April 26

Wow it has been a long time.  Wasn’t sure there was anyone still out there any more but I have been getting emails again and saw a couple of you have posted through the blog to see what was going on.

I have little to report on the health front… the follow-up with the surgeon was the last medical appointment.  Being on the oral antibiotics does have me covered in a rash but I am told this is normal for long term antibiotic use… we have talked about this in the past; enough said.

The gout symptoms did persist some but were best controlled with the Amish cream as the colchicine has a bad side effect.  Lately my feet have returned to “as normal as they get with neuropathy” but that’s another story.  At some point I’ll have to really rewind and take you back to 2013 and explain that portion of my story.  At the time I thought it was “an ordeal” but today I’ve changed the classification of that event to “a minor inconvenience”.

I have been keeping extra busy around here.  Spring has sprung and I have mowed several times.  Rita has slaved away on the flower beds; she is a wonderful helpmate around this place.  On the April 4th edition I told you about the generator repair.  Since then I have gotten the 4 wheeler running for Emma and have the chain saw, weed whacker, hedge trimmer and pole saw ready for action.  I got some lighting updated in the basement and did a minor surgery on the dehumidifier.  It kept having a malfunction where some gunk dripped inside the unit plugging up the drain hose.  With the drain plugged the bucket fills up which obviously shuts off the unit.  I drilled a hole in the side and ran some tubing into the inside where I shoot 20cc of vinegar water once a month and that seems to do a great job keeping it flushed out so I won’t have to do a complete disassembly any more.

We had an incident with our Jetta that had me kind of baffled.  I did hours of reading online so I’d know exactly what to do to fix it and then… it wasn’t exactly the same fail.  Instead of taking the inside door skin off as many of us have done for various reasons (new speakers?) this car has you take the outside painted sheet metal off instead.

What I had hoped would be the fix helped me in the long run, but i just wrapped it up a little while ago and posted some steps and pictures here:  http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=460296 in case I could help someone else with a similar problem.

We have been doing a fair amount of walking; not every day yet but more than we had been.  Moses likes his walks and behaves pretty well.  There is a lot of shooting around here.  Not the kind where you have to run for cover, this is the country by the way but Moses thinks the shots were fired at him even if they are miles away.  I think he had a bad experience in his previous life; his life before he lived here no I didn’t mean to suggest he was reincarnated.  I try to remember to give him treats when gunfire takes place as he is very food motivated.  This seems to make him much less scared when he hears shots so maybe after a time of this “therapy” he’ll be ok with shooting.

I guess not blogging for a while has given me a lot to say but nothing real deep.  It seems like everything is trying to come out at once and that may be obvious to the reader 🙂

I did want to share with you that a friend and long time client stopped by the shop yesterday with a laptop belonging to a friend of his.  As we discussed life in general and various trials, Daryl who is also a pastor brought up John 16:33 where it reads “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  I bolded part of it for you as this was the basis for him bringing it up.  In this world you will have trouble. We all experience trials and although one person’s trials may be more serious than another, each of us deals with his or her own THEMSELVES so although one may be in a “worse scenario” the other still has to live his life.  Daryl explained that when reading the scripture many people don’t always understand it and how it may be a good (marketing) idea to get bumper stickers made up like this:

“$h!t Happens” John 16:33

Yes a tad off color but not one that would need explained to many people.  Obviously the deeper meaning is that we can have peace in Jesus as He has overcome the world and everything that takes place in this world – peace even in times of trial.

Remember to bless others and pray for others.  I think God gives me more insight when I pray for others than during any other times.

Sam