"HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?" Francis Schaeffer

Friday, August 31, 2012

NURSING HOME HUSBANDS

BOBBY came by the nursing home today to visit with his wife for awhile.  I'm not sure of Bobby's age but he appears to be in good enough shape.  His wife, on the other hand, is destined to spend the rest of her life in a nursing home.  Sometime he pushes her down the hall in her wheelchair, sometimes she just remains in bed but she looks forward to seeing him.

BOBBY is one of the good guys.  He's been coming to visit his wife day after day for several years now. The nurses like him; he rarely raises a fuss.  I suspect Bobby and his wife  been married at least 50 years, maybe longer.  I'm not sure what he does with the rest of the day but he does not ever neglect visiting his wife.  Outside of the nursing home, BOBBY is for all intents and purposes a widower.  I don't know how he does it, I just know he comes to check on his wife Every Single Day.  Nobody has ever heard him complain. He always shows up.

BOBBY is one of the good guys.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Dummy with a Smart Phone

I've had a cell phone since 1995, in fact I still have the same phone number 17 years later.  But I've been feeling left behind with all the new Smart Phones that have been out a few years now.  Even my wife has one and of course my kids do too.
So a friend of mine just bought himself the latest iPhone.  I asked him what happened to the old one.  He said it was sitting in a desk drawer at home.  I asked what was wrong with it; apparently it has some difficulties with "the cloud."  I have no idea what "the cloud" is but my 10 year old Nokia never complained about it.
Anyhow, we made a deal; I'd buy him  a "Loop 'n Cheddar" at a local burger spot and I'd get the Iphone.
Quite the deal if you ask me.  He gave me the phone ( without a charger, without a connector, etc.) and I started trying to find out what company I could use it with; AT&T was the answer.  I didn't particularly like that answer after viewing their monthly plan.  The young clerk then told me there was a store in town that could "unlock" the iPhone pretty cheaply.  Wasn't sure what that was but headed down to the store where they told me they could, indeed, unlock the phone enabling me to use it on any network I chose.
One day and 50 buckazoids later, the phone was unlocked and I signed up with "Simple-Mobile" (cheap, generic version of T-Mobile) - non contract, 1 month at a time, everything for $45 bucks.  We'll see how it goes.  If I don't like the new phone company I can always change.
I feel like a new man but at this point in time my iPhone do anything but make and receive calls, just like my 10 year old Nokia.  More precisely; I don't know how to do anything but make and receive calls.  I did download Skype and Kik; hopefully I'll be able to use them with my daughter living out of the country.

Now I'm a dummy with a smart phone.  We'll see how this works.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

BILL SPRATLING; TEACHER EXTRAORDINAIRE

My 7th grade core teacher was Mr. Bill Spratling.  ( It should be obvious, we didn't call him Bill.  Maybe nowadays the kids might; but not back then.)  He was in his second year of teaching.  Before he achieved his college degree he had been in the Army; even showed us a couple of pictures.  I recall him being fair but not inclined to put up with much foolishness from his junior highers.

 His favorite punishment for a student acting inappropriately was to have them stand next to the pencil sharpener.  He would take the little catch barrel, pour out the pencil shaving and tell the poor student to start counting.  It was tedious and embarrassing.  The class is sitting at their desks, you're standing up front trying to count innumerable pencil shavings.  Mr. Spratling has assured you he knows EXACTLY how many there are.  In 7th grade you believe him so you count very faithfully. I think I did this twice.  The second time was no better than the first.

I matriculated on to 8th grade and from then on had very little contact with Mr. Spratling.  Seventeen years later, long gone from the community,  I was back in town for some business and happened to swing by my Junior High one afternoon at 4:30.  Kids had been dismissed at 4 but the building were still open.  Being a rabid nostalgist, I wondered down into the basement of the old main building where Mr. Spratling had held class.  The door was open, the light was on so I walked in.  There, much to my surprise, was Mr. Spratling.
I introduced myself; told him I had been in his class those many years ago.  He looked at me carefully and said he remembered me.  He then pointed to a desk where he said I sat.  I pointed to a different desk and said I had sat over there but talking with him it was evident he remembered me.  Later on that evening I remembered that he had CORRECTLY pointed out the desk I sat in the first semester, I had pointed to the desk I sat in the second.  Seventeen years later Mr. Spratling could correctly place me in his classroom.

I wasn't the smartest, nor the dumbest.  I wasn't the most obnoxious, certainly not the nicest.  I wasn't the funniest, wasn't the quietest.  I was pretty much a middle-of-the-road kid. Seventeen years later Mr. Spratling remembered me.

Kudos to you Mr. Spratling.  I suspect hundreds of kids have good memories of 7th grade under your expert tutelage.




Thursday, August 23, 2012

Will men attend a women led church

http://baylyblog.com/blog/2012/08/why-men-leave-church#comment-31808

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

ROBERT WESTERMAN

Here is to ROBERT WESTERMAN.   He was not a close friend but we worked in the same business periodically crossing each other's path and sharing small tidbits of humor about the institutions we serviced.

He died in bed at the all too young age of 49.  It is still a shock.  He leaves a family behind to try and find their way with their Dad and Husband now gone.

Rob never offended anybody, was quite low-key in his interactions and did his job in a professional manner.

To his children I say;  Rob was a well respected member of the medical community.  You can be proud that he was your Dad.

Robert Westerman;  R.I.P.