THE DIGITAL AGE

 

Me on rotary telephone

I was a terrible typist--  typing 23 words a minute, with 23 mistakes proves it. (Grandma Isabel was Grandpa Claude's secretary before they were married so she must have been a good typist.)   But now I can type on a computer or even talk to a computer. My spelling and typos will be corrected easily.  No longer do I have to type a report or an article over several times.  No memorizing telephone numbers or addresses needed.  They are all in my contacts list on my phone.  No broken or damaged tapes to deal with on a recorder or video camera.  So because of my interest I decided to publish this discussion Chris had with Heather and Jes.  I thought you would enjoy it too:

Here is what Chris said:

"I have wondered about our dependence on digital. Both of you were born when digital was starting, more so for Heather. I was quite happy back in the day before digital anything, well electronic digital anyway. Got along just fine with my slide rule and rotary dial phone. Now I am online seemingly all the time, and then, if not one of my computers I am watching digital TV or reading my Kindle. Or when I cook I use the digital microwave or get out my digital cooking thermometer. I have resisted getting a digital kitchen scale as the 80-year-old (give or take 20 years) inheritance from Grandma Grace works just fine (although we do have a digital scale in our bathroom).

I do remember the joy I had when Texas Instrument came out with the digital calculator in the late 1960s as it could calculate third roots and that is something I did all the time actually. Then in the early 1970s the programable HP calculator (I actually took a day off work to mess with it). And then, when I was working at HP in Santa Rosa I read an engineering document about the soon to be implemented GPS and the excitement I felt with that. I was given one of the first Magellan marine units in the early 1990s. I took it on a flight to Japan.

I had it in the window of the 747 (I was careful to select a seat facing south as there were more satellites). One of the flight attendants stopped and asked me what I was doing and I told her I was making sure the airline captain didn't get lost. 15 minutes later the captain came to my seat and wanted to see it. I was flying in the business class on the upper deck and the seat next to me was actually vacant. I let him have the window seat and he played with the GPS for a good 30 minutes and kept exclaiming how cool it was. 

Of course, my grandparents and for certain my great grandparents wondered why we'd want an automobile or want to fly across the country. Horses were just fine and the train would get you across the country or a ship across an ocean."

So I'm thankful for all the brains God has given innovators and inventors to come up with this stuff.

Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

WHAT I THANK GOD FOR ON THANKSGIVING---FAMILY

 

Our new grandson Noah with mom and dad Jes and Jessica 2021

Christmas 2019 Chris, Jennifer, Samantha, Jessie, Andrew, Natalie, Heather

2021 Wayne and Mary proud parents at Grace and Andrew's wedding

                                            Andrew and Grace 2021

Washington cousins Dorothy, Dan, Kathy, Charlie 2021

Washington and California cousins Dan, Joanne, Dick, Charlie, Kathy 2021

California cousins Becky and Chris 2014

California cousins

Cousin Ryan

Washington cousins 2009?

Washington cousins 2009

Central California cousins and aunt

2009 in Oregon -- Cousins Kit, Laurie, Mike, Aurora, Luke

50th anniversary party 2015 Mary, Wayne, Ron, Rinda, Chris, me, Kit, Trixie, Richard, Mary Anne, Dan, Dorothy

                                                        Davy, Jay, Sue, and Sarah-- 1992

Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

A BIG WIND STORM--WE ARE FINE

 

Woodley Hills Trailer Park, Alexandria, VA after Hurricane Hazel 1955

I believe my Uncle Ernest, Aunt Emily, cousins Kit, and Rinda stayed here one time when the park flooded in the 50's

Guest blog by Chris:

I guess I am not a good observer of storms anymore. Might be the building we live in as we rarely lose power and the storms don't bash us in our apt. However, it was raining pretty hard and that was noticeable as the windows were being pounded. 

I had a Zoom meeting last night with the Power Squadron (now called America's Boating Club) and a couple of folks texted that they had been without power for a day or more. One lives in Lake Stevens and the other in Stanwood. Also, one active boater said the storm at the Everett Marina was severe enough to have cleats pulled from the docks by one of the larger boats (he said this was because the boater doesn't know how to tie his boat up properly). And another said that four hours after the high tide the docks at Dagmars were almost floating off the pilings. Swollen rivers and a high tide are a big problem.

British Columbia was slammed with flooding high enough to cover many cars. Mount Vernon had significant flooding as did the east and south sound areas. One man was swept away after he drove around a road-closed barricade and his car was swept into a field that was totally under water. He did get out of his car, but then was swept away. He was able to make a phone call asking for help, but then the line went dead.

So, while we were blissfully unaware of the storm, it was pretty bad I guess. If I still had a boat at the marina I would have been down there to take care of it. Nice not to have to worry about another thing and to stay warm and dry.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY

 

Fort George Wright

Today I am wishing everybody a happy veterans day and thanking those who served.  A big THANK YOU!!  

My dad served in the military from before WW II until he retired from the reserves in the 60's.  I don't have a complete account of the scenario.  Somehow he started out in Spokane, WA.  I think maybe at Fort George Wright.  Then he served in California.  Then in Alaska during WW II.  Here are a few pictures.

Alaska -- Dave on the left

Palmer, Alaska I think Dave is third from the left

Apparently they did some fishing.  I know he wrote bedtime stories while he served in Alaska for my older brother Jay, and me.   He mailed them to us in California.  Many years later we found them in my mom's keepsakes.  Jay typed them in and we posted them on a MSN page but they have disappeared.  My brother, Davy, thinks he may have downloaded them.  

My Uncle Brad also served in the military in Alaska during WW II.  He worked two jobs.  He had his job with the military and he loaded white fish for shipping at another job.

Brad--  Seattle, WA

We won WW II by the grace of God.

Psalm 33: 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

FOR ALL THOSE WHO LOVE JESUS'S APPEARING

In the 70's, when "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal Lindsy came out, I read it with excitement.  I had never studied much about end times.  Since then I have read through the Bible several times and have studied the Bible for almost 50 years.  I'm not an expert on anything in the Bible. But I enjoy listening to what Amir Tsarfati has to say--it rings true to me.  Above is his address at a prophecy conference held in California on September 11, 2021.  I recommend it to you.  Let me know what you think.  

WHO IS YOUR GOD?

 

Grandpa Roy and Grandma Grace wedding picture

As far as I know my grandparents had no Social Security or Medicare.  They saved their money and invested in real estate.  They lived on what they earned.  I think both grandmothers had only 2 or 3 dresses.  Both grandfathers had one suit and maybe 2 sets of work clothes.  I had a psychology prof in college who wore the same suit every day.  Back in the day there were no credit cards.  When my grandfather on my mother’s side passed away, my great aunt moved in with my grandmother, and they shared the expenses.  Of course the house was paid for.  

I would say that both sets of grandparents were God fearing people.  They depended on God to provide-- not the government.  

On Whom do you depend?  By God's grace we have never missed a meal!

II Kings 4:1-7 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

THE WIND

 

Cousins visiting us on our H.R 39' Chula Vista, CA photo by Ron

I don't understand the wind.  Many years ago when Chris and I sailed our 21' sailboat on Coeur d' alene Lake, I learned the wind is unpredictable.  As we sailed, Chris decided to go forward to adjust the spinnaker, jib, boom, or something.  He asked me to take the tiller.  Suddenly the wind came up and we accidentally jibbed not once, not twice, but three time.  Chris was almost knocked off the boat.  He accused me of doing that on purpose.  Of course I had no control over the wind.  The wind does whatever it wants to do.  We did have a telltale which showed the direction of the wind but it changed so quickly I couldn't keep track of it.

Many years later we moved to Western Washington.  We were able to purchase a 39' H.R. in the Seattle area where we kept it until we sailed to Mexico in 1997.  The picture above was taken on our trip south.

So this week in our Bible study at the apartment where we live now, we are studying the Holy Spirit.  One of my favorite verses is John 3:8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  

I don’t understand the wind at all.  It is reasonable to assume there would also be difficulty in understanding the Holy Spirit.  He comes to those who believe.