exhilarated

Charlie Brown, the famous character in Charles M. Schultz’s Peanuts comic strip, is quoted as saying, “I think I’m afraid of being happy because whenever I get too happy something bad always happens.” We all seem to have had that feeling at times, maybe!

I’m sitting by the window in our apartment and watching the waves of the Pacific Ocean  pounding the beach and hearing the thundering crashing noise which both are very exhilarating to me. It is something that was on my bucket list of sorts. It is hard to explain what this does to me, it seems to touch me—we are all unique folks (i.e. like different dogs on the beach) and think differently (i.e. maybe we are like the dog on the beach trying to catch a seagull on the fly). What goes on in our mind is invisible, undetectable to other people and vice versa!

Take a listen and a look folks! We are all unique alright! Every person on the beach is different looking and is thinking of something different; even all the dogs are different (i.e. and there are a lot of them). Crazy! What are you thinking about currently? Why are you thinking about that? You are unique alright! Don’t kid yourself! I was told that what ever we think about and talk about the most is the most important to us (e.g. if folks talk about themselves or their dog then probably that is the most important to them. Huh, interesting! Soooo based on that assumption, what is the most important in our lives? Da! I have been in many houses during my business career and I think I can tell what is important to folks by what they have on their walls. It's not rocket science folks! Just listen and look around! Such is life.

We saw many yachts in the different harbors that are luxury yachts from all over the world. Soooo what do those folks do when sailing; what do those folks think about? They have hours, days, months to think. I just wonder why they do that?

Billy Graham is right...at least for me...in that it is hard to concentrate solely on good things and God. So many distractions. Why do I allow that to happen? But walking on the ocean beach is a great opportunity to think, think about things that I normally probably wouldn’t think about (i.e. it is a great atmosphere for me for sure). Besides, it’s a good way to get the dirt cleaned from between my toes!

The tide does changes alright! A lady at our complex was sitting by the pool as we walked by. She was reading a book about emotions. We asked her what her emotions were—I have so many as I battled cancer last year and my two children have left home. Soooo, I have many emotions and am working on how to handle them. At the ocean is a good place to think through issues, my opinion. It’s an enjoyable place for me.

We went to the tide pools during the negative low tide to observe another world that normally we don’t see. Very educational to me (i.e. you don’t do that in Butler County IA). The analogy I made is that part of our lives we don’t easily expose until we have negative low tide and even then many folks don’t get to see what is down there unless they really look hard (i.e. and if we let them).

It’s not a nail biter! One good question that I asked myself while on the beach the other day--Which relationships deserve more of my attention?

Pretty tricky! I learned a new trick here near the beach. I learned how guys just put a towel around themselves (i.e. gals use a gown) and take their clothes off and put on their wet suits on underneath them and and also when taking their wet suits off. I think I better practice that a few times before doing it in public.

But there are down sides here toooo! I was waiting in our vehicle at Trader Joe’s parking lot for Jeanne when a senior couple was pushing a shopping cart full of groceries along with their maybe 35-year-old son who was driving an Audi parked next to me (i.e. probably visiting their son). As they were putting the groceries in the trunk, dad says to his kid—A person needs a second job just to pay for the groceries. Yes, the cost of living is high here. Our complex manager is in his 30s and he told us that common apartments are from $2,000 to $4,000 a month; many folks pay 75% of their monthly pay on rent and insurance. As my mentor would say to me—erv, nuttin is as good as it looks and nuttin is as bad as it looks! Such is life!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyDeceasedFriendJean said—A strong wind makes a strong tree.

what do we beleive

I saw a billboard sign that read—100% of boring billboard signs are useless! Do you believe that?

Accelerating! We see surfers, bikers, walkers, kite flyers, a lot of dogs, and runners on the beach and board walk but more in the mornings and evenings and on weekends. Most runners are young folks between 18 and 30. And there seems to be a ratio of 3 to 1 being CA  gals with their tummies showing (i.e. surfers are more like 8 out of 10 young males). Pacific Beach has to be the spandex capital of America! That is what I believe. It also makes me feel like the acronym that our neighbor told us is popular which is FOMO meaning --Fear of missing out! We really do enjoy the boardwalk and the ocean beach! They are accelerating! TheQueenOfPacificBeach tells the world, ya gotta keep moving! 

Dr. J says—"While there are a number of countries that have practiced atheism as the official position of the state, there are only three countries that currently practice state atheism: the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Yet even within these officially atheistic countries, religions flourish. Wherever humans exist, the longing for God is ongoing. This reality reflects the words of King Solomon near the end of his life. He recognized that God ’has put eternity in [men’s] hearts’—that is, a longing to connect with man’s Creator. Solomon also observed that ‘no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end’ by simply recognizing His existence. General revelation—for example, nature (Romans 1:19-20)—can show us God exists, but it takes special revelation—through the written Word and living Word, Jesus Christ (John 1:14)—to show us how to fill the God-shaped vacuum in our heart.” Do we believe Solomon and Dr. J? I do!

What do you believe? My hypothesis is that 67.86% of folks who have dogs on the board walk are female. I have no idea why, maybe you do. Also 89.26% of the surfers are male. Again I have no idea, maybe you do. Maybe they just are mental quirks!

What is the key to our heart? Maybe you don’t think there is a key to our heart, that could be! I know as well as you do, some folks have a very hard heart (i.e. it seems as hard as a rock). We were standing behind the first tee boxes of Tore Pines (i.e. one thing I wanted to do) and another guy was doing the same. He asked about us and we gave him our short story. He toooo told us that we are soooo fortunate to be together (i.e. that is what he told us out of the blue--Life is meant to be together.) We told him that we are very thankful! We asked him if he was a believer; I sure am, he said and that is what I believe!

Playwright and actor Woody Allen, 89, gave an interview last fall to The Wall Street Journal. He said, “The older I get, the more horrible I think everything is. I mean, the more life experience you have, you start to see what a foolish, meaningless, tragic experience it is.” Dr. J says—"What a bleak way to view the world! Yet without Christ, life really is foolish, meaningless, and tragic. The writer of Ecclesiastes grappled with just that issue.” That is what Dr. J and I believe.

We asked a surfer who rode his bike up to us carrying his surfboard (i.e. you don't see that in Butler County IA) how much does a surfboard cost. He said I have six of them in the range from $100 to a $1,000+. You must be pretty good surfer to have that many! I am a good surfer compared to somebody who doesn’t know anything about it! Well that’s us! So you’re good! And maybe he was just smoking some marijuana; there is a lot of that smoked here; we see it and smell it!

CoachB says—"The promised land lives in what we do daily. Not something out there but something in there!” It appears that maybe a 25-year-old gal lives in this van by our apartment maybe 50 yards from the ocean (i.e. at least for a couple of days). She has her wet suit hanging on the mirror and her surfboard hanging on the back of her van. She seems to work and has her car in front of the van (i.e. maybe even works from her van). She is an attractive CA gal. They tell us that housing is very expensive here. Maybe this is her promised land! Could be. A down side is that the San Diego Parking makes them move their vans every 2 days it seems. A tour guide told us that the top three money makers for San Diego are ship building and repair, military, and tourism. Soooooo, the homeless lifestyle is really policed it appears maybe for the money reason related to tourism (i.e. it ain’t pretty).

This is like the surfers' "duck dive." King Solomon says--Whatever amount of money God has entrusted to you, pray for even more wisdom. Whoever finds wisdom finds life (Proverbs 8:35). I believe that!

TheCA-SurferGirlWithTheGTO says--“I’ve never met a person who enjoys life who is unhappy doing so!” I agree with King Solomon as what he said--“People ought to enjoy every day of their lives, no matter how long they live.”

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyDeceasedFriendJean said—Speech is silver—silence is golden.

new and improved

These two words, new and improved, are the most often used words in advertising, sooo they say. They must work. They are what folks what to hear probably (i.e. that is my opinion). But remember folks, opinions are just opinions; most are less than 50% correct at best. My mentor would tell me—if a mutual fund manager is 51% correct, the person is considered a success! If they are 49% correct, they get fired.

SaltySeagull  says--"Which is easier—to make your bed in the morning or leave it unmade? To volunteer for a community project or to watch TV all weekend? To vacuum, wash, and wax your car or to leave it dirty? The easiest choices reflect the Second Law of Thermodynamics: all work processes tend toward a greater state of disorder over time without fresh injections of new energy. This law applies to us physically, mentally and spiritually." That is maybe considered an opinion to some!

Opportunity! Two girls down in the weeds: one a slave, one a princess. Two girls down in the weeds, and one baby crying in a basket. This story is about Moses; a great story, my opinion. The story is about helping someone who needs our help, but we think it’s quite unlikely it will be us, but all of a sudden it is our opportunity. And it changes the future—a new and improved future! Do we think sometimes that we are of the opinion of being tooooo important of a person to be the one to help someone? Who what me! HotSauceOfSanDiego says--Life is all about me and that's how I like it!

Never toooo old for an opportunity! Soooo at Shadow Mountain Community Church last Sunday, a lady approached us who was dressed nice and had her hair done nice as well; she had to be 90 at least, her name was Joyce. She talked to us, greeted us and showed us around a little. After church, we ran into her again in the church's restaurant where we were having brunch. She was with a young gal maybe 20. Jeanne asked the young gal if she was her grand daughter--no no, I just met her 5 minutes ago! Yes, we heard Dr. David Jerimiah speak. A great experience and opportunity for us. My opinion!

For the new and improved teams Charles Barkey says—It’s not so much about Xs and Os but it’s more about the Jims and the Joes. If you are not a sports person, it means it’s not soooo much about coaches diagraming the plays but it’s more about having the better players to have good teams—good players make good coaches. As we have seen, some teams that have really gotten better in the last years (e.g. Indiana football—from the bottom rung to a championship team—new and improved—but they spent millions, word is $100,000,000+)! My opinion is that it looks to me that this philosophy applies to many things! You think sooo? Hey, the Super Bowl was not won with poor players! Da!

$$$$$$ Some of my sports buddies told me that one Indiana alumnus gave $100,000,000 to the football program to beef it up. Now that will give new and improved life to a program. They said that this type of donor is called a "white whale". These guys are from MN and they say U of MN does not have a white whale. Soooo, MN’s chance of winning a national championship is nil to none! They told me that Miami’s quarterback received $4,000,000 this last year to play there. Does this just make you wonder where this is going to stop? It’s all about the money! Or is it not! 

It is written--If the heart is receptive, the seed can bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold (i.e. if we have a new and improved heart and mind—my opinion). Soooo if the heart is hard or non-receptive, guess what will it produce? Mr. Stingray says—But it also depends on what the seeds are that we plant in our hearts doesn’t it? If the seeds are cockleburs, it will produce cockleburs! JoePublic, what part don’t you understand?

The word Stingray (i.e. Stingrays are very common in the Pacific Ocean here) was modified here in San Diego years ago to Stingaree as the business people stung the sailors who came to port after a long time on the sea. The main places that they got stung at were at the brothels, gambling halls and saloons soooo they got the name Stingarees! Nuttin new I would guess! 

We were having  dinner with two old-friend couples before we left for CA (i.e. in more ways than one) who are our age. Joethehike said that we are 80 and about 4% of the U.S. population are 80 or more. Being in that 4% isn’t always new and improved. But it’s different alright! Something is still the same though, we enjoy each other’s company! We had a hoot!

Help help, please help. When we were still in AZ we had a lady stop at our place as she had 6 bags of cloths to give to Jeanne to take to New Hope. She said many of the clothes still had price tags on them yet. Her family member has dementia and bought clothes online and didn’t know what she was doing. Soooo sad! She also told us that she got scammed out of $9,000. Soooo sad. We need to help our family members if they need help; they need an advocate; we must admit that they need help. I can tell you this as I know from being a care giver of my wife who had Alzheimer’s (i.e. a first-hand experience)--don't kid yourself; we need to face reality as it's best for everyone. 

This is a multiple choice question. Who do you think said this statement, a pickleball partner, a car salesman or Jesus?  "For a new and improved life anything that tends to make you anxious is a growth opportunity. Instead of running away from these challenges, embrace them eager to gain all the blessings I have hidden in the difficulties." Saturday question--Are difficulties opportunities? As Dr. J said in his talk, "When I was struggling with cancer, I told God I had enough opportunities, I got it!"

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyDeceasedFriendJean said--Failure is one thing you can achieve without much effort.

juiced

You think wintering in the South is just a piece of cake and we are just juiced up all of the time. Well, it ain’t soooo. The other morning I had a blackout for 20 minutes!  Then I realized I had my hoody on backwards!

Something different! We are spending the month of February in San Diego (i.e. something different). And it is different. In Butler County, IA everyone waves at everyone even if you don’t know them and the same in our 55+ community in AZ. In fact, when I ride my bicycle in AZ I had to learn to ride with one hand as I have to continuously wave with the other. Here in San Diego, no one waves at me. It’s CA sooo maybe they haven’t caught on yet! The country was developed from the East to the West! hahaha

One of our neighbors in our 55+community is always juiced up with enthusiasm; he is always doing something from light to dark. And he can do anything and everything; he’s really good at everything plus he is a nice guy (i.e. we really like this guy). We asked him how come he’s soooo smart—he said, I ask myself that as well!

It is amazing how my emotions, thinking, happiness etc. can be affected by how others react to me in mixtures of situations. Soooo, you all affect me; you motivate me, discourage me, uplift me, deplete me, encourage me, spark me, humble me, make me feel loved, make me feel not loved, on and on and on; you get it. And I can juice you up or take your juice away I would guess as well.

Saturday question—Where did you get your juice? I’m asking where did you get what you got; what makes you you? Something Jeanne and I discuss a lot is genetics vs. environment. Maybe we are influenced by both; we think. Soooo which one is the most prominent in our life? Are we like our parents? Are we like the home or homes we grew up in? Do folks ever say we look just like our parents? Or do others say we act just like the home we grew up in? How about our children? John, anybody can be a John, says—I hope our children don’t grow up like me! Maybe we are all juiced up! BettyLouFromMissionBeach says—Our children seem to be pretty good people in spite of their father and me!

What is our favorite juice? Chester and Anna were good parents to me, my opinion. They were good people in many ways and taught me a lot of good stuff (i.e. I can see threads of them in my life). Unfortunately, my Daddy died  when I was 17 and my Mom died when I was 22 sooooo I was on my own early. BUT I was around some really good folks who were very influential in my life during that period of making a lot of important decisions. Another break I had or made was developing a very good relationship with a client who became my mentor. He shared soooo much of his wisdom (i.e. wisdom under the sun meaning earthly wisdom and wisdom under heaven meaning spiritual wisdom). We developed much trust in each other and he shared a lot with me. In fact, he told me that I knew more about his life, spiritually, personally and financially than anyone else; he said--erv I don’t know why I tell you all this stuff! He was a great man, my opinion. For sure he juiced me up!

When I think of an eternal flame I think of the one at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris and the flame on John F. Kennedy’s grave. Do we have an eternal flame in us that burns continuously and forever? If soooo, what is it? Where does it get its fuel, what juices it up. I would guess it has to do a lot with the folks we are around (e.g. if our flame is sweetness we are probably around sweet folks and if it is bitterness, we are probably around bitter folks). My take on it is that we are much like who encourages us. They fuel us. They juice us up! Look around, It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out! Da!

Who knows for sure! SurferJane says—The truth of certain stories are open for debate but this one is true, maybe, I think!  Here is a story told to Jeanne by a lady in in our 55+ community in AZ and she told it to me. Soooo it’s a third hand story and by that time most of the information is wrong or embellished as you know. Soooo take it for what’s it worth. This lady has a dog and takes it to the dog park regularly. She told Jeanne that there is a lady there that is just soooo nice to me; I have no idea why she is soooo nice to me; she is nice all the time to me; I just don’t get it. Jeanne asked who it is—I don’t know—what does she look like—what does her dog look like (i.e. dog folks are known by their dogs)—ok, that is so and so and yes she is a nice lady. Soooo Jeanne texted that lady and told her the story. That lady just took it pretty much in stride (i.e. she is a humble lady). BUT don’t kid yourself, I am sure she appreciated Jeanne’s encouragement! It juiced her up I bet!

There are a lot of surfers in the ocean here by our unit. They are interesting folks alright (i.e. you don't see guys and gals carrying surf board on their bikes in Butler Co.). Something else that is interesting for us here in San Diego is that neither of us have any family here, neither of us have any friends here nor neither of us have any business connections here. We are in an oasis all by ourselves without those stimuli for a month. We are creating our own environment between us. JoeSanDiego says--That is pretty juicy! A marriage is a valuable, unique relationship!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyDeceasedFriendJean said—If you got something for nothing, that is usually what it is worth.

PS Valentine hint! We stopped at the Post Office for some stamps for valentine cards to our grandkids. We asked the clerk if he could give us our change in some $5 bill for our grand kids. He said--Where have you folks been! Grandkids don't want $5 bills; they expect $100 bills!