If you know this, you will know it but if
you don’t know it you won’t know it. I
had an acquaintance ask me this week if I know any one they can help who is
struggling financial or for other reasons because of this coronavirus
crises. I said, I didn’t but if I hear
of anyone, I will let you know. I toooo
would like to help someone. I think there will be folks who will really be hurt
and you and I need to step up. Yes we do—my opinion. JoeBlow (i.e. who is a pillar of the
community) says—erv, talk is cheap; it’s easier to just say we will pray for
them. BigTalkWillie says—Soooo if I ask
someone if I can help them and they say yes, then I have tooooo. Maybe I don’t want to help them in the way
they want help. Then what do I do? Do I apply strings or just disappear or just
don’t ask?
WildWilly (i.e. who seems to understand things once in a
while) says--Confessing our inadequacy can be hard. Humbling our self is rarely
easy or fun. AverageJoe says--Pride is a
killer. It takes a big person to say
that we don’t know or we are wrong or someone else is better (i.e. oh that ego). A friend and I were having breakfast, yes he
had me over and made me breakfast. We
had a great time philosophizing (i.e. most of it was probably not that
important as we don’t know what we are talking about most of the time). But I asked him for some help. I got an email/text from someone who used
messaging by U.S. Cellular. It had no
signature and just a number and I didn’t know the number. I had no idea who it was from. It was a nice message, but I thought it was
from a person who would sometimes make things very generic (i.e. not very
personal). My friend suggested that I
send a message back thanking them and asking who this is from instead of
jumping to a bad conclusion. I did and
it was from a golf buddy who I was happy to hear from sharing his concern for
me about Arlene’s death, not the person who I sorta kinda thought negative
thoughts about. Oh man! Good advice.
AverageJoe says—erv, find out the facts before jumping to a
conclusion. BUT I thought for sure it
was this other person! Da! I thought I
knew for sure but no, I didn’t know!
I called
U.S. Cellar, my phone company which also supplies me with my data package witch
includes my wi-fi as my bill went up a little. I asked Jenny this question and
she informed me that I lost a 24-month discount. She said—let’s see what I can
do for you. Long story short, we changed
my account to a hot spot on my phone for my other devices which gave me a way
better product and saved me $25 a month.
As she was doing this, we had a very nice visit. She was working from
home and has two children with the oldest being in first grade; her husband has
been out of the country for 2 months. I
told her wow you have your hands full—yabut we go forward with a good attitude;
it is working out—you are a good person—I believe all folks have good in them;
it’s just that we all have a choice and I elect to try to do good—you are my
kind of person! By the way, the new plan
I have is called “even better.” Now that made me laugh. Flip the pancake—I bought
a grill from Home Depot that was assembled.
I was putting it on the patio and the lid was up-side down in the fire
box. I tried to put in on but the pins for
the hinges weren’t there. I looked
inside the firebox and the manual was there and written on it was that there
were no pins. I laughed. Sooooo I called Home Depot and said—You guys
made me laugh, I told them the story. I
can’t believe you sold me a grill with not all the parts and you even knew
it (i.e. they must endorse the saying--caveat emptor). He didn’t know what to say. l laughed again; I thought that was
funny! I guess we all make choices. Such is life.
A
friend tells me that when folks say to him, you know, he says to them, no I
don’t know, will you tell me? Folks
always think you know but most of the time they don’t know, particularly like when
you think they should know. Hey, folks
have been educated differently by their past environment and their current
environment soooo don’t assume anything. They probably don’t think like
you. I was at some friends’ place for
dinner the other night—fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy. I haven’t had that for years. Oh was it good; I thought I was in
cholesterol heaven. My friend was
seasoning the gravy he was making with salt.
He took it out of a container on the counter that I never saw anything
like before. I asked him what that
was. He called it a salt pig. He said cooks use that. He acted like I should know what it was, I
didn’t know, never saw one before. It
made me laugh. My Mom, Anna, never used
that back on the farm growing up.
I jog on the golf course and was on the back side adjoining
a field road the other morning. There was a guy out with his three big dogs. We
introduced ourselves. He asked where I
lived, and I told him a couple blocks east of the golf course and then he told
me that he lives in the newer house on the golf course. He said he had a girlfriend for several years
who lived with him but she has moved out soooo he’s all alone with his 3 dogs
but another girlfriend might move in with him soon. Soooo you drive that truck by your
house. He says—I do but I don’t, you
know. I said—no I don’t know. Well, I’m the owner and operator of that
truck but I haven’t driven it for 4 or 5 weeks and I don’t plan to drive it
until this virus thing is safe; it could be a long time. I don’t want to die and besides the rates are
low right now soooo I can’t make much money anyway. The problem is that I have bills toooo pay
and no income; those folks are just going to have to wait; that’s all what’s
toooo it! Soooo should I help this
guy? Will he get help from the
government? Do I want to feed his three
dogs, his girlfriend and make his camper payment? You know, I just don’t know!
A friend who is a retired banker said that in the banking
industry there is a saying—Half of their customers are 2-pay checks away from
bankruptcy. There could be a lot of
foreclosures of houses and repos of recreational toys. Doesn’t look good to me. BUT the banks will probably complain to the
government and the government will probably bail them out. And who is the government? It looks like we have a plan in effect. Let
her roll! BUT maybe there will be a
better plan; You know—no, I don’t know. And maybe many of the folks won’t have
it soooo bad. Could be. I don’t
know. Saturday question--Will folks
still pay exorbitant prices to go to sporting events? ItchieBitchie says—Of course, that’s
essential! Besides, maybe for half the folks, this crisis probably will not
affect their lifestyle at all or very little. You think sooooo? That is what I
thought.
I
saw an elderly friend at Casey’s the other day.
I asked him how is doing (i.e. he lost his wife recently). He said the standard answer—ok. BUT I can’t sleep—is it because of your
wife’s death—I don’t know; I don’t think sooooo but I don’t know for sure; I’m
soooo tired that my legs can hardly hold me up but when I go to bed, I can’t
sleep. I just wonder, I don’t know for
sure, if isolation is a cause of many dysfunctional behavioral issues. Loneness etc. is not good. I’m sorta kinda getting bored. I can only work in the yard about soooo
long. I am way happier when I talk and
am around folks. Exercise helps me a lot
BUT some days I have to force myself to exercise. I just don’t always feel like doing it. BUT I feel oh sooooo much better when I get
done. Such is life.
There is a whole lot of stuff I don’t know. For sure! I know that; you do tooooo! Coach
says—Beginning of wisdom is often understanding stuff we don’t know. Does that make sense to you? That is what I thought. That understanding keeps us grounded and
doesn’t let us get the big head in thinking we know everything (i.e. some folks
think they do, and they are annoying to most folks—very pushy). I think a
desire to learn is a good quality. BUT
you might think differently. Especially
if you think you know everything already! Sooooo I was doing some changes on
how I wanted some communication sent to me about some investments (i.e. go
paperless). I wanted to modify my
preference but found it difficult to do on their web site (i.e. I thought their
web site to be not very friendly). I
called their tech guy Billy. BillyTech
said—I will just do it for you—no no, I want to learn—it is way easier for me
to just do it for you, believe me! I really don’t know what he meant by
that! haha Maybe some of you grand kids understand what
he is saying; he’s maybe has talked to your grandparents.
I was listening to a pastor/friend during the beginning of his
Sunday morning sermon. He said this week
he asked other pastors how they like doing their sermons live. They said it is humbling. Humbling in that it feels like they are being
compared to other pastors a.k.a. exposed.
You know—no I don’t know! Well,
folks compare them to other pastors they listen tooooo and their methods,
styles of presentation, beliefs, authenticity, viewability, attractiveness,
effectiveness, content related to the current world etc. They can listen to anyone they want. Some friends tell me they listen to three
sermons each Sunday (i.e. I assume they probably eventually watch the ones they
think are the better ones). It’s sorta
kinda like a dog show! I think the
pastors were saying they don’t like to be compared! I can understand that (i.e. everyone wants a
trophy). SusieQ (i.e. who is not a
church goer) asks—There isn’t competition between churches or pastors is there?
JoeChurchGoer says—Well, ya gotta have folks to pay the bills. A golf
buddy/friend told me golfing the other day that a member of their church board
told him that the new stimulus program is good for churches tooooo. And the board member said—It’s “free real money”
toooo yet! Soooo there you go!
Opportunity! A friend was telling
me last week that this isolation has been good for some younger mothers. It has given them a chance to do things with
their children that they don’t do very often.
Soooo on Good Friday, a couple of girls rang my door bell and had a
homemade Easter card, bars and a cookie for me.
Their grandma was driving the car sooooo I assume she was the leader
behind the project. Another opportunity
for her and her grandgirls. It touched
me and bet grandma and the grandgirls as well (i.e. the grandgirls had big
smiles on their faces). My experiences teach me that stuff is forgotten much
more than experiences. Our CO family
tells me that Denver and surrounding metro has started tradition of a nightly
howl at 8:00 to show support of essential workers and say “hi” to neighbors,
now includes fireworks in some neighborhoods. Neat! Fun opportunity for sure
(i.e. my opinion)!
MyNeighborDownTheStreet asks—Where is all this money coming from for all
these stimulus packages? I read this
while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it--Divine coincidence is an
economic theory referring “to the property of New Keynesian models that there
is no trade-off between the stabilization of inflation and of the
welfare-relevant output gap … for central banks.” Don’t worry if you don’t
understand that; economists don’t either! You know—no, I don’t know! I wonder
what is going on here! This might make
you scratch your head—Maybe these stimulus packages might cost us the
proverbial “an arm and a leg!” Ouchy
ouchy! BUT it’s only money!
The world is a different place than it was just a little while ago.
Everyone is living a new reality and many aspects are quite alarming. The
changes and effects are far reaching and there is no way to estimate how long
lasting and permanent these changes may be. Some of you may think you know but
I don’t know for sure. But then again, I’m just a little ol’ farm boy from a
mile and quarter south of Roseland, MN.
Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:
erv
MyFriendJean says—Money can buy time but not wisdom.
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