Patience & Perseverance

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Good things come to those who wait. I usually doubt that or at least wonder exactly how long we have to wait for those good things to finally come. The statement came true for Josh yesterday. He had been searching for a used car and saving money. There’s this one dealership that’s great for working with all sorts of credit (even lack thereof), but the one car he thought about test driving wouldn’t even start on the lot!

So we went across the street to a Mazda dealership to check out their used pre-loved cars. It turns out that they have a first-time buyer program. Who knew?! After some tense phone calls the next morning, they finally gave in and met his price. He finally has his own brand new car – a Mazda 3. He actually has TWO cars now. We have to figure out how to arrange everything in the garage to get the MG Midget to fit until he figures out what to do with it. The HOA will only be so patient, I’m sure! Plus, I want the driveway space back since there are so many cars on the street by evening taking up parking already. :O

Sick

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What happens when you’re sick and shorthanded at work? If you’re me (and I am), you work 9.5 hours in your PJs and robe! This should absolutely count as going beyond expectations.

Me today…

Phishing – Run From the Hook!

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Don’t be a victim of phishing scams. If you allow yourself to become a victim of phishing, then don’t place the blame where it doesn’t belong. Phishers will create very official looking emails and web pages to lure you to enter your security information. DO NOT click links in these emails or enter your security info! ALWAYS go directly to the company’s website yourself to be sure you are on the right page. Check the URL at the top of your browser, too. Most login pages will begin with “https://”

Here are some good reads to arm yourself with knowledge:

Phishing: how to outwit the fraudsters
How Not to Get Hooked by a ‘Phishing’ Scam
After Epsilon: Avoiding Phishing Scams & Malware

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about phishing.

If you have to contact the company that you thought sent you the email with the link, please don’t harass them and accuse them of being at fault. They are trying to help you. A simple “thank you” will do nicely. :)

 

Choices

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Who we are is largely shaped by the choices we make. The beauty of it is that we do make choices. Even when nothing is chosen, we have made a choice not to choose! If we choose this instead of that and end up with undesirable consequences, does that mean we made a bad choice? Not necessarily. From such choices comes experience and knowledge. If we choose that instead of this, does that guarantee desirable consequences? Not always! This may work for one, and that may work for another. Perhaps in reverse, the opposite is true! You just never know.

Some readers may choose to assume they know what triggered this thought process. I doubt they’d be right because my mind is a complicated place. I’ll never tell! :)

1/22/12 UPDATE:

After thought … Often times, a person is fully aware of the consequences that may follow a choice they make. Yet, for reasons only they need to understand, they make the choice anyway often causing consternation among observers. So observers, take heart! For it is the chooser’s choice to suffer the consequences and work through whatever they need to work through to get to their ultimate goal. Sometimes it’s beneficial for a path to a goal to be longer. ;)

Knee Pain

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I’ve always had this feeling that whenever somebody complains about something hurting, they’re perceived as whiners and just need to get over it. So I generally don’t complain too much about pain or make a big deal of it. Instead, I try to push through the pain without making a lot of noise about it.

I’ve mentioned my knee pain before, then I just let it go. It started late September, and I thought it was finally starting to do better. That was until I walked around the zoo yesterday and regretted it later that night and still today. The same spot on my left knee, low and to the inside, KILLS! It’s worse going downhill or down stairs than up.

I will eventually go to the doctor. I’ve been once before. I’m pretty sure it’s chondromalacia patella. They sent me to physical therapy, where they discovered there were many things I couldn’t do because it caused more pain. It was a waste of time and money.

To really see what’s going on, they may want more than an x-ray (affordable with insurance) like an MRI (not-so-affordable even with insurance). If they find that it’s not something easily fixed with R.I.C.E. and physical therapy and can only really be relieved with surgery, that’s also not-so-affordable even with insurance! We just finally got out from under monthly payments on medical bills. I don’t want to have to make them again. I would feel guilty putting yet another expensive burden on our already tight budget.

That’s not the worst of it, either. The pain is one thing, but the frustration over the resulting limitations is another. This affects my photography as it limits my motion. I like to get down low for angles not normally seen. That’s now extremely difficult. I like to get out and go places that require a lot of walking. Yesterday proved that to be painfully regrettable. I can easily see how people who suffer debilitating injuries can become depressed. :(

So, yes, this knee pain I have is having a pretty big negative affect on me. I try not to complain about it, but I’ve been stuffing it down for so long that I had to let it out here. IT HURTS! It’s not an excuse to get out of things, which should be apparent by the fact that I try to do things in spite of it. It’s not a ploy to get pity attention because I loathe that type of attention. I’m just tired of trying to pretend that it doesn’t exist.

Now that I got that out of my system for the moment, maybe I can get back to my regularly scheduled programming … work, work, and more work. :P

The Case for The Bible | Evidence

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I bet you thought I left yet another thing unfinished. Nope! I may get sidetracked, but sooner or later, I do get back to what I started. Sometimes it takes months, sometimes years. In this case, it has been 2.5 months since I started reading New Evidence and blogging about it.

Saturday was my first full day off after working 12 days in a row, so I spent about six hours of it getting through part one of four in this book. Part one was “The Case for The Bible”. After a bit of history explaining how we got the Bible, including the materials used to write it, some interesting things were pointed out. First of all, Christ himself witnessed to the Old Testament talking about the law, the prophets, the writings (Psalms), and the martyrs throughout the entire OT from Abel to Zechariah. (I like how that’s A-Z!)

When speaking to the historical reliability of the Bible, more interesting points were made:

  1. The unexplained is not necessarily unexplainable.
  2. Fallible interpretations do not mean fallible revelation.
  3. Make sure you understand the content of the passage.
  4. Interpret difficult passages in light of clear ones.
  5. Don’t base teaching on obscure passages. The main things are the plain things. If something is important, it will be clearly taught in scripture, and probably in more than one place. When a passage is unclear, never conclude that it means something else or opposes another plain teaching.
  6. The Bible is a human book with human characteristics.
  7. Just because a report is incomplete does not mean it’s false. Sometimes things are complimentary, not contradictory.
  8. New Testament citations of the OT need not always be exact.
  9. Context will dictate whether a word should be taken literally or figuratively.
  10. General statements don’t necessarily mean universal promises.
  11. Later revelation supersedes previous revelation. God did not reveal everything at once, but that doesn’t make contradiction.
  12. Archaeology has found evidence that proves the accuracy of the Bible.
  13. The Bible is trustworthy and historically reliable.

Translated text of the Bible compared to that of 1,000 years earlier proved to be word for word identical in more than 95% of the text. The other 5% were merely variations in spelling – nothing that affected the message. In 184 cases, evidence shows that for 2300-3900 years, the text of the proper names in the Hebrew Bible have been transmitted with minute accuracy.

Then, of course, there are the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Part two is “The Case for Jesus” – just over 200 pages. Will it be a week? Two weeks? Another 2.5 months? My goal was to finish by the end of January. I’m changing that to finish by the end of March!

Three Countries I’d Like to Visit | Part 2: Ireland

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Green is my favorite color, and Ireland is so very green! I’m not the least bit Irish, either.

People are generally happy in Ireland, and they are a very proud nation, like us. I’m not sure if I count that as a great thing (depends on the nature of the pride), but good times are sure to be had in Ireland!

I don’t know how I’d get to see everything in a short time. I’d have to see castles, ancient monuments, and the Emerald Gardens for sure.

In between sight-seeing adventures, we could relax in a vacation rental like this, this, this, or this! I can pretend I’m Scarlett in Ballyhara!

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday | Snow in Colorado

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Ya gotta love winter in Colorado! Especially in our area. We are at about an altitude 5800 feet in our neighborhood, which is fairly east of the foothills just at the beginning of the plains, and about 20 miles southeast of downtown Denver. It was in the 50s yesterday but quickly turned into snow in the wee hours of the morning.

I had to take Miranda to school early this morning, but I also seriously needed gas. After comparing getting gas after dropping her off to before dropping her off (about a 5 mile difference), I decided drive the one mile to get it first and also add weight to the car!

Sick Today, Gone Tomorrow

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Does this ever happen to you? You feel that ache all over, and your throat starts to hurt, and you just know you’re going to be miserably sick for at least a week. But wait! You wake up the next day, and your body’s all, “PSYCHE!” You feel completely fine! I searched the internet for this, and while there were no solid answers, there were many replies stating the exact same thing happens to others. A complete mystery!

However, we all know the story of the boy who cried wolf. So I’m popping open a can of chicken noodle soup and taking my ass to bed early tonight.