would have liked DD, then my initials would be DDD, or 3D. LOL

What letters would you have liked or preferred?

Nite Shipslog

PS:

YEP,  Sherry and I are still Gypsies…  same tent!!!!

 I guess we are stuck in this lifestyle…. ;-)  

Thursday… Remembering…

 Today’s picture:

 

Sherry and I are happy whether we live in a mansion or a tent. (Of course we have never had a mansion!)

BUT for today:

When we started traveling full time we had no aim.  We wanted to see high profile places such as Yellowstone, Mt Ranier and Mt Vernon.   But we got a kick out of the small towns and communities. I have said before we had a plan to drive 300-400 miles and stop for a week.  During that week travel the area to see what was there.

WE saw many of our former president’s homes and some of the leaders of our country during revolutionary & civil war time. Funny about Presidents, one of the low profile presidents, President Buchanan history and quotes sticks out above Truman, Reagan and Washington. (I mentioned this in a blog in 2017.)

Buchanan never married, but the thing I remembered most was the quote as he and Lincoln rode in a coach, pulled by horses of course, to Lincoln’s inauguration. President Buchanan said to Abe, “If you are as happy taking this office as I am leaving it, YOU SIR, ARE ONE HAPPY MAN!”

What struck me at Mt Vernon was how they stored the ice cut in the winter that lasted way into the summer. Also George was a Bible reader and his Bible was there on a podium. It was the original 1611 King James version. Just scanning some words were spelled different than I am used to.  Examples:

“sawes”®“saws”

“harrowes”®“harrows”

“yron”®“iron”

“yron”®“iron”

“passe”®“pass”

“brick=kilne”®“brickkiln”

“And thus”®“and thus”

 

It is not a big thing and I am sure the words mean the same, it just read different to me.

I liked Monticello also.  Jefferson had some fantastic clocks. I was fascinated by one weight driven pendulum clock that the weights went thru the floor down to the basement, allowing it to run longer without pulling the weights back up!

Trail name Cricket, she was starting the 100 mile wilderness, at this point she had walked 2100 miles.

Above is a family from Denmark hiking  The AT

This is "In Tents", his trail name.  He gave me permission to take his picture if he didn't have to get up!!!  (Our trail name was The Overland Hermits".

Anyway today I am just doing my normal, 'old man thang', remembering. LOL

As I close this I want to wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR…  This is 2026, now get used to using it. LOL I am so old I typed “This is 1926” and had to correct it.

Nite Shipslog

PS:   Thank you for coming his way.  Blogging is headed down the road as Journaling did a few years ago.  I miss so many of the bloggers who have dropped out, slowed down or passed to the other side..…