The first hurdle is cleared

Posted on 09/06/2009 by RLW3

Sending a child off to attend college is a fearful thing for many, if not most, Christian parents. Today’s universities are very effective indoctrination centers for secular culture.

We know friends who have sent their children off to school as Bible believing Christians only to see them graduate as “educated, enlightened” non-believers with a lifestyle that matches their newly found disbelief just a few short years later.

So, one of my top priorities on this trip was to find our son a good church. Happily, we succeeded…Freedom Church in Philadelphia.

Big A likes it. He already met a fellow Drexel student!

All that is left is to pray that he puts down strong roots!

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Places that should be on the map

Posted on 09/05/2009 by RLW3

We drove straight through from Kansas City to New Jersey.

My family was late getting out of the house. I can’t understand why…My wife should have planned to put two new front tires on the truck before she packed

Since they were late picking me up from work, I walked to Blue Springs High School and waited for them there. Once they arrived, we met Coach Mike Hagerty and thanked him for all of his help and then hit the road.

Big A took the first leg. At about 8:30 P.M., just before we crossed the Missouri/Illinois border on I-64, we drove through an area that really stunk! But, there are lots of places that stink. This one had a particular aroma.

“Cakes, is that your feet?”

“No!!!”

She was horrified!

She thought that I was just being mean until my wife and son piped up that they assumed that she had taken off her shoes! So, we renamed the area, Cakes Feet, Missouri…and the pronunciation of the state is mis-er-y!

The next morning, we drove through another area with a very familiar aroma and renamed it…Big A’s Breath, Maryland.

Later that afternoon, we drove through the third incorrectly named place…Mom’s Belly Button, Delaware.

You might be thinking, what about me…

I don’t stink…

Really…

Ask my family!

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The time has come

Posted on 09/04/2009 by RLW3

In a few hours, my wife and I will take the next big step toward the next season in our life.

This trip will be a family reunion, a 50 year birthday celebration (mine), scouting out the new land, a fond farewell, a moving party (Kimba), with a little tourism (NY City on 9/9/09) and a political protest (Washington, D.C. on 9/12) thrown in.

We will depart from where I work in Blue Springs, MO and begin the drive to New Jersey/Philadelphia. There will be four people in the truck on the way there. Only three of us will come back.

We will leave our son there. He is officially going off to college.

My oldest daughter, Bean, will fly in from Dallas tomorrow. Kimba will fly in from Nashville on Sunday. My family (parents, brother and sisters, aunt and cousins) will see all the members of my household all together for the first time about 10 years. Needless to say, my children have changed substantially during that time!

I think everyone involved is very excited!

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I’m your huckleberry!

Posted on 09/03/2009 by RLW3

My wife has been after me for YEARS to get braces for my lower teeth. It has been a somewhat sensitive issue for me.

For the first 20 years of my life, I didn’t need them.

When I was 21, my wisdom teeth finally came in and they were fully impacted. I didn’t realize this until they had caused my lower front teeth to look like a small pile up on the freeway. I am one of those 4 wisdom tooth story people!

I have tried to point out to my wife that some men that she finds pretty handsome don’t have the straightest teeth: Tom Cruise (before braces), Harrison Ford, etc.

She doesn’t care about that. It bugs her…

and she periodically bugs me.

So, this morning, she followed me as I walked out the door to go to the dentist and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse…

“If I get my weight down to _ _ _, (top secret) will you get braces?”

“Absolutely.”

Right now, it looks like a safe “bet” because her target will not be easy to hit. Our son doesn’t think she can do it.

He doesn’t know her. When she sets her mind to it, she is one of the most determined people I know. Shoot, she trained and ran a marathon when she was 40 years old! and she is not a “runner”.

I guess if I sense that her motivation is flagging, I could just smile real big!

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Pretty quick progress!

Posted on 08/30/2009 by RLW3

Cakes came home from her job at the restaurant and said that she had good news

The manager asked her if she would train all of the new hostesses!

She is only 16 and has only been working there for 3 months!

I think they like her!

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A great night in the sack

Posted on 08/29/2009 by RLW3

Younger people might not be able to relate to this post…

As I drove home from work this afternoon, it was all I could do to stay awake. (see previous post) All I was thinking about was going home and sleeping.

I stopped by Costco to pick my wife up since her shift was over at 5:30.

When I walked in, she told that she wore this certain top for me in case I wanted to take her out and then bent over a little bit to give me a better view (if you know what I mean)!

I felt like I had just slipped into The Twilight Zone. I think I just looked at her with a blank look. I am sure that my response was less than she was hoping for.

Fortunately for me, I had just got a great deal on a used 23″ Apple Cinema Display from someone at Craig’s List. So, we HAD to go home so I could hook it up and show it to her.

We looked at several photographs together, comparing the new screen with my laptop.

Since my desk is in our bedroom, she looked at them from our bed. When I turned to ask her what she thought, I saw the most beautiful sight…

The only manly response was to climb into bed and join her…

So I did…

Man, was it was great!!!

Now, before you get offended and accuse me of breaching the boundaries of propriety, I think you should ask me what I saw.

That’s better…

I’m so glad you asked.

When I turned around, I saw a completely dressed woman sound asleep! I climbed into bed with her, still in my work clothes and we slept for the next 12 hours!!!

Considering my condition, that was a great night in the sack!!!

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Having trouble tying my shoe

Posted on 08/28/2009 by RLW3

Tough week sleeping

Yesterday, I had a very bad headache that was making me feel nauseous. I left work 1 1/2 hours early, went and crawled into bed. One and a half hours later, I woke up with the same headache.

Since it was 6:00, I decided against taking Excedrin PM. Instead, I took two Extra Strength Excedrin.

Bad decision…

First, the headache never went away. Second, although I was extremely tired, I couldn’t get to sleep until sometime after 1:00 A.M.!

Tired isn’t nearly a strong enough word to how I feel today at work. For instance, I squatted down to tie my shoe. That’s a simple task, right?

I lost my balance three times before I could finally accomplish the task.

I can’t wait to get home and sleep.

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I’ll take the second offer

Posted on 08/27/2009 by RLW3

The other driver’s insurance company called me to inform me that they have declared the Honda a total loss.

Excuse me while I wipe a few tears from my eye…

I asked what they valued the car at

“Given that the car had a leather interior, low miles (I didn’t say anything but this struck me as somewhat ironic), with sales tax $4,400.”

After a brief pause, she asked “Is that not acceptable?”

“No.”

“What do you think the car is worth?”

“I have one of the best Honda mechanics in the city and he valued the car between $6-7,000!”

“Well, mechanics don’t sell cars.”

“Actually, he does.”

She then pulled out the NADA guide and offered me $6,906…with tax, of course.

She then added on $50 because they didn’t give us a rental car last weekend and $140 for the 12 CD changer. With the high end Pioneer radio that they let me keep, it comes right to the amount that I was hoping for.

So, our Honda saga comes to an end seven months after it began. (click on the Honda tag to see the whole story) Including the money that we spent on maintenance, we actually made money on the car!

That means that I have to dive back into the used car market! Yikes!

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Not quite the same

Posted on 08/26/2009 by RLW3

I have now driven a Hyundai for the first time.

My wife picked up our white Hyundai Accent from Enterprise yesterday morning and I drove it to work this morning.

It seems to be a reasonably well built econobox of  a car.

Since it is a rental, the interior is merely functional. I’m grateful for the car but I do already miss the Honda’s rich leather interior.

It doesn’t have anywhere near the power of the Honda. Several times I tried to accelerate into traffic like I normally would only to be a little embarrassed that it took so long to get up to speed.

That being said, it does get much better gas mileage than our F150 Super Crew.

I hope the Honda is not declared a total loss.

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A pleasant surprise

Posted on 08/24/2009 by RLW3

I received a surprise tonight…

something that has NEVER happened to me before…

The other young man’s insurance company called to tell me that they were accepting 100% liability for the accident and would handle all of the costs!

Wow! Am I glad we moved to Kansas!

That is really great because we only had liability coverage on the Honda.

In California, that never would have happened!

Lest you think that I am exaggerating, in the accident that I wrote about yesterday, MY insurance paid to replace my car even though the police report stated that the other driver accelerated through a red light!

My insurance company also did not sue go after his insurance company for medical expenses. We had to do that on our own!

When I was rear ended while waiting at a stop sign on a freeway off ramp, MY insurance company paid to fix my car!

As surprising and pleasant as this feels, it is what really should happen. It is right. The guilty party pays.

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