Holy Saturday, what's it all about anyway?

Here we are right in the middle of Easter weekend, Holy Saturday. Good Friday is past and Easter Sunday is yet to come. Pretty much nothing happens on Holy Saturday does it? It took me a long time to realize the reason for that:

Once upon a time, during my child rearing years a friend gave me a surprise entre' for my family's dinner sometime. "Great on the grill" he said. He had a small farm just south and east of Grand Rapids. He raised specialty food for a specific clientele. Many of his customers were first generation immigrants and simply wanted fresh comfort food from their homeland. He would grow the items to their exact specifications, for a very good price. It made him a good living as well as very interesting. I frankly couldn't afford any of his food on our family budget. As long ago as it was, he was getting $10 for a five pound bag of specialty potatoes, $8 to $10 a pound for the meat. Eggs were $2 a dozen when they were selling at the supermarket for 39 cents. That's why it took me by surprise that he gave me a package of fresh meat, probably about 4 or 5 pounds. Be that as it may after thanking him I took it home to my family. My wife said, "No way was I cooking that around our children, especially on Easter weekend!" That was that. I put it in the freezer and cooked it later that summer on a canoe trip with other adults, no kids. I can tell you, that grilled rabbit was absolutely superb.

Oh yeah, the reason nothing happens on Holy Saturday is that it is a day of waiting. For some reason I missed that in my religious education. Thursday was the remembrance of the Last Supper and the washing of feet, Good Friday is the Passion and death of Christ. (It was always said by the older folks that at noon on Good Friday the clouds would come in and cover the sun. I didn't find that to always happen though.) And the Easter Sunday was all happy and filled with celebration because it recognized that Christ rose from the dead. But Holy Saturday was quiet. No church services until late in the evening. Everything was shut down. It is supposed to be that way but I missed the concept. Now that I more fully understand I can participate the way it is meant to be. Holy Saturday is teaching me patience and appreciation for what was done for me. A day to prepare for a better life. And perhaps a day to become aware that grilling rabbit on Easter weekend isn't such a smart thing to do. Sometimes you just have to think things like that out.

Now it's time to try and publish this posting. Wish me luck. Happy Easter!

Things are happening around this blog site alright. I'm still nervous about any possible negative results resulting from my amateurish attempts at updating. Number one, I don't know what to expect. Number two, I don't know enough about what happens to know if a change is good or bad. Put that together and all I do know is that indeed some change has taken place, the blog seems to be operating and publishing and once again comments are being allowed. Navigating the new control panel is somewhat of a trial for me for the same reason I just mentioned and the template is foreign to my eyes.

All that being said: Back when I began this blog I needed someone at my side to help me with every move to keep me from voiding out the whole process. I have learned a thing or two and am confident enough to attempt it on my own. After all, what do I have to lose except hundreds of hours of writing history? I mean, what the heck anyway!

On an entirely different front, I have decided to learn more about personal finance and budget solutions. This Dave Ramsey guy gets people to yell out before the entire world that they are "DEBT FREE!" Most of them then speak about how they are going to prepare to accumulate money for their retirement years. All of that sounds wonderful to me except for one small part of that accumulation equation synopsis: I'm already well into that retirement age catagory. Also, the debt free thing is something I am not familiar with either. There is much to learn there I'm thinking. I made an appointment with a financial advisor that had been reccomended to me by a very successful business aquaintance. I put down the information she asked for and went. She looked the information over and for the next 45 minutes chewed me out about what I should have done in the past. "There wasn't much she could do but as a favor she'd try to do her best." I decided not to retain her services. In my mind it doesn't sound right when someone I am paying good money to infers they are doing me a favor.

this is the second attempt at publishing this posting. I guess the kinks ain't all worked out just yet are they.

Still here, I think. Blog repair

Having this wonderful blog site has been a boon to my ability to express myself and be in contact with others at any time, day or night. From close to home here in Western Michigan to Johannesburg in Southern Africa across the world again to Ukraine and off to the wilds of Australia, Alice Springs actually. With friends from my school years spread from New York to Hawaii to Alaska and most states in between this blog has been an excellent lightning rod of attraction and regular contact. Honing my ameteuristic writing skills, receiving constructive, and sometimes not so constructive criticism and bouncing ideas back and forth all at the same time. This incredible to me, medium of communication wasn't even thought of only a few decades ago.

All that being said, I am a person of little change when it comes to electronic wonders. That's why changing the settings on this blog site is so very intimidating. So far so good though. I made some adjustments yesterday and the computer is not smoking and from what I can tell amnesiawriter is still being published. So, on to a couple more changes. Ooh, even the thought of change gives me the creeps. SeeYaLater.....................I hope.

Fixing this blankety blank blog

I am going to attempt to update this blog site. To most of you that operation wouldn't be any big deal. For me, it's a major undertaking fraught with danger. What if I punch the wrong button? What if I send everything into the cloud and it never comes back? What if I do a total disconnect? There is no one here to stop me from incorrect actions. The terrible things that can happen are endless. I have no choice really though, the comment section is messed up, the counter section is messed up and interaction, which has always been so enjoyable and informative is messed up big time too. So, I am giving you ample notice that if this blog explodes I will eventually figure out another avenue of communication. Ah, the good old days when change took decades instead of weeks or days. So, here it goes. Bye for now. Wish me luck....................Later.....Joe

I wonder, Area 51

I wonder about things sometimes. Not that I am much of a pessimist but on certain occasions my sense of natural order needs an element of doubt.

Why would I take financial advice from a person that went bankrupt and lost everything and probably took down a few other people at the same time and then used the money he took from others to ammass a new fortune?????????????

What type of secret "flexibility" in dealing with other countries does a president need that he can't use or reveal to us until he can't be re-elected????

When it comes to the occupy movement: I think we need the rich. As much as we enjoy the blaming game, in order for everything to work and progress we need people who are able to accumulate money and finance big stuff like buildings, highways, factories and farms. I wonder: do we need any part of the occupy movement??????????

Why, when the news media reports a story concerning a difficult life situation, do they always portray a woman, and most often a single mom? Are there not men, some of whom are single dads who deserve to have their story told???? I mean really, media profiling is so obvious.

I wonder about the government laws concerning what we can and cannot eat. Isn't it the "Communist Manifesto" we were all so appalled by that gets into specific dietary requirements????????

I wonder who came up with the idea for Jane Fonda to play Mrs. Reagen in the upcoming movie? I realize she is a good actress but is it intended as some sort of subliminal slap in the face to that very popular president??????

If all the new teaching methods are all that good, why are so many of our kids getting out of high school unable to speak, write or read proper english or graduating from college without the skills to get a career?????????

I have seen tattoos on people of all ages, from babies up to great grandparents and every age in between. In my ignorance I often wonder why anyone would want to have anything permenant like that???????

And of course ther is always area 51 isn't there?

I often wonder why I wonder about so many things??????????????

You can't be anything you want

I had to laugh at a comment I heard during a public service announcement yesterday: "In America you can be anything you want to be if you want it bad enough!" They were talking about the arts, music, being a politician and even sports. Anything is within your grasp! Yeah, right! The world, let alone this country is filled to overflowing with people that had high aspirations, worked their butt off and wound up disappointed and broke. I think the thought behind the comment is admirable. No doubt a lot of well meaning folks want to inspire our younger generation and prod them into action regarding their future. I admire that part. The truth of the matter is that we can't all be what we want to be, even through hard work and dedication. More accurately, in my humble opinion we all have the opportunity to be the best that we can be in whatever situation we find ourselves in. I once tried to be an insurance salesman. My intentions were admirable, I wanted everyone to provide for their families in the event of premature death. I worked night and day, studied constantly, talked to 5 or 10 prospects a day and wrote hundreds of policies. I went broke! I really, really wanted to be the best insurance salesman in the world. I simply didn't have the talent for it. A guy I worked with at the same agency worked the same hours I did, studied as much as I did, talked to as many prospects as I did, wrote a few less policies than I did and to this day he is one of the most successful and financially well off insurance salesmen in this part of the country. It takes more than desire, dedication and hard work. I firmly believe each of us has a certain set of unique qualities and in order to succeed we have to match those qualities with what we set out to do.

In the mentoring process I was involved in for over 25 years one of the hurdles so many young men had to overcome was false hope based on blindness to their own abilities and limitations. Being young and ambitious is a wonderful thing. Being full of ambition and using it to attain the impossible is quite another. One of my favorite, all time great athletes is Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers. When he was on the triple A team, West Michigan White Caps he played as a catcher and did rather well. Enough to get noticed and signed by the Tigers. Then they changed his position to third base. I don't know how Brandon felt about changing positions but soon he became Hall of Fame quality as one of the best third basemen I have ever seen. Not just rather well but extraordinary. He's still played catcher from time to time but he is Mr. Baseball at third base. In a way, his position at third base became what he wanted to be in the first place.

I would like to encourage everyone to excel in something. But that something may not be what they dreamt of. Some of us can live out their dream but all of us can live happily by accepting ourselves and being the best we can be at whatever it is we are doing at the time. I'd like you to think about this: Look at the people living in the public eye. Actors, musicians, politicians and sports figures. If you listen to them they are living a dream. Money, prestige, praise and admiration. They have it all, just like the public service announcement I mentioned earlier. If all that was so great, why are so many of them unhappy, take drugs, cheat on their spouses, spend all their money, go broke and constantly do other stupid stuff. Personally, I think I'd rather utilize my unique qualities to the best of my ability, be happy and maintain a sense of integrity.

Chevy Volt/Writing stories

I had a real treat yesterday, I drove a Chevy Volt. You know, the new electric car from the New General Motors. I hadn't yet seen one up close and personal yet but have been very interested and hoped to inspect one at a dealership sometime this spring. Geez! What a neat car. Nice styling similar to the Chevy Cruze, interior roomy enough to be comfortable, really cool instrumentation resembling the inside of a small airplane cockpit, quiet of course what with an electric motor and all, but the most pleasant surprise was the snappy acceleration. I've driven dozens of electric cars since back in the 1960's and my experience was they were all rather sluggish when it came to getting up to traffic speed. Not this time! In a matter of seconds I was cruising at 65MPH with power to spare. Actually faster than some of the so called economy cars I've driven and owned in the past. If a person goes electric they don't have to give up much in the way of performance with the Volt. Now that I have first hand experience I can see a future for the Volt or similar vehicles. I believe the price has to come down about 30% or 40% though and I'd really like to see the distance you can travel on a charge go way beyond the 40 mile limit it has now. Sure, it has a backup gasoline motor and well it should but the whole purpose is to use the electric motor right? Perhaps those two little ideas of mine are the reason they have stopped production for a month or so because buyers aren't rushing through the door to purchase a Volt. I'm not an engineer but to me, price and distance mean a lot. If you want a real driving experience stop by a dealership and take a Volt for a spin. You'll be glad you did. No, I am not selling cars now. Just reaching out to the future. I'm sure you saw the price of gas at the pump today: $4.19 a gallon and it's looking to go up. We have two viable options at the moment. Electric or natural gas. You might as well give them a try.

When it comes to my writing there never quite seems to be enough time to my stories published. If the truth be known it's not really the time. It's my basic fear that if a real editor gets their hands on my stories they will ruin the essence of them. Talk about arrogance huh? I am not a writer. I do spin some pretty good stories though. In the right hands those stories would become perhaps epic. Maybe not. But I'll never ever know if I don't start doing something soon. One of them dates back to 1969. I guess I don't like to rush things do I? Or, do I sense a bit of procrastination here?.............Spring is in the air. Let's see what happens this year.