'MMOG' Champion

Simmy woke up thinking about reputation.
The evening before they had joined in with a young couple and another young Mom whose husband was babysitting the kids at home. As it turned out these three were already a 'small group' and Sam and Simmy wouldn't have much to contribute in the way of parenting advice because these very young couples were still so innocent. Their problems were so innocent.
It was kind of nice to just sit and be allowed to listen to them talk about things that were so far in the past, they would likely be in the present soon again, if the married children procreated.
Most of the advice that popped into Simmy's mind would likely bring a problem into the 'conflict resolution' stage... but she had offered the solution anyway... "If Grandma and Grandpa keep complaining about your children and their behaviour just tell them... 'I'm really sorry but they always behave for people that they like.'"
Now, Simmy knew that was edgy advice as soon as the innocents' eyes bugged out... but it wasn't more than a few seconds before a smile emerged from the Mom and a whole different perspective was forming in her head... maybe Simmy did have a knack for giving advice... maybe an advice column... yes, that was the answer... let's see, what will I call it?
'MMOG Champions'- Mothering Mothers of God... Oh, I know, World of Warcraft has tried to take that one, but really... that is what mothering is... it's a big world of war where your craft is to negotiate peace... every day. So, don't you gamers send me any emails about being champions... Mothers who are in the game are the champions.
Simmy's mind drifted back to a day of parenting...
The year is 1989
Simmy heads off to Little Valley Park where a now famous BMX jump is located.
In tow,... a 2 1/2 year old, a 4 1/2 year old, and a 7 year old, a stroller, a small bicycle and a BMX bicycle handed down to oldest son from 'Bart the neighbor.'
There were a few neighborhood kids at the park that day so Simmy took the role of 'everyone's parent' and just when she thought things couldn't get more challenging... the BMX boys invited her to try a jump. Feeling so happy to be included and with all the cheering from the testosterone gang... Simmy accepted the challenge.
She got on the bike that oldest son offered her but he seemed more the adult in that moment than she. He whispered, 'Are you sure you want to try this?'
That gave Simmy the courage to scoff at Mr. Cautious and she looked down that hill and shoved off before she could change her mind. It was going alright until... she hit the jump. Boy, did she get a lot of air. She could hear the cheering at the top of the hill even through the sound of her own scream... but then, the BMX bike landed and her bottom, which had been sailing freestyle off the seat, didn't automatically land back on the seat...
No, no, no, no, it landed in between the handlebars and the seat which left her knees dragging on either side of the bike as her arms hung onto the handlebars for dear life.
It wasn't long before she was surrounded by young boys who were asking if she was alright but also cheering, yet, unsure, because Simmy wasn't really celebrating the way they would if they'd got that much air on the jump.
Simmy handed the bike to Mr. Cautious and said, "That's my BMX jump for the day. You go have fun!"
The crowd of rowdy boys was twitching with excitement now... the bar had been set and they were ready for the challenge.
Simmy walked over to the sandbox trying to conceal her horror at the size of the bloody road rash on her knees. She smiled the whole way, refusing to give way to the tears of pain. All the children came to look at her knees saying things like, 'Does it hurt? Wow! Does it really hurt?'
Simmy had managed to let her sons play for a little longer, knees burning, before she announced, 'Time to pack it in for the day, boys."
There was a lot of 'Aww! We want to play some more,' but Simmy was adamant.
Back to the present...
So, to the on-line gamer who asked, 'Is there any specific way to 'grind' guild reputation to hit Honored quickly?...'
I reply... 'Try some reality gaming called 'parenting.' Put in all your effort and you'll hit Honored quickly... then, I may let you be the 'MMOG' (Mothering Mothers of God) Champion of the day.

Buckminster Full 'er Twitter

Middle construction son gave Sam a new toy... and it's a good one. Endless hours of 'earth magnet lego.' Seriously, Sam has not stopped playing with these bucky balls.
It is interesting to note that... Fuller was all atwitter with 15 minute life updates long before Twitter was even getting any tweets.
So, in the big questions and answers of life...  
Twitter is all about timing
Like Fuller is much about chrono
Bucky did 'tweet' his filing 
But his scrapbook is literal phono 

Barbed Wire Communication

Simmy called Deborah in the morning to see if she had stayed in. It snowed a lot and she had likely kept her little car in the driveway.
Sure enough, she was home but planned to try to get to the grocery store in the afternoon.
"Have you heard about what's happening in Egypt?"
"No, I don't watch the news," Simmy said. "It's mostly depressing!"
"Oh, we watch the news and read the paper every day," Deborah said. "My daughter, 'who resembles God' is still out there on a teaching engagement and I want to know if all is well. They've shut down the communications so I can't talk to her."
"Yes, I can see why you keep up with the news. That is the worst thing to keep people from being able to communicate." Simmy replied. "I'm making some barbed wire tea light holders for a birthday party," Simmy said. "Once again, it seems a little on point for what is happening in the world, huh? I'm already wearing a bandaid. Remember those little flat pieces of metal we bought in that stuff from Michaels? That metal is really raw."
"You should put the bandaids on before you start," Deborah suggested.
"You're right there. I'm putting one on the other thumb as we speak. Hey, I didn't take my Hummer in to the shop today. If it behaves, I can come pick you up and we'll get to the grocery store."
... After they were finished shopping, Simmy dropped Deborah off at her home.
"Are you coming in for tea?" Deborah said.
"I think you need to see how many messages you have on your phone. That is first, to see if there is any news from Egypt," Simmy said.
... They went in and, sure enough, there were messages waiting on the phone.
"I'll talk to you later," Simmy moved to go back outside.
"I'll let you know if there's any news this weekend," Deborah said.
... Less than an hour later, the doorbell rang.
Simmy hopped up the stairs, commanding her knee to stay in place.
It was Deborah and 'worker in roof' tiles' boy.
"You forgot your milk. We brought it over. Oh, my daughter and her friend are fine. They're in their apartment and they're nowhere near where all the rioting is."
"Oh good, your face looks relieved," Simmy smiled, happy to get some good news.

Time Travel

Story Puzzle of the Day... written by El.

Last week, at the gym, I read an article in New York magazine, December 2009, called 'Tim Keller wants to save your yuppie soul.' In the article, my favorite part of the interview is this... "In the late eighties, ... Presbyterian Church of America, asked him to oversee the building- or "planting," in the Evangelical argot- of a church in Manhattan. The idea was that winning believers in New York would have an influence out of proportion to the group's numbers. When Keller's first two picks for the pastor's job declined the offer, Keller,... decided to move and take the position himself. 'I just felt it would be cowardly of me not to,' he says. 'But we had a kind of 'sick in the pit of our stomach' feeling every day.' I later asked Kathy, Tim's soul mate and more blunt-spoken alter ego, whether the church ladies... worried about the couple, as if they were being sent on a mission to a remote African village. 'Oh, that would have been easier,' she said. 'Big bad Whore of Babylon is where we were going.'"
End quote.
Also on my coffee table is the book, 'What Katy Did At School' which was written in 1873 by pen-named Susan Coolidge, or Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, niece of Theodore Dwight Woolsey, who was President of Yale University from 1846- 1871.
Now, why, might you ask, would I be reading such diverse books at the same time?
Dr. L, (a pastor who had a doctorate) once told me, "There isn't anything worth reading that was written after the early 1900's."
Being the kind of person that I am, I decided to see if he might have a point.

Last night I watched, 'Timecop' with Sam and oldest construction son.
Then, I annoyed said son by watching him play 'BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY 2.'  'Warning- Serious gamers are annoyed if mothers ask questions while they are gaming!'
Now, what do... the article from New York magazine, the novel written in 1873, the Van Damme movie 'Timecop' and 'BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY 2' have in common?
All of these speak in their own coded argot, about injustice and changes in the past, present, and future and how to deal with life when the 'defecation hits the oscillation.' (borrowed that phrase from the 'Battlefield' game). 

And... on a rather odd concurrence... a common thread is the number 10.
Does anyone else hear the intro for 'The Twilight Zone?'

Clear Water Creedance

Sam had asked for a CCR CD for Christmas and youngest construction son had gifted him with one.
There was a great song on there that Simmy hadn't heard before and it was one of those 'the prophet is speaking- is anybody listening' type of songs.
Usually Simmy didn't like that 4/4 timing... just a little too country sounding but Fogerty has a voice that just gives a different sound to the song... "Don't Look Now (It Ain't You or Me). He's got that Elvis rock-a-billy voice happening which gives the song a really unique sound.
Having just watched Norma Rae, the song really calls out in an authentic way...
'Who'll take the coal from the mine?
 Who'll take the salt from the earth?
 Who'll make the shoes for your feet?
Don't look now, it ain't you or me
Don't look now, someone's done your starvin'
Don't look now, someone's done your prayin' too...
Who'll take the promise that you don't have to keep?
Don't look now...'
That song reminds me of a story that the pastor told of a tiny place in Africa that some corporation had 'taken on' as a make the world better project.
Now, I was sitting there thinking... yes, that is just perfect... a corporation that makes a lot of money should be changing the world, yes!
Don't look now... the corporation dropped the project and that is how the church crew found it last year... a small hamlet abandoned by the corporate world... begging the church crew to help them...
So, if ever you decide to rail against the church... Don't look now, maybe someone's kept your promise...

Bridging Time

'Stars and the planets' neatly packaged all the flowers that Simmy purchased and she was even dressed to match the sun and the universe and the sparkle in her eyes were two bright stars.
Thurya said her name was Aramaic but she didn't know the meaning.
Sam and Simmy had cooked a homemade dinner and were heading out of town to celebrate a very special birthday... that of Simmy's Mom.
It was a long drive out to the country and it was a very cold day but the plan was to meander on home before the sun set. At dusk, the deer came out to forage for food and they wandered too close to the highways.
The phone rang and Simmy's Dad hopped over to it and Simmy lifted her finger to her pursed lips to indicate that Sam needed to be very quiet in order for Cornelius to be able to hear.
It was a dinner invite from his sister and Simmy quickly assured her Dad that they were planning to leave in a couple of hours so they could make another dinner engagement.

The sun was swiftly setting but Sam and Simmy made a little detour on the way back into the city... the small town where Simmy had gone to High School.

There was a little bridge with one street lamp over it that gave Simmy a warm feeling of time gone by and a moment in time and present day passing on to the next... much like the stars and the planets.

Temptations of Food

Some days are meant for baking... when the temperature is -27C and dipping down lower for the night.
Simmy thought, 'A warm comfort food dinner is what all those hard working men need.'
She called construction son and said, "What is the first food that pops into your head?"
"I'm working Mom," he said impatiently.
"What's the picture of food in your head right now?"
Simmy persisted.
"Pizza," he said.
"I knew it! See ya later," Simmy said and she heard a manly snort- chuckle which always means 'my crazy mother.'
Next she phoned another construction son, "What are you having for lunch today?"

"Noodles," he replied.
"So, it's not a heavy lunch then?" Simmy asked.
"Nope," he replied.
"I'm making your favorite for dinner. See ya later."
"Oh, that's so mean. What is it?"
This time Simmy chuckled and hung up.
It worked out rather well that this construction son came home from work before Simmy got back from the grocery store so, even though he poked around the kitchen for a clue... a tin of tomato soup, a tin of tomato paste and pineapple draining on a plate just wasn't a solid tip-off.
After a strong work out at the gym, Simmy dragged home gobs of pizza fixings and a cube of instant yeast.
It didn't take very long and the dough was rising in the oven that had been brought to good 'proofer' temperature.
"Hey, I'm going to call married construction son and invite them for pizza," Simmy said.
She dialed and waited for him to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Hi, I'm making a large amount of pizza for dinner. Would you like to come over?"
"We just ate," he said with a tone of regret.
"What? Already?" Simmy looked at the clock.
"We eat as soon as we get home," he replied.
"It won't be done for an hour or so, you could eat again," Simmy suggested.
He seemed hesitant.
"You can change your mind if you like. I gotta go," Simmy hung up the phone.
"They didn't want to come for pizza?" Sam asked.
"I'll see if they want cinnamon buns. He didn't say that they had dessert," Simmy redialed.
"Cinnamon buns are dessert," she coaxed.
"We need more notice than this, Mom," he said with annoyance.
Simmy hung up and said to Sam, "Boy, they seem like old married folk already... can't do anything spontaneous. Sheesh!"
Sam started singing, "Sugar pie, honey bunch, you know that I love you, I can't help myself, I love you and nobody else..."
"In and out of our life... he comes and he goes, Every time we see his face, we get all choked up inside..."
Sam jumped in again with, "When you snap your finger, or wink your eye, I'm tied to your apron strings,..."
Simmy interrupted with, "...you're tied to my baking strings, you love that more than anything else..."
"Hey, that's not nice," he pouted. "Id do anything you ask me to..."
"Good, keep grating that cheese," Simmy said.
"Oh, oh, I'm out of icing sugar. I'll call Deborah and see if I can trade two warm cinnamon buns for two cups of icing sugar."
A minute later Simmy hung up the phone with the words, "Good trade!"
Construction son came up the stairs and said, "Ooh, those cinnamon buns are going to be sooo good slathered in white icing."
"You're lucky Deborah had some, in house, so I could trade her for warm cinnamon buns straight from the oven."
"Good trade," he said.

My Post Impressionism Girl

So, Happy Birthday Paul Cezanne!
Sam and I had a lovely dinner with just the right elements to make one of your paintings come to life... see previous blog entry. What do you mean, you don't know what a blog is?
Can you see that red onion? Employ your fancy binocular vision!
I used it to dot the i for that metal sign 'live.' Isn't it just perfection? It's even more amazing in real... the colour is a perfect reddish purple. It is absolutely firm, like it didn't get too knocked about in the crate, from garden to marketplace.
I'm using that lovely word, marketplace, so I don't have to get you all confused with terms such as 'Piggly Wiggly.' Even I can't imagine having a desire to buy food in a store with that name. It just never conjures up anything but bacon.
What was that?
A French label on the wine? Are you sure? On the shelf, as we speak? At that very store?
Well, I can almost forgive them for that name, now,... almost.
Oh, yes, Paul Cezanne, I painted this and decided that I would adopt your test... "When I judge art I take my painting and put it next to a God- made object, like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art."You said that, right?
So, the God- made objects are, pale yellow chrysanthemum...
The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature would likely give you a more precise name but you don't likely care, do you?
Oh, you do care! Of course, of course, you were born more than 85 years after the formal starting date of  May 1, 1753.   
Anyway, the heather is grown in California, Monterey Bay.
Maybe you could judge the painting for me... from my perspective, it passes the test...
What did I name it?
'Lupins on a Cloudy Day'
Do you like it? More Monet than Cezanne? Really?
Oh, I feel the music coming on... I see the world in many artistic forms, music being one of them... Mmm Hmm... excuse me, gotta dance to the Temptations... of course, you may join in... it's a bit of a line dance...
You haven't heard of the line dance?
Well, what is French... drumming of fingers... thinking, thinking, thinking,...
quadrille plus one with a little smooth hip action. Yah, that's it...
'I've got sunshine on a cloudy day,
When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May
I've got so much honey, the bees envy me
I've got a sweeter song
Than the birds in the trees..."

It's Cold Outside

Hey Baby, it's cold outside,...
I really thought that was a song with the next line,...
Tossed salad and scrambled eggs...
But I've got Louis Armstrong all mixed up with the theme song from Frasier...

Oy!

Well, spinach salad and scrambled eggs, cooked, of course, sounds great... for dinner!

I just came back in from a walk/ run outside and yes,
it's cold outside.

 Dinner is a simple fare with a Provencal setting... just dreaming of summer on a very cold winters' day.

Passing Tests & Moving Forward

Ah yes! I was whining about 'not hearing God speak to me' yesterday.
But this morning, I heard what I needed... I passed a big test, Simmy thought.
So, who do I ask if they think I passed it as well?
I know, having the opinion of God should be good enough! Oh but wait, by the testimony of two or three witnesses... isn't that Jewish?
It will have to be a person I trust... so, construction son, it is!
Dialing the phone...
"He...ll...o," he answered in a welcoming voice.
"Whew! My timing is good, too!" Simmy mouthed.
"Just this morning, I had the thought about what I had voiced a year ago... you know, when I always want to know what everyone has planned for the year, etcetera."
"Okay..." construction son was being cautious.
"Remember how I said that I felt the year would be a year of proving that I can love people who have way more than I have, financially?"
"Ye...s," the cautious tone encouraged.
"Well, how did I do? I want an honest opinion. It's going on the blog but don't answer in a way that will just make you look good. Answer honestly!"
"Well, you refused my offers of 'I'll pay for it' quite a few times," he said.
"True. That could have been pride or guilt. I don't know which one," Simmy said. "Anything else?"
"Well, you were normal, like any other year," he said.
"Oh, thank you! That is the most wonderful thing to hear," Simmy grinned. "I felt I was hearing this morning that I passed that test... being surrounded by people who are financially wealthier than I and still managing to love them all. Thank you, thank you."
"Okay," he said with that tone that says, 'I don't know what I said that made you so happy but, hey, it's great to see you happy.'
Simmy hung up the phone with a wonderful feeling, "Yep, I passed that test! This year, things will be different. There is always reward for passing a big test."

Top 40 Romances

Back before the internet and modern convenience... I had a huge crush on a man who, I only found out today... is French!
I know I still cannot tell my mother, even today. "You are Dutch, you vill marry a Dutchman, dat is all."
Wow! I can still hear that dictum in the back of my mind.
Growing up surrounded by wheat fields and the smell of a chicken barn, I was a 'closet Top 40' fan.
After I asked for, and received, a transistor radio, for Christmas one year, I would write down lyrics when I really loved a song and, it usually took a few times of waiting to hear that song again to get all the lyrics... no way to pause or rewind a transistor.
I think my Mom was really worried about how I would turn out in life as I listened to all the pop music I could get on that little radio, hidden away in the country.
I always knew, quite immediately, if I loved a song and I could almost always pick out a song that would go to #1 on the charts.
Just today, I remembered a song that I had to keep under my mattress... lyrics tucked away like they were something the preacher can't know about.
Don't know... 'What the hell I got' was one of my most favorite songs.
I had to watch where I would sing it... I didn't want my folks confiscating my transistor.
Seriously, I was 12ish years old with a crush on a man that I thought was Italian... Pagliaro sounds Italian, no?
It doesn't matter, he still vasn't Dutch.
And now, aviator shades are making a comeback... Yes!

Mercy in Gifts

'Love is all about cookies and pillows!' That's my business and life motto...
The picture, above, is an example of how many pillows you'll find, in use, in my living/loving room at one time.
Looks a little chintzy you say?
You're right! I'll get more!
I believe in offering a soft landing for the hard landings of life... tis only mercy.
Rarely will anyone emphasize the gift of mercy... rarely do people talk about the gift of mercy...
mostly because the gift of mercy is mostly about doing... mostly
listening is doing...
mostly
cooking is doing...
mostly
giving is doing...
mostly
hammering is doing...
mostly
praying is doing...
mostly
laughing is doing...
mostly
healing is doing...
mostly
Don't you just love doing?!
It was hard to find good information on the 'gift of mercy' but I did find a few articles that had really good information and no author was named so I thought it must be a compilation of info!
"Mercy is the HEART of a Body!"  
"Other words for merciful are: Comforter; Counsellor; Helper; Feeler; Builder of broken relationships; Empathy; Pity."
"In many ways, this gift is the exact opposite of the gift of prophecy... both having the capacity to look inside other people... the Prophet rebukes and corrects while the Mercy person weeps inside for the trouble, pain, burden and problems that lie behind failure."
"Their motivation is to notice and comfort those who are in distress."
"A merciful person shuns insincere people making them seem unapproachable."
Quote from another article, "Though all of us should approach our service to God and man with pure motives, the giving of your wealth, in whatever form, must be done with pure motive of not bringing attention to yourself."
More cushions in the bookshelf... bookshelf of mercy?

Simmy recalled a Myers Briggs test that she had done, twice, actually,... once in a Bible study group and once at Tec Voc High School, as part of a computer course.
'Apparently, my personality doesn't care who gets the credit along as the wrong person isn't claiming it.'
"Ooh, that's the part that likely goes to motive... Oy!"
Simmy turned up the little speakers and listened to Marvin Gaye's 'Mercy, Mercy, Me.'
"Oh, mercy mercy me... Where did all the blue sky go?
My sweet Lord... My sweet Lord... My sweet Lord..."
"From the 1971 album, 'What's Going On,' this song was written by a prophet and recorded in a tone of mercy."
Love that saxophone...

Winter Enamelware and Homemade Soup

As Simmy set out for a cold winter walk, she tested her toes to see if they would be warm enough for a couple of hours out of doors... with running shoes on instead of heavy boots.
Yep! It did seem like the running shoes would be fine in this -15C weather. There was no wind.
Simmy had a theory... if you move fast enough, your toes can't freeze.
Just as she took a deep breath to enjoy the clean air,... Wham!
She landed on the right side of her body... it happened so fast, she lay there a bit stunned.
A vehicle, coming down the road, pulled into the driveway just in front of her sprawled figure and the youthful couple were grinning rather too widely to have missed that ungainly fall.
Well, her Mama had a saying, 'Ain't no shame in falling down, but lying there for any length of time...' It is so much funnier in the German dialect, especially with tonal emphasis.
Between 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock in a Canadian January, one can experience more changes in scenery than in any other two hour span of  the year.
Two o'clock blue sky is cheery and bright.

An hour later, the sky looks totally different.
Simmy planned dinner as she traipsed along the paths made by a small snow clearing machine. She thought, maybe, chicken noodle soup or something with chicken.

As she crossed a main street to get to another pseudo cleared sidewalk, she saw a crossing guard waiting for school children to come by.
So, it must be near 3:30, she thought.
Way down the path she spotted a couple of children walking slowly.
'Even they know it's a chicken soup kind of day,' Simmy thought.
A conversation with the crossing guard turned into a little exchange of 'what the problems are in this neighborhood with regards to traffic' and a 'what we think a good solution may be.'
A family, that Simmy had met in summer, came towards her and Simmy smiled and waved back at the young boy who seemed quite happy in his snow suit.
They were from Sudan and Simmy asked cheerfully, "Are you enjoying winter?"
There was a string of grumpy, 'No,...no,...No..., and then a happy, "Yes, I love winter," from the cheerful lad.
"Good for you," Simmy grinned as she passed the little huddle of five.

A half hour later, the sun was setting and it wasn't even 4 o'clock yet.
As Simmy got undressed, the back door opened and oldest construction son came in the door.
"Oh, oh, how are you feeling?" Simmy asked the rather pale face.
"I feel like hammered sheisse," he said.
"Homemade chicken soup it is," Simmy decided on the dinner menu.

An hour later, the soup was made, the blue splattered enamelware held the floral arrangement that looked just right to imagine a frozen tundra cookout on a cold prairie day.

"Imagine? What am I thinking? We're living it!"

40 Year Scarf

The large, extending, family gathering, that Simmy's folks still hosted, was on January 9th, 2011. It was a non-Christmas Christmas.
Everything seemed different. Simmy's Dad wasn't sitting in his rocking chair, but instead, he had seated himself beside a son-in-law to accommodate his hearing loss problem.
Sam sat down in the rocking chair. There was a bond between them since Cornelius had healed the 'fatherless pain' in Sam.
Now, Sam did have a genetic father, still living, but this father had abused his whole family making it impossible for the sons and daughters to receive the blessing that comes from spiritual parenting.
The down-sized house didn't have a lot of seating in the living room so Simmy went downstairs to see which of the younger generation was there.
She almost swallowed her gum, if she had been chewing gum that surely would have happened.
A makeshift wash line had been strung in the laundry room and there hung the scarf that she had written into the book 'The Red Dust Healers.'
The 'builder' generation sure knows how to save a dime.
The red and yellow plaid scarf was, at least, 40 years old.
Simmy looked for the excerpt from her book,...
"With... a flick of the red and yellow plaid scarf Simmy raced off to try and catch Cody who was his exuberant self this morning again, and therefore, almost halfway to school.
'Well, now I must look just like Grandma,' Simmy trilled to the wind. She had tied the scarf around her head the way Mama and Grandma always did. She would take it off before she reached the schoolyard but for now she needed the warmth. That thought produced a chuckle as she raced off after the twin red and yellow plaid tied to Cody's head. 'They'll know we're related at school today,' she chuckled.
Cody would likely hate that."

Sun Frost Shade and Shadow

What a beautiful picture of sun, frost, shade and shadow. The sun peaked out for just a minute and I got this pic... Wow!

Mattress Money

Sam came out of the 'Men of Steel' bathroom and Simmy stopped him in his tracks, shaving cream still clinging to Sams' face, and she said, "I'm thinking of writing a blog on 'Your bank, the Prostitute' but I don't want to insult prostitutes.
Sam chuckled and said, "Well, credit unions used to be better than banks but people don't really see them that way anymore now that their practices are starting to look the same."
"I really think that the new banking practices are threatening to create a keep your money in your mattress mentality again. These new fee methods are being developed for the person who can't do simple accounting."
"Mmm Hmm," Sam said and went to wash the shaving cream off his face.
Simmy recalled two incidents in the last month that had her steamed over what the bank was doing.
The first one had come in the form of a letter informing them that the bank would be charging a $35 fee to all of their customers who were allowing the bank to pay their property taxes for them. In years past this was a 'banking service' that was offered freely and, should one stop to think... yes, the government would likely desire this method of service as well because, then, they could possibly, get the property tax money into their coffers, to re-distribute it again, more quickly? (This story will not be discussing where the government distributes the money... that is for another day.)
So, Simmy had got on the phone quickly to speak to a person at the bank...
Conversation between Simmy and bank employee...
"I want to know how I can make sure I don't have to pay this fee," Simmy said.
"Well, you can close that account and put the money you have in there, into a savings account," bank employee said with perfect suggestion training.
Simmy thought, 'I have been thinking it is a good thing to get people to save a little bit of money and placing responsibility squarely on each person individually must be where we start so... this seems good.'
Verbally she said, "What is the interest rate for this account and, if you can calculate quickly please, what I would earn in interest, if I leave this amount of money in the bank for a whole year... not withdrawing any, you know."
"Well, you would earn approximately $5 for the year," said bank employee.
"Well, doesn't that seem outrageous to you? You get to charge me a fee that is 7 times, in one fell swoop, I might add, what I can earn in a year with the interest rate that you are offering me. That is unconscionable!"
Simmy was so proud of herself for keeping the street vernacular out of the conversation.
Fast forward two weeks to 'Letter #2 from the bank' informing Simmy of a $50 fee for the service of opening a business account for her small business. Please be informed that the bank had no problem giving Simmy a credit card with a limit almost twice the amount she had borrowed for her small business.
If you look at the picture, above, closely, you will see a list of fees, for that credit card, that is longer than a RAP sheet, 'Record of Arrest and Prostitution, sorry, Prosecution.'
A similar conversation ensued about the reason for this fee and, this time, Simmy was not successful... if you are a business owner, the rules are more strict and unforgiving... whether you make money or not.
The bank will get theirs... if you know what I mean.

Revenge Series- Part II

Simmy got up early on Saturday morning.
'On the coffee table' was the book 'Dreamers of the Day' by Mary Doria Russell. There were so many parallels to the conversation she had with "who resembles God?" just two days ago that the irony of reading this book, at this time...
Well, let's just say, coincidence is a word we reserve for the unbelieving, yes?
"Who resembles God?" had come home for Christmas break, although her teaching engagement was in Cairo, Egypt. She had extended her vacation to stay for the funeral of the 18 month old baby... her cousins' child.
The story she told of a modern-day tussle of Sarai being spurned by Rachel because Rachel had been chosen by can't remember the Egyptian man's name, was just too much of an Old Testament compilation of stories... all being woven in with 'Dreamers of the Day' that all these three webmaster stories were just too coincidental to be, as I said earlier, a coincidence.
Definitely, all of this intrigue had the unmistakable hand of The Web Master in play.
Ooh! What a great play it would make, too?
Title?? Lawrence, Rachel, and Sarai... on Broadway... oh, what do we do with Churchill?
Or maybe... "Canadian Pyramids of History?"
Too vague and not catchy enough!

What is Fair?

Simmy sat down to think about... fairness.
"What is fair?" Simmy mumbled.
Many much greater people have applied themselves to this question but it is asked more times than many other questions.
Just yesterday, Simmy had been informed that an 18 month old baby had died of cancer. The 20 year old Mom was likely asking, or maybe not asking so much as saying 'this is not fair...,' or maybe even shouting it.
I think most people would agree that this situation is unfair.

So,... how can we come up with a more workable question in a world that is unfair?
'How can I create some equality for someone today?' Maybe this is a helpful question.
Construction son had created some equality for Simmy yesterday.
The story goes like this... it is a simple, good story that demonstrates, 'How can I create some equality for someone today?' in one moment of time... for one young man... who has been gifted with the ability to think and feel and learn and observe and be present... and who has just enough information about a situation to choose... in that one moment, to bring a little equality to his Mom.

Hummer needs to go into the garage... where it was purchased.
Construction son happens to be working less than a hundred yards from this car dealership.
He volunteers to take it in and because this dealership is way across the city, it is a huge time and energy saver, for Simmy, if he does this.
He pulls into the garage just before 7 a.m. and hears someone holler, 'No car washes for vehicles today! The hot water tank just blew.' He pockets this information and walks across the parking lot to his job.
After a long day of work, he walks back across the parking lot and picks up the Hummer but he has to wait 45 minutes because it isn't ready. Inconvenience.
The dealership refuses to replace the door handles citing... 'This is the way these door handles perform.'
Simmy's version of that statement, 'We know the door handles of this Hummer are rubbish, you know the door handles of this Hummer are rubbish. We do not care if this Hummer is still under a full warranty. We will spray a little WD-40 on them and tell you we have fulfilled the warranty as, we have the power to do that. Oh, and, by the way, what are you going to do about it?'
Simmy struggled to come up with an answer... thinking, thinking, thinking, but then she thought... yes,... I do have a response... of course, I have a response...

The response on the right fulfills what Simmy felt she experienced from the car dealership and what she she thinks of their full warranty service... the perfect palindromic response.
Back to story...
Construction son drives the Hummer home after paying for the oil change... the price seemed a few dollars more than other places but, oh yes,... a can of WD-40 costs about $7.00... the door handles.
Somewhere in the half hour drive, all the information that construction son has about 'the crap his Mom is willing to do for others and the crappy way she is often treated' culminates into...
"I'm going to treat her to a full inside and outside cleaning of the Hummer."

Simmy heard the rather sturdy sub-woofers pull into the driveway. As the story unfolded, Simmy enjoyed hearing all the 'stuff' that had occurred to create this story. She repaid construction son for the oil change and thanked him for the car wash.
After a day of hearing the awful news that this little story started with, it was just the perfect thing to...
help a Mom feel loved... especially one who is trying to love others.
http://romancedesigner.blogspot.com/2010/12/department-of-waylaying-handle-it.html
At least I didn't use street vernacular this time... that's progress!

All Comes Down to Motive

Sam and Simmy just finished watching a movie called, "The Oxford Murders."
"The only perfect crime that exists is not the one that remains unsolved, but the one which is solved with the wrong culprit." -quote from the movie.
"I have been really struggling to understand the 'moves' people make to repay the perceived wrongs that have been done to them and I have decided that all behaviour has a root in some type of motive."
"That's pretty vague," Sam said.
"How many people have you and I met in life who create a 'oh, I'm so poor' scenario and then when you've known them for a few years... you find out that their definition of 'poor' means that they may have to cash in an R.R.S.P. to help their daughter pay for a wedding... just an example. It was that way with Northerner and 20th Century free woman."
"What?" Sam laughed. "Who is that again?"
"You know, that couple we used to go to church with who had themselves an awful itch when the woman who held both of their investment portfolios' started attending the church."
"Oh, yes," Sam was highly amused now, "we had no idea they had investment portfolios' until they confided in us about how uncomfortable they were with her attending the church and having that information."
"I was kind of angry at expecting everything free 20th century woman after that," Simmy said.
"Oh, you've spent your life being generous to the point of bankruptcy. You're just angry you gave some of your resources to her because you later found out she had plenty and was just willing to take what little you had," Sam ruffled her hair.
"Um, yah, that always makes me mad. Seriously, what was her motive in trying to create this persona of poverty?"
"Um, yah," Sam mocked her back, "she wanted to keep her money exactly where it was."
"My parents raised us to stand tall and deal with it when things are tough... and eat oatmeal. It's cheap!"
"People don't exactly perceive hard times the same anymore, love. You'll have to realize that," Sam said to his idealistic wife. "Most people would live in a cardboard box as long as they don't have to give up their cellphones and, of course, the cardboard box must be within Wi-fi proximity."
"So, wi-fi...ght it?" Simmy imped.
"Funny, very cute," Sam said with his drone tone.

Right Thinking vs. Wrong Thinking

Simmy asked youngest construction son what the topic of their sermon had been on Sunday.
"It was about new thinking," he replied.
"Hmm, new thinking is a good topic but, when I pray, I ask for right thinking," Simmy replied.
"Well, how can anyone know what is right thinking? Everyone thinks they think right," he said.
"You need to develop a series of tests for yourself to constantly run your thoughts through... kind of like the pre-trip inspection every truck driver is required to do before they set off on their day. The reason for the pre-trip inspection is, 'so that all harm to the driver and all others on the road can be avoided by spotting possible problems and fixing them before the driver sets off.' Or, think of it as a water purification system, always filtering out what is bad for you to give you the chance to operate at optimal capacity."
"What are some of the questions?" Young son challenged.
"First question, I believe, is... who or what will suffer harm if I do this or don't do this?" 
"If you want to hear it in the positive... who or what will benefit if I do this or don't do this?"
Those two questions should fulfill both the alpha and the omega thinkers.

Revenge Series- Part 1

'Revenge served up cold'

Simmy thought, "I'm now ready to write about my thoughts on 'revenge.'
The last year and a half had been a long healing process from the effects of experiencing the knife of revenge.

Wikipedia has a good definition of 'Revenge (also known as vengeance) is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Although many aspects of revenge resemble justice, revenge is usually depicted as more injurious and punitive as opposed to being harmonious and restorative.
Whereas justice implies actions undertaken and supported by a legitimate judicial system grounded upon a foundation of ethics and morals of the majority, revenge implies actions undertaken by an individual or narrowly defined group outside the boundaries of judicial or ethical conduct whose goal is to force a wrongdoer to suffer the same or greater pain than that which was originally inflicted to a party.' End quote.

A review of separate, yet equal, incidents of revenge, perpetrated on Simmy and Sam had very similar components.
1. The vengeful actions all came from relatively close individuals.
2. The perpetrators and victims had all expressed a connection to God at some point in their lives.
3. All the perpetrators involved, expressed, 'innocence in their actions' or 'remained mute on the subject.'

'There is an old saying that tells that... the best payback is the one that comes with planning, and that brings the most horrendous pain to the enemies when they are not expecting and are just enjoying the fruits of all the dishonour they brought upon you. One must wait so he/she can really inflict pain to those who wronged them. Careful planning is necessary so your enemies will suffer terribly, but you won't be harmed by the Law or by your enemies' allies.' Somewhat revised quote taken from Urban dictionary.

"I would suggest," Simmy said to Sam, as she showed him the photos of her experiment, "that the good taste of revenge probably lasts as long as the lapsed time in the photos... maximum a minute."
Sam just nodded his head.
'Within a minute, I'd say that the arguments and reasons and actions all blur into confusion, leaving the perpetrator of vengeance wondering what this is all about anyway.'   
Oldest construction son looked over at the computer with annoyance and spoke into his earphones, "My Mom is uploading some photos onto the internet."
His tone was such that Simmy knew he was joking with her. He turned around and said, "Those look like teeth ex-rays."
"Oh," Simmy looked at the photos again, "Thanks, I'll use that."
She re-worked the photos and,... Voila!

The mouth shape was a little wonky but... that is what happens when we enact revenge instead of forgiveness, yes?
So, here is my thinking on revenge vs. forgiveness.
At some point in a process of offense, a person decides whether they will take revenge or offer forgiveness.
Revenge is usually obvious... the perpetrators and their cohorts know when it is being enacted, and the victims know when it is being enacted. 
Forgiveness is less obvious if the victims walk away from a gang of perpetrators because 'nobody can change the mind of others, yes?'
That work must be left to a higher power.

Little Mountainview Road

At Little Mountainview  Park, Simmy snapped a photo of a tree and Sam asked, "Why are you taking a picture of that tree?"
"Are you kidding? It's a Tom Thomson tree!"
"Okay, if you say so," Sam said.
There were no trails indicating cross country skies had made an appearance in the park this winter, yet.
The only thing marking and covering the ground were dog tracks.
Lots of them.

"Hold still," Sam laughed as he took another wonky picture of Simmy.
"Let me see," said Simmy. "Erase, erase, Oh, not a good one,...
Erase,
Ooh, Yuk!
"This one's okay!"
"Okay, your turn. go pose! Stand by the tree."

"Okay, you are a poser, Sam. I didn't know that," Simmy laughed.

"Want to stop and have a little sit down?"
"Are you kidding? It's -20 C out here. Let's get back to the Hummer."

Great day to take photos. The air is so cold and crisp, you can photograph breath.