A time for celebration and thanks!!

I am HAPPY to announce that I just accepted a position with the following company here in Charleston. You can read more about them at the following Link. Advantec

I will be filling the role of PC/Printer Technician for now and as I begin passing my certification exams they have promised to increase my salary accordingly. That gives me the motivation I need to study study study!! I will continue to work my security job several days per week on the 3 pm to 11pm shift for the extra income. That means between Katy and I we will have 4 jobs. I think that we are going to be at our max with regards to how many jobs we can hold down. LOL... Hey, you have got to do what you have got to do in order to survive these days. We owe, we owe, off to work we go is our motto. Actually, it will be nice to increase the budget income so that we can start to dig ourselves out of debt and back into the light. If you have more bills than income then you will understand what I am talking about. If you can not relate to that statement take a moment to thank God for your blessed situation. :)

So, with all of that said, I am thanking Jesus for this new opportunity. :) I give him the praise , honor and glory for what HE is doing in our lives. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith and He is our Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Jira.


I also give thanks to those of you who read this blog who are believers in Christ and are prayer warriors for our family. Thank you for your intercession. To those of you that love us enough to speak truth into our lives and show us tough love when we need it I am especially indebted to you. From time to time we all need a gentle (or not so gentle) nudge to get us back on the right path, the straight and narrow. We all also need to know that someone understands where we are at and that even though things are tough that God never leaves us or forsakes us and that Romans 8:28 is true.


May God's blessing be upon you and your family!!

Happy Halloween everyone!! LOL... I thought this was so cute I would share it with you. My friend Dawn sent it to me in e-mail this morning.  

How about them Cowgirls?? Whew, maybe I should call them the Cowboys because most women folks I know would be insulted with my comparing them to the wimps that were present in the Dallas uniform today at Green Bay. I can not tell you how badly they sucked. Sigh... They lost 41 to what?? I quit watching in the fourth quarter because I just could not bear to watch any more of the slaughter. Bill Parcells is probably one heck of a coach but when you dont have any talent to work with what do you expect? I could not tell what was worse with Dallas today, their offense or defense. I think that it was a pretty even shot on both sides of the ball.

Touch of the Earth Tour at Wannamaker Park Goose Creek SC.  

Touch of the Earth Tour ceremony at Wannamaker Park in Goose Creek SC 

Another shot of some happy kids at Wannamaker Park in Goose Creek 

Katy took this group of toddlers to Wannamaker Park in Goose Creek for Touch of the Earth tour... 

Justin Moffitt to left of teacher going through the paces of moving around on stage with the Dolphin Company. 

Justin Moffitt performing with the Dolphin Company singing group at Sedgefield Intermediate School 

Usenet Newsgroup Readers

Ok, I told you ABOUT Usenet Newsgroups and how to get to them through Google. We have applied to have our newsgroup server feeds listed on all the other newsgroup servers. That will take some time but once it does happen things will get busy quick. You can also access our newsgroups TODAY by plugging in news.seventhsector.com into one of two newsgroup readers.

Outlook Express or Forte Free Reader

Outlook Express comes installed on most computers that have Internet Explorer version 5 or higher and you can go to the following link to download Forte Free Newsreader.

Forte Free Reader

news.seventhsector.com

Are you familiar with Usenet Newsgroups? Go to www.google.com and check out the groups. You can use the Google interface to search, read and respond to Usenet newsgroups. I could bore you to tears with the history of Usenet but lets just suffice it to say that Usenet Newsgroups are global message bases run on servers that allow folks from all walks of life and diversified interests to post messages. Is that simple enough? LOL

Anyway, news.seventsector.com is the newsgroup server that Reynold has set up. I have gone in and posted as many messages as I can as introductory messages. Our server will be moderated which means that even though folks can post a message to the group it wont be actually sent to the server until I read and approve each message. That means that there will not be any flame wars, trolling or foul language. If that happens the person that posts the message will have their message deleted. Hopefully I will be able to keep this Usenet Newsgroup a clean and fun place for Christ and family centered communications.

God bless

Oh my aching muscles.....

This grey mare ain't what he used to be, ain't what he used to be , ain't what he used to be.... Oh, hello. I did not realize anyone was watching , er , listening to me. LOL...

Well, since I am a man, not a female, thank goodness, I am not a mare. I guess that makes me a STUD.... Hahahahahahahah Well, anyway, onto the thoughts for today.

Our youth group had a lock in last night at church. I went up to the church around 9 Pm and we loaded up 10 teenagers into several vehicles and made our trek down Hwy 78 in Summerville to Ladson road (in Ladson of course) and ended up at the end of Ladson Road near Dorchester Road where Oakbrook Lanes is located. I am not sure if the owners of this establishment cares about residual income. In other words, you cant find the place unless you know exactly where they are located. At night time there are NO lights or lighted signs telling you that this is in fact Oakbrook Lanes Bowling Alley. Maybe if they put up a sign or two they would get some extra customers not to mention assist those customers that are trying to find them. Ok, enough of that rant for now.

We bowled until we hurt. Of course, seeing as this STUD is not what he used to be, I was worn out on the third game and we stopped. The OLDER adults bowled three games and I think that the youngsters all bowled about 10 to 15 games. Oh well. We loaded up and went back to church where we began to consume the rest of the pizza, chips and Dr Pepper and chocolate cake that we left since we had all worked up a good appetite. I miss being a teenager. When you are that age you stay hungry , can eat all the time and never gain a pound. I guess it has something to do with being in perpetual motion all the time. This also goes to show you that children do not burn calories through the use of their brains since it is painfully obvious to me that children rarely engage cognitive thinking skills during a normal day. LOL... Why did you do that , we ask. They say, I dont know. Did you think about what you were doing before you did it? uhmmm no, I guess not. What were you thinking ABOUT? Nothing... Who did this? I dont know? Did you do it? NO. LOL.... I am starting to feel like a rerun of a Bill Cosby episode so I will stop for now.

Once the food was consumed the children escaped to the game room which has recently been equipped with some high tech play stations and other games such as foozeball etc.
Several of the children tried to turn the hallways from the back of the church near the Sunday School room up to the foyer into a race track but I quickly stopped that nonsense. I know, party pooper is me. LOL...

That left us adults to our own devices. For the longest time I sat in a metal folding chair listening to the sounds of my bed , blanket and Katy calling me home where I belonged. This was approximately 1:30 am. I found that I had brought my two favorite pillows but I was very ill equipped to spend the night per sae. Not only that but I did not have a blanket, sheets or mattress of any kind. My pastors wife, Earlene, was kind enough to loan me one of her air mattresses. Sadly enough the mattress that she loaned me did not hold very much air so when I did finally try to lay down at 2:30 am I felt like I was laying on a sick joke for a new circus ride. When one end of me would settle the other end would pop off the ground as all the air rushed to one end or the other. Of course this scene brought howls of laughter from Earlene and Heather as they took this spectacle in.

Did I tell you about how NICE the air mattresses were for Earlene and Heather? Oh my gosh, can you see Neimen Marcus color coordinated air mattresses that held TONS of air and looked oh so comfortable? I had to giggle at Earlene because she had a hard time judging how long her body is and how long the mattress is as she wound up on the very end of the air mattress with part of her body on and part of it off. hahahahahah

I gave up at 2:30 am and came to the house where I managed to get some shut eye. Katy had gone to bed around 11 Pm so she was able to get up when the alarm went off and scooped up Kristina who had recently gone to bed. I hear that the children finally crashed and burned around 6:30 am and at 7 am Earlene and Heather found the loudest noise making bell they could find and gleefully brought the children back to consiousness. LOL... Its too bad I wimped out and was not around to tape that episode of bringing the dead back to life. LOL

This morning after Kristina arrived home and passed out in her own bed we lounged around and were totally worthless for a few hours. I had to almost trick Katy into getting out of the recliner so that we could get on with our day. We picked up the station wagon and brought it home to rest for a spell and then we had a spot of breakfast and then launched ourselves in the direction of some car dealerships. We chose to go to Ashley Preferred where someone told us that they had recently been able to obtain a car loan even though they did not have great credit. I figured, hey, if they can get a newer car with their credit then maybe there is hope for us. Basically, we found out that no matter what our credit is if we have the right amount of cash to put down for a down payment anyone will finance us. To make a long story short we filled out the credit application and it will be submitted to the finance companies via fax tonight and then by Monday afternoon I should be getting a call telling me who accepted us and how much moola they want to put us into a car.

Now, at 6:07 Pm I am once again sitting in my comfy computer chair banging on the keyboard eating a fruit pie and some coffee. Yummy yummy for the tummy. I am glad that I went out earlier this afternoon when we got back and rode my bike for about 3 miles. My leg muscles are telling me all about it. Whew.... That is NOT the only thing hurting but that is a story for another time... :)

Time to retire

I got the Cadillac out of the shop today for the second time this month. The car required a tune up. Apparently the spark plugs got wet and that is why it would not start. I was told by the mechanics that the car is OLD, OLD, OLD and that there are too many things wrong with it at this point to keep pumping money into it. Sigh.... Well, it does have over 218000 miles so I guess it is getting close to the time for me to sell it and move on. NO more repair bills. Repeat after me, NO MORE repair bills. LOL...

It appears that there are 4 or 5 motor mounts that need replacing and because it is a Cadillac they are liquid filled motor mounts therefore the cost of those are around 85.00 apiece plus the labor to put them in. Once that is fixed then they will be willing to replace all the hoses and fix all the oil leaks. What happens is that the engine is moving around more than it normally would with the proper motor mounts and this movement is causing tension on all the hoses etc and causing them to have holes and leak or just come loose all together.

Katy's car is still on blocks waiting for the funds to fix it. Where the heck is that money tree that I used to have behind the house anyway? Honey, someone stole the money tree. We need to put out an all points bulletin on that sucker and get it back ASAP....

My pastor was kind enough to loan us his 93 Ford Escort Station Wagon which happens to be for sale. :) I think that Katy has her heart set on it. Poor dear, Katy needs a car that wont break down nor cost us an arm and a leg for gasoline. We will either fix her 83 Chevy Station wagon or I will sell it and put that money towards a different vehicle. Stay tuned for further updates to this car maintenance nightmare we have been sucked into. LOL..

Car repairs are us

Here I sit waiting once again for Spivey's wrecker service. The Cadillac is dead and Katy's Chevy needs the brakes repaired. The pads are probably worn down to nothing and the rotors are probably deeply grooved. That means new rotors and pads. So much for having a few extra dollars to last us until next payday. How am I going to pay for two car repairs? LOL... God knows we need a miracle. Maybe he will bless us with the fact that the car repairs are not going to be as much as I am afraid that they will be. It looks like I might even have to miss a day at work over this whole mess which is not a good thing. We can not afford to miss one single day from work. One thing at a time though, got to get the cars to the shop and find out what is what. No sense in pushing the panic button until they tell me the repair is more than I have to spend. LOL... Like I ever have money for car repairs.... It is like the old saying, you either pay for the vehicle in payments or in repairs to keep them running. Go figure.....

Working for a pittance

Sadly enough I can relate to this story. Can you??



Working for a Pittance

October 8, 2004
By BOB HERBERT


Reality keeps rearing its ugly head. The Bush
administration's case for the war in Iraq has completely
fallen apart, as evidenced by the report this week from the
president's handpicked inspector that Iraq had destroyed
its illicit weapons stockpiles in the early 1990's.

Coming next week are the results of a new study that shows
- here at home - how tough a time American families are
having in their never-ending struggle to put food on the
table and keep a roof over their heads. The White House, as
deep in denial about the economy as it is about Iraq,
insists that things are fine - despite the embarrassing
fact that President Bush is on track to become the first
president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net loss
of jobs during his four years in office.

The study, jointly sponsored by the Annie E. Casey, Ford
and Rockefeller Foundations, will show that 9.2 million
working families in the United States - one out of every
four - earn wages that are so low they are barely able to
survive financially.

"Our data is very solid and shows that this is a much
bigger problem than most people imagine," said Brandon
Roberts, one of the authors of the report, which is to be
formally released on Tuesday. The report found that there
are 20 million children in these low-income working
families.

For the purposes of the study, any family in which at least
one person was employed was considered a working family.
Very wealthy families were included.

The median income for a family of four in the U.S. is
$62,732. According to the study, a family of four earning
less than $36,784 is considered low-income. A family of
four earning less than $18,392 is considered poor. The 9.2
million struggling families cited by the report fell into
one of the latter two categories. And those families have
one-third of all the children in American working families.


Not surprisingly, the problem for millions of families is
that they have jobs that pay very low wages and provide no
benefits. "Consider the motel housekeeper, the retail clerk
at the hardware store or the coffee shop cook," the report
said. "If they have children, chances are good that their
families are living on an income too low to provide for
their basic needs."

Neither politicians nor the media put much of a spotlight
on families that are struggling economically. According to
the study, one in five workers are in occupations where the
median wage is less than $8.84 an hour, which is a
poverty-level wage for a family of four. A full-time job at
the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is not even
sufficient to keep a family of three out of poverty.

Families with that kind of income are teetering on the edge
of an economic abyss. Any misfortune might push them over
the edge - an illness, an automobile breakdown, even
something as seemingly minor as a flooded basement.

For the families in these lower-income brackets, life is
often a harrowing day-to-day struggle to pay for the bare
necessities. According to federal government statistics,
the median annual rent for a two-bedroom apartment in major
metropolitan markets is more than $8,000. The annual cost
of food for a low-income family of four is nearly $4,000.
Utility bills are nearly $2,000. Transportation costs are
about $1,500. And then there are costs for child care,
health care and clothing.

You do the math. How are these millions of poor and
low-income families making it?

(A lot of those families are going to get a shock this
winter as price increases for crude oil get translated into
big jumps in home heating bills.)

The economy relies heavily on the services provided by
low-wage workers but, as the report notes, "our society has
not taken adequate steps to ensure that these workers can
make ends meet and build a future for their families, no
matter how determined they are to be self-sufficient."

Mr. Roberts said he hoped the study, titled "Working Hard,
Falling Short," would help initiate a national discussion
of the plight of families who are doing the right thing but
not earning enough to get ahead. "Seventy-one percent of
low-income families work," he said. More than half are
headed by married couples. But economic self-sufficiency
remains maddeningly out of reach.

Even in a presidential election year, these matters have
not been explored in any sustained way. We're quick to give
lip service to the need to work hard, but very slow to
properly reward hard work.

E-mail: bobherb@nytimes.com

In memory of Carol Holland

My friend Carol Holland from work passed away this morning at around 6:15 am. This truly makes me sad. Carol will be missed by her family and her co workers at US Security. I only knew Carol for a short time but during that time I grew fond of her and we were able to chat atleast twice a week at work. During that time I got to know her not only as a professional in her field but also as an individual. Carol was a very sweet person who was laid back and very easy to get along with and confide in. Carol had some type of cancer and fought with the symptoms of this cancer up until a couple of months ago where she had to give in and go get treatments. From what I could tell the treatments caused the cancer to react in a negative way and sped up the downhill slide that Carol took physically. Several co workers have assured me that Carol will be with Jesus and that she did have a knowledge of the gospel of Christ and was a believer so I am relieved to know that Carol will be there to greet all of us on the other side. You will always be on our hearts and minds Carol. Please join me as I pray for the family and friends as they walk through this transition and the upcoming grief process in the days and years to come.

Update on Social Security benefits and our government officials receiving them

My friend Pat shared this with me in e-mail so in turn I wanted to share it with you. I have yet to review it but I plan to.


Here's what the Urbanlegends Guide has to say about it:


It's true that members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives enjoy a generous government pension plan ­ some say too generous ­ but this email rant offers very little else in the way of accuracy.

Under a law enacted in 1983, all members of Congress participate in the Social Security system, both contributing and receiving benefits. Upon retirement, members receive either a combination of federal pension and Social Security benefits or Social Security alone, depending on when their term of service started and how they configured their individual plan.

More here:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blcongress.htm

The fleecing of America , is this possible ??

I received this in e-mail this morning and it made my blood boil. Here are some questions

A. Is this true and if so WHY have we (The American People) allowed this to continue
B. What are WE (You and I) going to do to stop it?
C. What can we do to stop it?
D. Do you care enough to do something about it?





IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU ARE REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT!

KEEP IT GOING!!!!


2004 Election Issue!!

GET A BILL STARTED TO PLACE ALL POLITICIANS ON SOC. SEC.

This must be an issue in "2004". Please! Keep it going.



----------------------------------

SOCIAL SECURITY:

(This is worth reading. It is short and to the point.)

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. !

Our Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it.

You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable forpersons of their rare elevation in society.They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own
benefit plan.

In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan.

For all practical purposes their plan works like this:

When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die.

Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments..

For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.

This is calculated on an average life span for each of those two Dignitaries.

Younger Dignitaries who retire at an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $0.00. NADA....ZILCH....

This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds;

"OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK"!

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into,-every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer)-we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month after retirement.

Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator! Bill Bradley's benefits!



Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made.

That change would be to:

Jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us ......


then sit back.....

and watch how fast they would fix it.

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve.


How many people can YOU send this to?

Better yet.....

How many people WILL you send this to??

This is Shadow!! One of the five puppies that we just gave away to loving homes. :) 

Reeses