“What do dogs do on their day off? Can’t lie around – that’s their job.” – George Carlin

The Wife's pup, Mr. Bentley, with his primary caregiver.

Happy Monday everyone on this May 20, 2019. A missionary friend in Kenya we know put up a question since they will be returning to the states soon. He wanted to know the worst traffic spots in and around Houston. I didn't respond, but, if ever there were a time when I thought 'all of the above' was appropriate, that was it. But, I'm sure some folks think some areas are worse than others. He will find out soon enough when he gets back. That traffic is probably what did in my brakes on my pickup truck. Fortunately, I have a lifetime warranty on the brakes. Not so fast bucko! The warranty covers the brake shoes only. The truck has 190,000 miles on it and I've spent very little out of pocket on it, therefore, I am not complaining in general, just in specifics. The national chain brake place I went to checked the entire system. Then I receive phone call number one, "Good news sir, your brake shoes are covered 100%. However, there is labor and other parts. Right now the estimate is $281.00." My response, "Okay, call me when it is ready." Now came phone call number two. "Sir, the right front rotor appears not to be able to be resurfaced anymore, therefore, it has to be replaced, and we do need to do caliper maintenance as well. The updated cost is $513.00." My response, "Okay, call me when it is ready." I knew I needed to have my brakes repaired. Had I taken it when it first started being noisy I likely could have saved some on the repairs. Procrastination can be costly. Of course, there are other motivational influences at work as well. Me, "Let's just go in the truck." The Wife, "I don't want to go anywhere in that truck. It squeals so loud it is embarrassing."

I have my crown installation scheduled for this upcoming Wednesday. The temporary they put on began to come apart last week. I thought I could hang on until a few more days but the edges became so sharp, my tongue thought I had inserted a razor blade into my jaw. I sent a text to the dental office on Thursday evening and was able to get in early Friday morning. It may have been the ice I was crunching on, or the key lime hard candy, or the popcorn, or who knows what? At any rate, the temporary had to be replaced with another temporary. Such is life. And it all falls into the category of, "It's always something." Many, many years ago, when Saturday Night Live was watchable, they had a character on the show named Roseanne Roseannadanna played by the now deceased Gilda Radner. Typically, during the forth and back on the news segment, Roseanne Roseannadanna would eventually say, "Well, it just goes to show you, it's always something — if it ain't one thing, it's another." We haven't watched that show in at least 10 or 15 years. Why? It has become, like so many others, a shill for the far left in pushing that agenda. Back in the day, they made fun of politicians but without the hate. The clips I see pretty much feature hate as what they are pushing these days. But, Roseanne Roseannadanna was on to something and I've found her insight to be very astute because it is, my friend, when it is all said and done, always something.

John 3:16 in the Russian Bible.

Thanks for showing up for today's 3,071st episode. Gunsmoke only had 635 episodes and I think it still holds the record. One of our favorites, NCIS, has been on eleven years and it has only racked up 377 episodes. I'm just messing around. They, of course, have millions watching their shows and millions more watching their reruns. I have some 230,000 pageviews for my 12-year run. That is minuscule comparatively speaking. That is just on the blog site itself and doesn't count the daily distribution I send out to folks on my email version. I started out with a decision not to add sponsors or do other types of promotion that can pump up the pageview statistics. I also know that much of the traffic I've had is tourist trade where they actually landed on my blog by accident. I do use a lot of images and many searching for images might just end up on The View From Here. That's okay because God can use even an accidental landing to speak to someone. Remember the story? The Russian engineer was working many years ago on a tunneling project in Iraq when he saw this inscription written on the side of the tunnel: John 3:16. He couldn't get it off his mind and when he returned to Russia he researched and found it to be a Bible verse. He located a Bible, read it for himself, and was gloriously saved. We know and serve a remarkable God! What say you? Amen. ....More later.