Song playing in the background: "Why's Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?"

It's Wednesday, August 20, 2014, where lately I've been channeling some of the late Rodney Dangerfield. You know his mantra, "I don't get no respect." The other day I'm at the crescendo of the huge finish on my story talking to my youngest son and he cuts me off and tells me another call is coming through and he has to take it. That's okay. Then I'm talking to the wife in Louisiana and she cuts me off in mid sentence saying that a lady in the restaurant wanted to make a photo of her and her sister. Hello? Who am I? Chopped liver or what? It must be nice when folks line up in the eatery to make your picture. I wonder if they signed an autograph too? Here I am, home alone, trying to keep the plants watered, dealing with the blood sugar merry go round, and doing my best to keep the home fires burning and this is how it works for me. You do know I am joking. Here's a classic from Rodney: "I tell ya when I was a kid, all I knew was rejection. My yo-yo, it never came back!" Just having a little fun at my own expense. You can go ahead and laugh too. It won't cost you anything. Just do it!

The good news is that my partner and fellow plant watering person will be coming home today. I often wonder how things can get as out of sorts as they do with only one person around to make it that way. It's a tough spot when you have no one else to blame but yourself. My last doctor's visit a couple of weeks ago went well. During my time with the doctor, I told him that I believed I had begun to lose my taste for food. I'm not going to hold him to it but I do believe he glanced at my stomach when I said that. I know what he was thinking. It obviously had not resulted in any reduction in my weight. But, I was talking about the ability to enjoy food. I told him that I had researched the problem on the internet. (It's called Ageusia.) I saw his eyebrows go up. He grunted and asked what I had discovered. I shared how that it can be age related and that I am in the prime targeted age of when it often occurs. Medications do play a role but that doesn't seem to be my situation. I told him the recommendation was to add more spices to the food. He grunted again as I explained how that would be difficult since I have trouble tolerating spicy food. He told me to keep an eye on it and to let him know if it became worse. I wonder if he knows that everything you read on the internet has to be true? I don't think he does.

Another study conclusion: Loving your neighbor is good for your heart. That's right. Having good relationships with your neighbors and your neighborhood has been proven to lower your risk for heart related issues, by 67%. I hear people talk about how they can't tolerate their neighbors. They are always in a huff about yard issues, drainage, esthetics, and perhaps even behaviors. It often shows up in arguments, complaints to the home owner's association, or even lawsuits. We should not be surprised that this university study showed that type of outcome. While it may be tough to wrap our heads around, the things we learned in Sunday School taught this over and over again: "....'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'...." (Mark 12:31) "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...." (Matthew 5:44) "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12) They kept up with some 5300 people over a four year period to produce their findings when all they really needed to do was to look in the Book. Now isn't that something? Y'all take care now, you hear? See you next time and may God bless each one. Amen.   ....More later.