Super Dave grinning about his revenge! 1500ccs up against HarleyDad on a 250 cc Honda Rebel. Now that is sweet revenge.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Friday, December 30, 2005
The Revenge of Super Dave
The Revenge of Super Dave
“Super Dave” is his handle. It is on his Biker jacket. “Super Dave” is also my brother TexBro. He got the name “Super Dave” from his grandchildren and he wears it proudly. Did I mention that Super Dave is my brother. Younger Brother, that is. And like all younger brothers, he has had to put up with what younger brothers put up with everywhere.
When the older brother does well, the younger brother must try to measure up. If the older brother does poorly, the younger brother must put up with the shame. Then there are the exclusions. The younger brother can not play with the older brother’s friends. Finally the older brother gets a car or motorbike and leaves the younger brother stranded in the dust.
Did I mention the hand-me downs. Guess who gets them. Yes, it is the younger brother. The oldest brother never gets hand me ups. The older brother just gets new clothes that are passed down in turn to the younger brother. In ancient times, the older brother also got the inheritance. The younger brothers got to go into army in order to make their fortune.
The indignities of the younger brother are a multitude. Mom tells the older brother to baby sit the younger brother. Ah, how sweet it can be to be the older brother. Then there is the advice of the older brother who is older and wiser given in generous proportions to the younger brother.
And so it goes. Until there is finally a day of payback, a day of sweet revenge. And here is how Super Dave did it.
HarleyDad purchased a Harley a few years ago. It was a modest 2003 Anniversary Edition Sportster 1200. Well that is how the arms race began. Super Dave went out with a quick feint and purchased a Honda Revel 250 lulling HarleyDad into complacency. He next struck by purchasing a Honda Valkyrie with 1500 cc. leaving the Harley Sportster in the dust. Super Dave’s new bike was yellow and black and big!
Super Dave joined a riding club and went to Rallys. Slowly he decked himself in outstanding riding duds. He had medals from the rallys including a gold star from the Republic of Texas Rally. He got a super new belt with Lone Star conchos all over it. He wore his jeans jacket with pride with his name on the front—Super Dave and a cool superman “S” patch. On the back it said that Super Dave was “Bad to the Bone.” Did I mention that Texbro is now known all over the area as “Super Dave” and even treated with honor and respect in the Harley shop. When I go into our local Harley dealer, they don’t know my name. When Super Dave goes into his he is hailed as “Hi, Super Dave.” Now that is what is known as respect. And he owns a Honda! HarleyDad is green with envy.
Well the revenge got sweeter. When Harley Dad visited Super Dave down in the Republic of Texas, Super Dave was gracious enough to allow HarleyDad to ride the 250 Rebel and even let him take out the Valkyrie on one occasion. HarleyDad loved the Valkyrie and although he thought about making a dash for it; his upbringing got the better of him and he returned the bike to Super Dave.
And so HarleyDad (who was grateful to have any bike at all in TexBro’s great state) rode in his street duds (no jeans, boots or riding jacket) on the Rebel alongside Super Dave on his Valkyrie , Super Dave being suitably attired in leather finery.
Super Dave, had his sweet revenge. Finally the older brother had been put in his place, and Super Dave had done it with generosity and kindness.
No wonder he is called “Super Dave.”
HarleyDad
(P.S.-Pictures of this indignity are posted above.)
“Super Dave” is his handle. It is on his Biker jacket. “Super Dave” is also my brother TexBro. He got the name “Super Dave” from his grandchildren and he wears it proudly. Did I mention that Super Dave is my brother. Younger Brother, that is. And like all younger brothers, he has had to put up with what younger brothers put up with everywhere.
When the older brother does well, the younger brother must try to measure up. If the older brother does poorly, the younger brother must put up with the shame. Then there are the exclusions. The younger brother can not play with the older brother’s friends. Finally the older brother gets a car or motorbike and leaves the younger brother stranded in the dust.
Did I mention the hand-me downs. Guess who gets them. Yes, it is the younger brother. The oldest brother never gets hand me ups. The older brother just gets new clothes that are passed down in turn to the younger brother. In ancient times, the older brother also got the inheritance. The younger brothers got to go into army in order to make their fortune.
The indignities of the younger brother are a multitude. Mom tells the older brother to baby sit the younger brother. Ah, how sweet it can be to be the older brother. Then there is the advice of the older brother who is older and wiser given in generous proportions to the younger brother.
And so it goes. Until there is finally a day of payback, a day of sweet revenge. And here is how Super Dave did it.
HarleyDad purchased a Harley a few years ago. It was a modest 2003 Anniversary Edition Sportster 1200. Well that is how the arms race began. Super Dave went out with a quick feint and purchased a Honda Revel 250 lulling HarleyDad into complacency. He next struck by purchasing a Honda Valkyrie with 1500 cc. leaving the Harley Sportster in the dust. Super Dave’s new bike was yellow and black and big!
Super Dave joined a riding club and went to Rallys. Slowly he decked himself in outstanding riding duds. He had medals from the rallys including a gold star from the Republic of Texas Rally. He got a super new belt with Lone Star conchos all over it. He wore his jeans jacket with pride with his name on the front—Super Dave and a cool superman “S” patch. On the back it said that Super Dave was “Bad to the Bone.” Did I mention that Texbro is now known all over the area as “Super Dave” and even treated with honor and respect in the Harley shop. When I go into our local Harley dealer, they don’t know my name. When Super Dave goes into his he is hailed as “Hi, Super Dave.” Now that is what is known as respect. And he owns a Honda! HarleyDad is green with envy.
Well the revenge got sweeter. When Harley Dad visited Super Dave down in the Republic of Texas, Super Dave was gracious enough to allow HarleyDad to ride the 250 Rebel and even let him take out the Valkyrie on one occasion. HarleyDad loved the Valkyrie and although he thought about making a dash for it; his upbringing got the better of him and he returned the bike to Super Dave.
And so HarleyDad (who was grateful to have any bike at all in TexBro’s great state) rode in his street duds (no jeans, boots or riding jacket) on the Rebel alongside Super Dave on his Valkyrie , Super Dave being suitably attired in leather finery.
Super Dave, had his sweet revenge. Finally the older brother had been put in his place, and Super Dave had done it with generosity and kindness.
No wonder he is called “Super Dave.”
HarleyDad
(P.S.-Pictures of this indignity are posted above.)
WARNING
WARNING
The warning signs are located in Big Cabin, Oklahoma just off the I-44 turnpike. The signs are large and obvious, warning that ahead is a speed trap. There is not one sign but instead a number of them. The words “SPEED TRAP AHEAD” are emblazoned in red on the sides of truck containers. The warnings are bold, persistence and obvious and have been there for years.
As we have passed through the area, our family has speculated on why these signs were there. Were they put up by truckers who got tired of the speed trap and finally decided that enough was enough and made the warnings to teach the town a lesson.
Alternatively, perhaps the signs were put up by the town itself in order to slow down the speeders. The signs might be a cheaper alternative to patrolling the township and keeping the speeding down. Besides, the signs which are located on semi-truck bodies must be sitting on someone’s property. Who owns the property involved and do they lease the use of the property to those who put out the warnings.
In all of our discussions regarding these warning signs, our family has not assumed that the signs somehow evolved. We are relatively certain that that there is some type of creative intelligence involved. Now the statements in this paragraph may appear absurd; but really some of our nation’s courts might find that our view of creative intelligence to be outrageous. Our family, on the other hand, believe that there is somehow “creative intelligence” behind the signs and that there is meaning in them. This Creative Intelligence, be it truckers, the City, or its inhabitants, are trying to communicate with us.
That communication in this instance is direct, obvious and even bold. The issue is whether we get the message or choose it ignore it.
From time to time God tries to get the attention of all of us. He sent prophet after prophet to warn Israel of destruction if they continued to follow idols and do evil.
Jeremiah 11:7, 8 says:
For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying “Listen to my voice.”
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all of the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.
Obviously, the failure to heed warnings or even admit that they exist is not a uniquely Jewish problem. It is the nature of all men and women to be hard of hearing when it comes to warnings.
We become hard of hearing when people warn us about things we should not do . Our bodies even give us warnings when we eat poorly or fair to exercise, but we ignore these warnings signs much to our later regret.
We also ignore warnings from God given through his people about the condition of our societies and families. We fail to hear and sometimes our hearts become calloused.
Jesus talked in Matthew 23:34 and 35 about God’s attempt to warn the people of Jerusalem by sending to them “prophets and wise men” some of whom were killed and crucified and others who were scourged in the temples. He then went on to say that righteous blood had been shed in Jerusalem from Abel to Zechariah. In effect the people speaking the warning had been rejected from A to Z. They had been warned.
In Luke 21 the disciples were discussing the beautiful temple of Herod and asked Jesus about the time when the temple would be torn down. Jesus explained that there would be a number of signs including nation rising against nation, earth quakes, famines and plagues and persecutions. All these were signs of judgment.
After the resurrection, the disciples continued to be curious about when the “Kingdom would be restored to Israel.” In fact right before Jesus was assumed into heaven the disciples wedged in one last question. That question found in Acts 1:6 was “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus in Acts 1:7 responds: ”It is not for you to know times or epoch which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will l receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”`
We continue to focus on the same question that the disciples asked Jesus just before his assumption.
And so we have a feeling that we are being warned. Even though things are going on, something significant is right around the bend. The picture that we subconsciously experience is like the feeling of Noah’s generation, something significant is coming our way. We experience Matthew 24:37-39:
“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For in those days before the flood , they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
Likewise Christians are warned that in the last days it will be similar to the time of Noah when judgment was right around the corner. In 2 Peter 3:3-7 it states:
Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers came with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the Fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word, the present heavens and earth are being reserved by fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Our society has not taken a good turn. We have chosen to allow God to be taken out of our schools and our courts. We have become addicted to materialism. Our dreams are of Hollywood and Disney World instead of the New Jerusalem. The rights of innocents are ignored and the blood of abortions flood was through our society just as pagan sacrifices of babies and children did in the Ancient World. Pornography is fed by the media into each home through the media and the internet. People sacrifice their free will and become enslaved by drugs.
We know it is not right. Our hearts tell us this.
And so what should we do?
We must heed the signs? The signs of what is going on around us are bold, open and obvious. We must heed them. God is speaking to us. We must not only listen—but we must obey his directions. We are speeding and it is time to slow down.
And if we do not heed the warnings? Then what?
Well, back to Big Cabin and the warning signs. Sure enough some people ignored the signs assuming there were not any police to enforce the speed limits. It looks like they guessed wrong.
See the pictures above.
HarleyDad
The warning signs are located in Big Cabin, Oklahoma just off the I-44 turnpike. The signs are large and obvious, warning that ahead is a speed trap. There is not one sign but instead a number of them. The words “SPEED TRAP AHEAD” are emblazoned in red on the sides of truck containers. The warnings are bold, persistence and obvious and have been there for years.
As we have passed through the area, our family has speculated on why these signs were there. Were they put up by truckers who got tired of the speed trap and finally decided that enough was enough and made the warnings to teach the town a lesson.
Alternatively, perhaps the signs were put up by the town itself in order to slow down the speeders. The signs might be a cheaper alternative to patrolling the township and keeping the speeding down. Besides, the signs which are located on semi-truck bodies must be sitting on someone’s property. Who owns the property involved and do they lease the use of the property to those who put out the warnings.
In all of our discussions regarding these warning signs, our family has not assumed that the signs somehow evolved. We are relatively certain that that there is some type of creative intelligence involved. Now the statements in this paragraph may appear absurd; but really some of our nation’s courts might find that our view of creative intelligence to be outrageous. Our family, on the other hand, believe that there is somehow “creative intelligence” behind the signs and that there is meaning in them. This Creative Intelligence, be it truckers, the City, or its inhabitants, are trying to communicate with us.
That communication in this instance is direct, obvious and even bold. The issue is whether we get the message or choose it ignore it.
From time to time God tries to get the attention of all of us. He sent prophet after prophet to warn Israel of destruction if they continued to follow idols and do evil.
Jeremiah 11:7, 8 says:
For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying “Listen to my voice.”
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all of the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.
Obviously, the failure to heed warnings or even admit that they exist is not a uniquely Jewish problem. It is the nature of all men and women to be hard of hearing when it comes to warnings.
We become hard of hearing when people warn us about things we should not do . Our bodies even give us warnings when we eat poorly or fair to exercise, but we ignore these warnings signs much to our later regret.
We also ignore warnings from God given through his people about the condition of our societies and families. We fail to hear and sometimes our hearts become calloused.
Jesus talked in Matthew 23:34 and 35 about God’s attempt to warn the people of Jerusalem by sending to them “prophets and wise men” some of whom were killed and crucified and others who were scourged in the temples. He then went on to say that righteous blood had been shed in Jerusalem from Abel to Zechariah. In effect the people speaking the warning had been rejected from A to Z. They had been warned.
In Luke 21 the disciples were discussing the beautiful temple of Herod and asked Jesus about the time when the temple would be torn down. Jesus explained that there would be a number of signs including nation rising against nation, earth quakes, famines and plagues and persecutions. All these were signs of judgment.
After the resurrection, the disciples continued to be curious about when the “Kingdom would be restored to Israel.” In fact right before Jesus was assumed into heaven the disciples wedged in one last question. That question found in Acts 1:6 was “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus in Acts 1:7 responds: ”It is not for you to know times or epoch which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will l receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”`
We continue to focus on the same question that the disciples asked Jesus just before his assumption.
And so we have a feeling that we are being warned. Even though things are going on, something significant is right around the bend. The picture that we subconsciously experience is like the feeling of Noah’s generation, something significant is coming our way. We experience Matthew 24:37-39:
“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For in those days before the flood , they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
Likewise Christians are warned that in the last days it will be similar to the time of Noah when judgment was right around the corner. In 2 Peter 3:3-7 it states:
Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers came with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the Fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word, the present heavens and earth are being reserved by fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Our society has not taken a good turn. We have chosen to allow God to be taken out of our schools and our courts. We have become addicted to materialism. Our dreams are of Hollywood and Disney World instead of the New Jerusalem. The rights of innocents are ignored and the blood of abortions flood was through our society just as pagan sacrifices of babies and children did in the Ancient World. Pornography is fed by the media into each home through the media and the internet. People sacrifice their free will and become enslaved by drugs.
We know it is not right. Our hearts tell us this.
And so what should we do?
We must heed the signs? The signs of what is going on around us are bold, open and obvious. We must heed them. God is speaking to us. We must not only listen—but we must obey his directions. We are speeding and it is time to slow down.
And if we do not heed the warnings? Then what?
Well, back to Big Cabin and the warning signs. Sure enough some people ignored the signs assuming there were not any police to enforce the speed limits. It looks like they guessed wrong.
See the pictures above.
HarleyDad
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Christmas
At work the conversation turned to the holidays. Should we say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" so as not to be offensive to the many people of so many faiths here in Ozarklandia.
In fact, I now separate my Christmas/Holiday cards into two groups. There are those that say Jesus or Manger or Mary or Silentnight (these that go into my "best pile"). Next, there are those that still use the word "Christmas" (this is my less than best pile but better than my last pile). Finally there is the last pile made up of Holiday Cards that have snowmen, cardinals, trees with twinkling lights and skyscrapers (this is my thanks for thinking of me without religious sentiment pile). But I am not an ungrateful person in this season of the year (be it Christmas, Holiday, Winter or Feast of Lights) I am even happy to receive Buddha, Krishna or Islamic cards especially if a small monetary gift is enclosed which makes them even more special. Send them on, I am an equal opportunity card and gift receiver so long as only good wishes (not explosives) are enclosed.
Now "Merry Christmas " will always be fine with me. Last Christmas season I was in China. On the windows in English were the words "Merry Christmas." Lots of Santas but no manger scenes.
I suspect we are all trying to out do the Chinese. Perhaps become more secular than they. Although they have a good head start we in the U.S. are rapidly advancing.
If you don't want to celebrate Christmas, that's fine with me too. After all we stole the pagan Saturnalia first and it is ours to do with as we please.
If you don't like it get your own holiday. Perhaps "Merry Mammon Day"or "Golden Credit Card Day!" After all commerce is what it is all about. Gifts of gold, frankensen, and myrrh.
Apparently it is not enough that the holy days have been transformed into the holly days or the holidays.
"Spending is now "the reason for the season" and the old Christmas has metamorphisized into an modern-day orgy of shopping and eating. It makes you wonder how for 1900 years the poor wretches had to celebrate Christmas with out Crosby's White Christmas, the Grinch and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I imagine these are all still in the Trademark stable.
Somewhere in all the tinsel or our economic New Jerusalem is that small, humble manger with a few rag tag shepherds, a teenage mother, an older father figure and the baby Jesus--hidden away behind all the Christmas lights and shopping malls.
But modern-day Herods are still on the watch, hoping to eradicate any traces of baby Jesus's. The creche is a potent threat to our society and is almost as dangerous as the cross.
This is Harley Dad speaking, and for me it is Christmas or nothing. I will put my wallet back in my pocket and watch the U.S. economy go to pot.
Merry Christmas! or Bah Humbug!, if you prefer.
In fact, I now separate my Christmas/Holiday cards into two groups. There are those that say Jesus or Manger or Mary or Silentnight (these that go into my "best pile"). Next, there are those that still use the word "Christmas" (this is my less than best pile but better than my last pile). Finally there is the last pile made up of Holiday Cards that have snowmen, cardinals, trees with twinkling lights and skyscrapers (this is my thanks for thinking of me without religious sentiment pile). But I am not an ungrateful person in this season of the year (be it Christmas, Holiday, Winter or Feast of Lights) I am even happy to receive Buddha, Krishna or Islamic cards especially if a small monetary gift is enclosed which makes them even more special. Send them on, I am an equal opportunity card and gift receiver so long as only good wishes (not explosives) are enclosed.
Now "Merry Christmas " will always be fine with me. Last Christmas season I was in China. On the windows in English were the words "Merry Christmas." Lots of Santas but no manger scenes.
I suspect we are all trying to out do the Chinese. Perhaps become more secular than they. Although they have a good head start we in the U.S. are rapidly advancing.
If you don't want to celebrate Christmas, that's fine with me too. After all we stole the pagan Saturnalia first and it is ours to do with as we please.
If you don't like it get your own holiday. Perhaps "Merry Mammon Day"or "Golden Credit Card Day!" After all commerce is what it is all about. Gifts of gold, frankensen, and myrrh.
Apparently it is not enough that the holy days have been transformed into the holly days or the holidays.
"Spending is now "the reason for the season" and the old Christmas has metamorphisized into an modern-day orgy of shopping and eating. It makes you wonder how for 1900 years the poor wretches had to celebrate Christmas with out Crosby's White Christmas, the Grinch and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I imagine these are all still in the Trademark stable.
Somewhere in all the tinsel or our economic New Jerusalem is that small, humble manger with a few rag tag shepherds, a teenage mother, an older father figure and the baby Jesus--hidden away behind all the Christmas lights and shopping malls.
But modern-day Herods are still on the watch, hoping to eradicate any traces of baby Jesus's. The creche is a potent threat to our society and is almost as dangerous as the cross.
This is Harley Dad speaking, and for me it is Christmas or nothing. I will put my wallet back in my pocket and watch the U.S. economy go to pot.
Merry Christmas! or Bah Humbug!, if you prefer.
Friday, December 16, 2005
The Christmas Gift
One of my more unusual and expensive Christmas gifts this year was a Christmas Card. It was sent to me by the Emerald Prince. The Emerald Prince is one of my sons, the eldest. He resides in the Emerald Palace in Northern Ozarklandia. It is Christmas time there and the halls are decked with holly and barbed wire. There the Christmas season is against the law except for a few Christian inmates that celebrate it anyway. For the other residents, it is the season not to be jolly. Christmas is a time of depression. No gifts, no tree, no family, no hope.
At any rate, I received a beautiful Harley Card in the mail from the Emerald Prince. Pictures are above. So where does it come from. You can't buy it in the Emerald Palace Shopping Mall. It is cleverly made and beautifully decorated. It is mailed in a legal envelope that is made available to residents for contacting their attorneys. The card itself is made from a manilla folder that has been cut down. Even the act of cutting down takes some doing since life in the Emerald Palace is like traveling in Tourist Class, they don't let you have real knives and forks there . Well I will ask no questions, and the Emerald Prince will tell me no lies.
On the outside of the card and on the inside are beautiful drawings by inmates who now take their talents at making tatoos and convert these talents into those of commercial artists. Then there are stickers strategically place on the card. I had to ask about these. The Emerald Prince tells me that the stickers hide blemishes on the card.
Was the card expensive?? Not that it matters but nothing is free in our society or his. So I ask, "What does the card cost?" The Emerald Prince says 3-4 packs of cigarettes. Not the cheapies sold in the canteen which are generics. We are talking Marlboro's here. The kind of Marlboro's sold in the visiting lounge for $5 per pack and payable in quarters, one quarter at a time.
Now here is the way I figure it. Three to four packs of Marlboros cost $15-20 on outside money. However the value inside the Emerald Palace is considerably more. Inside you make $12 per month by working 40 hours per week . That is the princely sum of $.08 per hour. So the card is worth 180 to 240 hours of work. Minimum wage is $ 5.15 per hour on the outside. So assuming the Prince was making minimum wage the card was worth $927 to $1442.
Now that is mucho dinario for a card. Even the Hallmark Christmas Cards in the mail only cost $5 and I thought that they were expensive.
So, Emerald Prince, thanks for the card. It is one of most prized gifts this year. Beside I am going to have that Harley Picture on the card framed.
Merry Christmas, Emerald Prince. God be with you.
At any rate, I received a beautiful Harley Card in the mail from the Emerald Prince. Pictures are above. So where does it come from. You can't buy it in the Emerald Palace Shopping Mall. It is cleverly made and beautifully decorated. It is mailed in a legal envelope that is made available to residents for contacting their attorneys. The card itself is made from a manilla folder that has been cut down. Even the act of cutting down takes some doing since life in the Emerald Palace is like traveling in Tourist Class, they don't let you have real knives and forks there . Well I will ask no questions, and the Emerald Prince will tell me no lies.
On the outside of the card and on the inside are beautiful drawings by inmates who now take their talents at making tatoos and convert these talents into those of commercial artists. Then there are stickers strategically place on the card. I had to ask about these. The Emerald Prince tells me that the stickers hide blemishes on the card.
Was the card expensive?? Not that it matters but nothing is free in our society or his. So I ask, "What does the card cost?" The Emerald Prince says 3-4 packs of cigarettes. Not the cheapies sold in the canteen which are generics. We are talking Marlboro's here. The kind of Marlboro's sold in the visiting lounge for $5 per pack and payable in quarters, one quarter at a time.
Now here is the way I figure it. Three to four packs of Marlboros cost $15-20 on outside money. However the value inside the Emerald Palace is considerably more. Inside you make $12 per month by working 40 hours per week . That is the princely sum of $.08 per hour. So the card is worth 180 to 240 hours of work. Minimum wage is $ 5.15 per hour on the outside. So assuming the Prince was making minimum wage the card was worth $927 to $1442.
Now that is mucho dinario for a card. Even the Hallmark Christmas Cards in the mail only cost $5 and I thought that they were expensive.
So, Emerald Prince, thanks for the card. It is one of most prized gifts this year. Beside I am going to have that Harley Picture on the card framed.
Merry Christmas, Emerald Prince. God be with you.
Winter
It is winter here in Ozarklandia.
I work in an office and believe me an office is a wonderful place to be in the winter. My office has a window. Not all offices do. I am blessed. To some degree, three earned post high-school degrees and over 30 years of work have paid off. But I remember the time that I worked outside when it was below freezing and the time I worked when it was over 100 degrees outside. I remember the time when I was on the factory shore and the time when I worked offshore in the gulf and the quietness of 2 a.m. in the morning. It is so easy to remember. And so I am grateful. It is a privilege to have a job and to work.
Yesterday, I read a letter of complaint from an employee because he had lost his job in a shutdown. And yes, I am sympathetic. Also I am blessed because I work. Not everybody can work or does.
At lunch I talked with a friend who had some health problems that prevent travel. As we discussed this, I mentioned that I was very, very aware of how fortunate I am to be able to ride my Harley outside or take long walks because it is a privilege to be able to do so. My friend does not have this freedom. Neither does my son, the Emerald Prince, who resides in the State-run Emerald Palace. Our home is decked in wreaths during this Christmas season, his is decked in barbed wire.
My friend is a Christian as am I. We talked about the difference that Christ had made in our lives. In both of our lives, Christ had transformed our hearts through His grace and His love. What a difference that makes in our attitude. Both of us have had to deal with those individualistic hardships that come into every life at one time or another. Being a Christian does not mean that we do not see hardships or pain or suffering . What it does mean is that we do not go through these pains and hardships alone. We are blessed. We are also led and directed by God who moves in our lives actively.
Illness that prevents travel or even prison that restricts travel is a blessing when one compares these situations to being a burn victim or a quadraplegic in a hospital or having a death sentence of a fatal cancer. Even there a Christian can be comforted by the presence of God and the hope of an eternity where he or she is free at last. We serve a God who gives us hope and transforms that hope into reality.
But that brings me back to the eyes of God and the window in my office and the tree outside. Now the window has been there a long time. The tree has too. But my eyes are new and they see things that they did not see before. Here is what they see. Outside my window there are a group of cardinals that just love the tree and the berries that are in it. They visit regularly.
I assume the cardinals have been visiting the tree regularly for years. However, with winter being here, the leaves that cloak the tree and the activities of these saucy little birds, clad in scarlet and brown, have been drawn back so that the activities of the cardinals are revealed to those of us who have eyes to see it. Through the grace of God, I have those eyes. They are God's gift. My eyes worked before but I was blind to the cardinals. My attention was focused upon myself, my family, my business and my worries.
These things now belong to God and I am free to see.
And so the cardinals were there all along. And I was there too. The diffence is that yesterday I did not see them. Today I do.
HarleyDad
I work in an office and believe me an office is a wonderful place to be in the winter. My office has a window. Not all offices do. I am blessed. To some degree, three earned post high-school degrees and over 30 years of work have paid off. But I remember the time that I worked outside when it was below freezing and the time I worked when it was over 100 degrees outside. I remember the time when I was on the factory shore and the time when I worked offshore in the gulf and the quietness of 2 a.m. in the morning. It is so easy to remember. And so I am grateful. It is a privilege to have a job and to work.
Yesterday, I read a letter of complaint from an employee because he had lost his job in a shutdown. And yes, I am sympathetic. Also I am blessed because I work. Not everybody can work or does.
At lunch I talked with a friend who had some health problems that prevent travel. As we discussed this, I mentioned that I was very, very aware of how fortunate I am to be able to ride my Harley outside or take long walks because it is a privilege to be able to do so. My friend does not have this freedom. Neither does my son, the Emerald Prince, who resides in the State-run Emerald Palace. Our home is decked in wreaths during this Christmas season, his is decked in barbed wire.
My friend is a Christian as am I. We talked about the difference that Christ had made in our lives. In both of our lives, Christ had transformed our hearts through His grace and His love. What a difference that makes in our attitude. Both of us have had to deal with those individualistic hardships that come into every life at one time or another. Being a Christian does not mean that we do not see hardships or pain or suffering . What it does mean is that we do not go through these pains and hardships alone. We are blessed. We are also led and directed by God who moves in our lives actively.
Illness that prevents travel or even prison that restricts travel is a blessing when one compares these situations to being a burn victim or a quadraplegic in a hospital or having a death sentence of a fatal cancer. Even there a Christian can be comforted by the presence of God and the hope of an eternity where he or she is free at last. We serve a God who gives us hope and transforms that hope into reality.
But that brings me back to the eyes of God and the window in my office and the tree outside. Now the window has been there a long time. The tree has too. But my eyes are new and they see things that they did not see before. Here is what they see. Outside my window there are a group of cardinals that just love the tree and the berries that are in it. They visit regularly.
I assume the cardinals have been visiting the tree regularly for years. However, with winter being here, the leaves that cloak the tree and the activities of these saucy little birds, clad in scarlet and brown, have been drawn back so that the activities of the cardinals are revealed to those of us who have eyes to see it. Through the grace of God, I have those eyes. They are God's gift. My eyes worked before but I was blind to the cardinals. My attention was focused upon myself, my family, my business and my worries.
These things now belong to God and I am free to see.
And so the cardinals were there all along. And I was there too. The diffence is that yesterday I did not see them. Today I do.
HarleyDad
Monday, December 12, 2005
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