2:139, #443: Dogs

I was just reading about the Devil walking around like a roaring lion and was reminded of one of my old sayings...a Bob-ism, I suppose..."Barking dogs never bite...until they stop barking!!" Somebody didn't really think through the original adage, as true as it is in its limited application.

And what about that saying, "It's a dog's life?" How many of us get to eat, sleep, be let out to pee, get a treat for doing it, lie around all day, and get all sorts of affection from folks?!! If reincarnation were true, I'd want to come back as my old dog Daisy and get pampered for roughly 12 years!!

Then there's the saying, "Doggone if I know." Where'd the dog go that you don't know about? Or is it that you were going to use the dog as a "lifeline" for some answer like that TV show I've never watched but heard about?

Well, I hear windows and grass calling me, so this dog's gone!
Got Milkbone?

2:138, #442 Miscellaneous Muggy Friday Ponderings

I just read on BBC News that a Swiss adventurer named Bertrand Piccard is about to unveil his prototype of a solar powered plane. I wonder if he'll call it The Icarus? Or, since his last name is Piccard, if he'll call it the Enterprise and designate himself Captain?

A Sichuan Chinese firm wants to buy manufacturing rights for the Hummer and call it "Han Ma"..."Bold Horse" but China may squash the deal. I wonder if it doesn't work out if they'll change the name to General Tso's Chicken?

Mom got me on a lifetime of reading because I arose in the early a.m. and needed to keep quiet until "normal" wake up time. I wonder what the equivalent to Golden Books is these days?

Farrah Fawcett shuffled off this mortal coil and the BBC article mentions the red bathing suit poster that sold millions. I wonder what happened to the bathing suit?

When Paul wrote 1 Timothy 1:15, "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all" could that be considered bragging?
Just curious.

2:137, #441 George Armstrong Custer

Today I declared to be Facebook Friends Foulup Day in honor of the fouled up decision George Armstrong Custer made on this date in 1876 at the Little Bighorn River in Montana. As was frequently the case during the Civil War when North and South named the same battles differently... Bull Run/Manassas, Antietam/Sharpsburg, Murfreesboro/Stone's River...the Native Americans called it Greasy Grass Creek; which seems more appropriate to me since Custer was definitely up the creek atttacking 1) on a Sunday, 2) without proper reconnaisance, and 3) a force at least 2-3 times his strength with excellent weapons and motivation to fight.

Why do I mention this? As I mentioned on FB, go ahead and ignore the signs around you, do what you want...you will anyway. (Archangel's got her fingers up waving for the number of times she's heard me use this phrase.) Christians...of which Custer was one after his conversion at a Presbyterian Church in Michigan during a January, 1865 furlough home...frequently only listen to Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you," but often forget verse 9, "Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you."

I figure I'll get less frustrated watching what folks do if I just up and give them my permission, if not outright blessing. Besides, I've been praying Psalm 32: 8,9 for y'all for a while, so I'll watch how the Lord works things out in the days ahead.
If the Holy Spirit is represented by fire...
Got smoke signals?

2:136, #440: I'm Officially Blue

...Nope, not "down in the dumps," "depressed," or "discouraged." Blue, as in "What Primary Color Are You?" Facebook Quiz results. Yeah, I know, taking Facebook quizzes is an indication of some personality disorder, no doubt, but, HEY...YOU'RE READING THE BLOG OF THE PERSONALITY DISORDER GUY, SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!! ;p

Now that I've gotten that out of my system...the quiz tells me I'm "an expansive person." Well, I did put on about 70 pounds in the last 40 years. I'm also "happy abandoning the city for the peace and quiet of the woods." Heck, that's why I ride my John Deere whilst smoking a good ceegah... El Stinky, according to my Archangel! It also says, "People are always interested in what you have to say, consider you thoughtful and trustworthy, and always come to you first for advice." Howcome they don't listen to it then?!! Gee, I guess the "careful and broody" part is showing up in this whiney post, Eh?

Sooooo...how am I going to spiritualize this Friday Whine? "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed...even "wasting" time taking Facebook quizzes...do it as unto the Lord, not as unto man!!"
Got cheese for the whine?

2:135, #439: Thinkin' Thursday

Here it is raining again and only 62 degrees outside, so I'm taking time off as Global Warming is soundly repudiated to record some of my thoughts from this morning, mostly in the form of ponderings or questions; which prompts the illustration of The Thinker.

Just what was this guy thinking? Did he get sunburned while posing? Did he ever get rid of the rock marks in his butt? Did he ever fall asleep and tumble forwards? Did he ever come to a saving faith?

As I said in Facebook this morning, is it sexist and politically incorrect to say that multi-tasking is "woman's work?"

Whose fingerprint is it on the "C.S.I." DVD case?

If my new John Deere 997 is a zero-turn mower, is my old John Deere 950 a goose-egg turn mower? Or should that be a doughnut turn mower?

Why does Tolkien's estate refuse to allow folks to write follow-up stories based on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy? Did Aragorn and Arwen live happily ever after? If there was Middle Earth, was there a Right Earth and a Left Earth? If a Hobbit falls in the woods, does a wizard pick him up?

Is there ever an end to bloggers' questions?

2:134, #438: Dr. Bob's Zero Turn

Yessiree, Bob, that is I (howzzat fer proper parcin'?!!) on my brand spankin' new John Deere 997 zero turn mower...the best ride in the park when it comes to excellent groundskeeping!! My first day in the seat was a fairly short learning curve until I became ONE with the controls in a Zen- Van Tillian Feng Shui way!!

I must say, however, that riding a new, short wheel base, small tire 997 is quite different from the old 950 with full size tractor tires and a longer wheel base. It reminded me of The Wildcat at Hershey Park as I discovered that my property is a LOT rougher than what first appears to be the case when you're riding up there in relative ease...makes me think of the way the Lord moves you up to the next level of spirituality just when you've "mastered" one particular aspect of your walk with Him!

But, Hey, y'all knew that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, now didntcha?!! My posture improved just so I could absorb the jolts and jars (slightly different from bolts and bars) on the initial flight on my 997. Hmmm...even those jumbo jets are only 757s...guess I win in the numbers game.
Got grass what needs cut?

2:133, #437: Sudoku Theology

I had another early morning epiphany as I was sitting filling in the spaces in several Sudoku puzzles (easy level) this morning. I figure, as I've mentioned on Facebook already that we're either trying to crack the code of some portion of the knowledge of good and evil much like our original ancestors, or just like counting to nine in a Sesame Street sort of way. Today's letters are B and S! ;P

One thing doing these puzzles does is to develop the analytical acuity of mind that actually contributes to a thought pattern that allows for the correct use of hermeneutic exegesis while showing ourselves diligent to accurately handle the word of truth, as Paul commands in 2 Timothy 2:15. Gee, even I can see that that last sentence is fully qualified to be part of Self Indulgent B.S.!!

OK, so they're fun to do and God's watching when we do them...this is part of the "and enjoy Him" part in the first answer of the Shorter Catechism, given that He set up mathematics and logic in the first place so that an architect named Harold Garns (thank you, Wikipedia) could develop these not-time-wasting puzzles!! The Japanese firm Nikoli popularized them later.

So what's my point? LIGHTEN UP, PEOPLE!! Use your brain in ways you haven't thought about recently, walk on The Edge knowing that "beneath you are the Everlasting Arms," and realize that God MUST be a Sudoku Puzzler...He has one book named NUMBERS in His infallible, inerrant Word, doesn't He?!! ;p
Got the urge to fill in the gaps on the illustration?