Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Older lady: "What do they mean they are tracking my cookies? They will never get my recipe!"

***My heart goes out to all those families who lost loved ones, and those injured, mainly children, in the bombing in Manchester England, last night. Our world is broken and we call out to God in this time of need.***

Hello and welcome. It's Tuesday, May 23, 2017, and I have a few things swirling around this morning. We received a good amount of rain Saturday evening. It came compliments of a pretty rough thunderstorm and when we have one of those we can typically predict some of the results. We almost always lose the satellite signal for our TV. I was smack dab in the middle of watching the NASCAR All-Star race. We needed the rain, but, I was very aggravated about my program being interrupted. I first tried to find it live streamed on the internet but that didn't work out. So, I called the wife over in Louisiana where she was helping care for our dad and asked her to find it on the TV there and give me the play by play. We Facetimed for the first time. I could see her and she could see me. She was doing her best to keep up with the running order on the track but the TV there wasn't that clear and she was having trouble reading the names. While she was doing that she was allowing her phone to do its own thing. That meant I was looking at a huge eye from time to time. She finally turned it so I could watch the cars going round and round. However, that didn't do much since it was a little on the fuzzy side. She did well. And, service was restored just before the ten lap shoot-out at the end of the race. Technology. It can be of value, even in the hands of a couple of novices.

Our medical provider now offers electronic appointments where you can Skype, Facetime, or use a few other video chat utilities to meet with a doctor, live, and in person. They call it a telemedicine video chat and they list 50 ailments that can be responded to by utilizing the service. They have access to all your records and can issue recommendations and prescriptions based on their findings. The fee is $35 and you don't have to leave your home. They are promoting this service big time. You can access their system to schedule an appointment and then activate it from your cell phone or computer. Oh yeah. They have real doctors who staff this service. I suppose that would be important. I wonder if they could order me up some go-juice to get these old bones cranked up and going. They have been suffering of late from a case of weariness. (That was my own diagnosis. I suppose I could go to the doctor and get a second opinion.) The telemedicine folks didn't state the cost of a second opinion but I could probably get one of those from the wife as she watches the video chat with me and the doctor. Instantaneous feedback. Now that would be something. Don't you think?

I taught my class Sunday morning and then headed for Louisiana to fetch my bride. Dad's situation continues to be very concerning but we are praying that help will be forthcoming as he continues to get treatment for his different ailments. On our way back we made a small detour to allow MiMi to hold her newest great grand. (We now have a grand total of two great grands! Madi and Gabi.) MiMi was exhilarated. I patiently sat on the sidelines. Finally, MiMi said that maybe Great Grand Poppy would like to hold her for a minute. She can be, at times, the master at understating the obvious. She took that photo of me holding our little Gabriella Grace. I was talking to her. She was paying attention. We had a good two minutes. I think we had an understanding. We thank God for this child and the fact that she and mom are doing well. These little ones remind me that I'm moving on up on the family tree chart. Age. Here's one for you: Last Tuesday evening I am at mom's viewing and a lady came up to me who is the sister of a buddy of mine that I ran around with as a teenager. I likely haven't seen her in over 50 years. She said you might remember my brother Charles. I told her, "Are you kidding, I was riding in Charles' old flathead Ford pickup the night we chased down that truckload of girls and I came face to face with my destiny because she was sitting on the passenger side by the door." She rolled that window down and the rest, as they say, is history. My buddy Charles had a rough life that ended tragically many years ago. His sister and I had a good visit. Good memories. It reminded me to be thankful for them. Amen. .....More later.

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