A Visit to Groton Last Week

 Are we proud of him?

Yes we are proud of him.

26 years of service.

And not everyone gets to save a life.

And use a state of the art nuclear fast attack submarine to do it.

His friend describes that night at this point in the video.

Later, he has a few kind words for me.

(My allergies are acting up.)

A Simple Visit to the Doctor

I took a hard fall at work when my shoelace snagged a fitting on the floor.

I went to see my doctor about the damage I did to my knee.

I see him because he doesn’t rush you out of the office.
The nurses always know to subtract a couple pounds because of the gun in my pocket.

His dad was originally my doctor.
His dad and he had a practice that they sold to a hospital system, but after a while they left that office and opened a new one. The system had placed time limits on doctor's engagement with patients.
His dad retired.

I entered the office and was told to pull my mask up higher over my nose.

First question, “Do you intend to get the vaccine?”.  “No chance.”

“Well let’s talk about that.”

Comparison to smallpox. Spoke of communities killing suspected carriers.

As if it was justified.

"Things will get worse not better." "The virus is mutating and getting more aggressive."

"One mask is not enough, two are better, not to protect you, but others around you."

"You can be asymptomatic and still infectious." 

"Kids can be infected and it will do damage that won’t be known for years." (unlike the vax?).

"The previous administration were idiots and evil by not getting us a vax sooner."

But project Warp Speed?

"The vax was NOT rushed, the science was there early on but Trump dragged his feet."

"Fox was telling us not to wear masks."
I told him her was wrong about that, that their reminders to wear a mask irk me..

“Sure you might get sick for a while, but you won’t get sick from Covid.”

Except you might.  And Florida seems to be doing OK.

After 35 minutes of indoctrination into fear, he looked at my knee.

This is part of a fear campaign to keep you in thrall to the government totalitarianism.

This is why I see so many people walking around with masks on in places that obviously don't really require them, since they can see that I am maskless.

Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (a real thing):

VAERS update:  77,279 *reported* Adverse Reactions, up from 60,460 last week.  929 Deaths, up from 653 last week.

From the WSJ:
We’ll Have Herd Immunity by April

"Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus.

Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity.

Now add people getting vaccinated.

As of this week, 15% of Americans have received the vaccine, and the figure is rising fast. Former Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb estimates 250 million doses will have been delivered to some 150 million people by the end of March.

There is reason to think the country is racing toward an extremely low level of infection. As more people have been infected, most of whom have mild or no symptoms, there are fewer Americans left to be infected. At the current trajectory,

I expect Covid will be mostly gone by April, allowing Americans to resume normal life."

The knee has a cracked cap. Nothing to do but limp til it doesn't hurt. 

I talked to Neil Mammen again yesterday. Co-Founder of Every Black Life Matters 
https://everyblm.com/the-role-of-the-church-in-a-pandemic/ 

Really good stuff.

https://anchor.fm/your-american-heritage/episodes/Your-American-Heritage-2-20-2021-eqmmlc

A Mini Mob of One

I do two radio shows on Saturdays.

I do my own at 8 am, then I co-host Moment of Clarity at 2pm with my friends Pastor Rick Deitering and Phil Stargell (of Abolitionist Round Table).

Yesterday, after my show, I asked Scherie to join me for breakfast at Big Sky Diner.
Big Sky is owned by an Albanian immigrant/citizen Tony. He's a real patriot.

Big Sky hosted the local appearance of Herman Cain when he ran for office and the local Tea Party meets there. I once was sitting there and overheard a couple discussing their gun purchase, and we had a nice conversation with them and the waitress joined in.

There's a new waitress there who we will refer to as "L". She's been a good waitress.
Yesterday, another waitress "T", who can be fairly outspoken, and conservative, told us (and did so in a lowered voice) that L thought the restaurant was full of racists. I asked how so, and it turned out that it was because none of the patrons supported BLM (I prefer BLT, whole wheat, no mayo).

 She told us that she herself didn't support the KKK or BLM, and I remarked that they were both extremist terrorist organizations and she agreed. She said that there was enough racism on both sides and that her kids faced it at school before she pulled them out, having been called "crackers".

The diner has patrons of all races and they all interact well.
For example, a black gentleman came to the register near our booth and asked for his to go order.
It was exactly what I had had for breakfast and I apologized for eating his breakfast and we both laughed even though we had never met before.

Well, soon after that, a black woman and her husband (fifty-ish) came to the register and the woman started getting loud demanding that that racist waitress (T) be fired. Her husband tried to calm her down but she was having none of it. Tony's wife Eida, herself a recent immigrant (he had gone back to Albania to marry her 5 years ago) tried to assuage her, but she was having none of it, demanding that T be fired. After a few minutes of her shrill one-sided escalation, she demanded the cops be called!

Her husband was still trying to get her to leave, and I turned and asked her, "Ma'am, what has been done here that would involve the police?".
I know, but I couldn't help myself.
Her reply?
"I'll leave, but I'm coming back and I'm bringing Antifa!".
Seriously.

So on Moment of Clarity later, we were discussing Social Justice and I relayed this incident.
Martin called in to mention that he had also been at the diner and heard the entire incident.

He had been meeting with a GOP group that he is a part of and they wondered what the brouhahah was about.
I was surprised, as I didn't know that he was in the diner.
I've known Martin for years.

Well, Scherie and I went back for dinner and the place hadn't been torched nor had the mob shown up.

Trust me, there were a lot of people who had reacted to this woman in a calm, de-escalating manner.
Well, T had to be asked to step away, but there was no shouting except from the woman, and given the current climate, anything can be concerning.
We live in Ypsilanti Township which is not a liberal enclave like neighboring Ypsilanti City whose offices proudly display BLM and LGBQT flags, and is of course, a university town,
Last year at the Ypsi City 4th of July parade, there was an Antifa contingent, but they did nothing antagonistic, But they exist.

I know a number of people who no longer keep their battle rifles cased.
We won't be having any of that nonsense here.

Well, That Didn't Go So Well...

I went to church today.
On the up side, all the doors and windows were open, something I had been promoting for years.
Why pay AC bills when a cool breeze can waft through the church for free?
The pastor had told me that he didn't mind the AC bill because of all the thousands I had saved the church with the new heating system I had installed.
But these were open because Covid!
We walked into the church, a small building, former union hall, and proceeded to the row of seats that we normally occupy.
That row had each end of it capped with barricade tape as did the row opposite the main aisle from it, and every other row behind it.
Seated in the row behind where we would have sat was my friend Rob.
I sat next to Rob.
My wife sat next to me.
The pastor, or as everyone else refers to him, "Pastor", asked me whether I had asked Rob's permission to sit next to him.
I told him that Rob was my friend, neither of us was sick, and it never occurred to me that I should ask his permission to sit next to him.
Rob and I talked a bit about a video he had recently seen about a missionary to China who was relating that there were believers there who told him that they wished they could have church like Americans.
The missionary replied that they should never want that.
Those believers had walked hours to sit on a bare floor and have church.
Americans wouldn't go if the AC was broke and the chairs not soft enough.
I did not take Rob's point to be that I should be content that at least we were having church, limits or not.
But I told him that Americans will allow the state to tell them when and how they can have church and the Chinese won't. And I had a problem with that.

After the service started and we sang a couple songs, Rob got up and I assumed he went to the bathroom as he left his phone and keys next to his seat.
It was a little later that I realized his keys and phone (bible app) were gone, and I could hear him singing behind me. I can take a hint.

The sermon was very good, and I got a few thoughts out of it I intend to pursue.

Then the announcement was made that the Facebook version of the service was over and that we would be taking prayer requests so that they might not go public on the internet.
Heaven forbid.
I had been complaining that the online services had no room in comments for prayer requests or praise reports. They were discouraged out of privacy concerns. I still don't get that.

When the service was over, I told Scherie I would meet her in the car and went through the small crowd that was talking to each other without masks.

Rob came out to the car and as I spoke with him, I let him know how stupid the whole affair was.
Hypocritical, even. Other issues I had with the behavior of the church and it's bowing to the state got my ire up as we talked and I apologized telling him it might be best if we stopped talking.

When the state tells the churches how they can have church, it's a form of persecution.
When the church complies, it's being complicit in it's own persecution.

When Scherie came to the car, I opened the door and let her in and as I was returning to my side of the car, I saw that Rob was still sitting in his Jeep.
I went over and told him once again that I was sorry for blowing up in front of him and that I thought he was one of the better guys I've known in my life, but I just can't do church that way.

So that's it.
I came home and placed a post on FB that said:
Is anybody doing church in the Ypsi area the way God intends and not the state?
I got some harsh words back in comments  from some of the women who attend my former church.
One telling me that I was rude. Another said that if I had a problem, I should talk to the "Pastor" and the board (which I had). I did not want to wash laundry on FB and told them so.

So, that's life on the home front.

I wonder what God has next.

Continued Investment

Just as an update.
I held my Bible Study in the church building last Wednesday.
No masks.
Seating was good. Actually I preferred it to the way we did it out of habit before.
Had a young man from Colorado call in and participate over speakerphone since we weren't skyping anymore.
I liked it.
I have hope that I will not be asked to wear a slave mask tomorrow when I enter the sanctuary for the main service.

Sometimes I can be a bit of a hothead.

We did a good radio show today on the response to the George Floyd incident.
That's not just my opinion.
My dog said it was good, and we know she's impartial.

And Scherie said it was good.

You decide.
https://anchor.fm/ed-bonderenka/episodes/Moment-Of-Clarity-6-6-2020-ef34nk

Investment

Many people invest into many things in their life.
Almost everyone invests into their homes, their retirement, their lifestyle, marriage, family, nation, community.
Many invest into their church.
I have done that repeatedly.

There is a practice in many churches wherein the pastor is addressed as "Pastor" as if that was his given name. I was, and am not, used to this practice.  The first churches I joined believed in the "five-fold" ministry. Evangelist, pastor, teacher, prophet, apostle.

There is some discussion as to what these positions entail today, particularly prophet and apostle.
The pastorate is an office, not a title.
The pastor is another member of the local body with his own gifts, but is often the ruler.

I have invested physically, financially and emotionally in the church I have been involved with for over twenty years.

Leading construction projects, installing heating systems, maintaining the A/C, plumbing.

Teaching, befriending, interacting.
I am a teacher. I have been asked after ten minutes of conversation to teach a congregation in another church, because that is my calling. And I did for a couple years. But then we returned to the church we are presently in. Or have been in.

With Covid-19, our church, along with others in the state (and nation), closed it's doors.
While this seemed reasonable at the start, it soon became apparent that this was not reasonable and an intrusion on our religious liberty.

An acquaintance of mine, Professor William Wagner, whom I believe is going to be a closer acquaintance (if not friend) soon, sued the State of Michigan, and Governess Whitchmer rescinded her restraints on houses of worship immediately.

I was elated. 

I'll be frank, our church has maintained social distancing for years. It has shrunk in size to where people sit together as families, but these groups have had 6' between them for years.

I thought for sure that our pastor, who I considered a friend, would open the doors, and I told him as much. He told me that he wasn't comfortable, that the surrounding community would think less of us for doing so. So we would wait.
I let him know that I wasn't comfortable being in a church that was afraid to meet together or would bow to the whim of the state.

I asked him if he had consulted the congregation and whether I had missed that e-mail.
When he said no, I asked him if he had consulted the board, the three deacons, of which I am not one because of my prior marriage and remarriage (something I believe is unscriptural and to which he later agreed).

He said no, but that he would.

He called me after that meeting and said that they had agreed with him to keep the doors closed a while longer, but that by this day (today) we would be meeting at church again.
I decided to be patient.

Today, "church" was held at the property. The worship team was in the building and played some songs to an empty room, which was broadcast on Facebook.
The congregation sat outside in their cars, watching (I imagine) on their phones.
The pastor then went out to the parking lot to preach, while the congregation listened on their car radios, or their phones.

I watched from my home. I would have been embarrassed to do otherwise.

I have embarrassed myself for Christ (and at other times because I'm an idiot) but this would be for neither of those reasons.

I hate to lose my investment in this church, but I have lost confidence in the "leadership" of the pastor.
He is a genuinely good guy. He is earnest and sincere.

But to sit in cars, watching a guy stand in front of their cars preach to them, at this point is ridiculous.

Jesus sent His disciples by twos to preach the good news, and to heal the sick. Presumably lepers were involved. I doubt they stood at a distance and yelled the good news to them. Or loudly called at them to be healed from six feet or more. With masks on. After applying Purex. 

Thanks for listening.

addendum:
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Memorial Day Speech

At the ten minute mark, our son, SCPO Scott Jones, speaks at this Memorial Day Commemoration in Higganum/Haddam, Connecticut.

I'm rather proud of him for what he said, and that he was chosen to say it.

Dealing With Staying At Home

Learn Who The Enemy Is and Act Accordingly
I'm pretty much enraged a lot lately.
The stupidity and the malice of the perpetrators of this attack on our freedoms and prosperity make me want to lash out.

I try and modify that behavior when on line and appear gentlemanly.

But while I sit here and read and type and try to throttle back the frustration and ire, somebody I love dearly is trying to talk to me, or does or says something that I find irritating.
(Fortunately I never have that effect on others. I'd hate to think I did.)

And in that moment, or should I say, a few moments ago, it caused a problem.
Imagine that.

So we sat down to talk about it.
I realized I was very upset and offended by something she said and I was hostile to her.
I wasn't loving her. I was violating the Great Commandment.
And I did something I don't do often enough.
I prayed (inside my head) that God would love my wife through me, since I was incapable at the moment and He expected it of me.

And something amazing happened.
Very briefly, I saw the plan of attack, and it wasn't my plan, and it wasn't His.
We were under attack, and I could see one of the vectors, and when I started to formulate a response I foresaw the next thrust and I saw the answer to that.
It was like playing three moves ahead in chess. And I don't do that!

And it worked. We talked it through.
It brought tears to my eye that I have a Father who would help me when I needed it.

Tests don't come from the Lord.
Test answers do!

A Public Service Announcement

It has come to my attention that a number of people are not commenting here because they can't.

This happened with LL and I suggested that he create a new Google account to comment with because using Chrome, you can switch easily (one click) between accounts.

He did not have Chrome, he had Safari.

When he installed Chrome, it seems the problem went away.

I know Greybeard can't comment here, and Mustang tells me he can't comment someplaces, including here.

I just discovered Mustang is using Safari.

Is this the issue?

People avoid Chrome because Google.

There is a chrome based browser that is private: https://www.epicbrowser.com/
Much along the lines of Duck Duck Go


Let me know.

edward @ bonderenka dot com

Garage Life

I was motivated by Larry Lambert's post today to document my garage.

It describes me. Sort of. No Christian content reflected here. Except I use this stuff in a charitable manner.

Pictures are clockwise from garage door. Nothing was cleaned for the photo shoot.

Yard tools, truck ramps, emergency backup air compressor, trash can, camping supplies upper shelf, boat batteries,
various lubricants, floor jacks.


Stick welder, Main air compressor, boat tanks I'm refinishing again, ceiling mounted space heater,
main tool box, door to house, various pipe and tubing.


Various paints and chemicals I should cull, nail bins, paint finishing supplies, recycle bins, spare dog food, box fan, fastener bins, maple butcher block workbench I made, shop computer, shop stereo I bought in Germany in 1974, boat trailer fenders to be repainted under a box of boat hardware.
Remote controlled biplane hanging from ceiling.


Machinist toolbox, mig welder on rolling cart, mill, spare lumber and panels on shelving.
a lot of the shelving I recovered from a party store that went out of business.
That silver tarp hanging on the right can be drawn across the garage on a cable, isolating the front from the area the car is in for heating purposes.


Hallicrafter shortwave, Mosler safe that I had to break into (https://youtu.be/B-1-RO1fYkg).
Craftsmen table saw like the one my dad had when I was a kid, Bose 501s and boxes of computer stuff, including two Commodore 64s (?) and tarps and moving blankets.


O-scope, citizen's band spare boat seat, door to yard I cut out of the brick wall and my trusty MTD garden tractor that's on the trickle charger because of 6 degree weather.

That sum's it up.

All You Can Eat! Health Care

I worked with a guy a while back, and we went down south to a plant and the town had a farmers market in which was an All You Can Eat! restaurant.

Rocky was a tall thin guy and when he went to the buffet for the third time, I asked the waitress to tell him he had hit his limit.
That was all he could eat.
She did.
He had such a perplexed look on his face, and then he got it and turned to look at me and grinned.
It was perfect.

I wonder if our nation's obesity problem is aggravated by Golden Corral, The Sweden House and every Hampton Inn (and other hotels) in the country.

But I digress.

I just got back from vacation.
The hotels had  breakfast bars.
The Christmas meal was a buffet.
All I could eat.
Not almost all.
All.
I met the challenge.
I ate more than I would if I had ordered a la carte.
At least I cleaned my plate.
Others, not so much.
Plates of food and cups of drink abandoned on vacated tables.

Now imagine all these people getting free health care.
See the problem?

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Mad Jack posted about sleeping poorly.

It reminded me of something that happened this last week.

I wasn't sleeping through the night as I'd get up for the bathroom, and when back in bed, I'd lay awake thinking about stuff.
I told my doctor about it in passing and he gave me something "light".
Nortriptyline. (I just finally read the side-effects a few minutes ago).

It seems that the other night I slept through three police cars in my driveway and the cops knocking loud enough on the front door to wake a neighbor kid who told me about it the next day.
They wanted entry to my back yard to look for a break-in suspect.

Well after reading the side-effects, (none of which I've experienced, yet, thank God), I think I'll stop.

Racism in America

I went to my grandson’s graduation this AM.
Some woman with a doctorate in Urban Education from Berkeley who is the Superintendent of the district started speaking of her African American background and how she was proudly wearing her Kinta cloth to honor the graduating class, went on talking about herself and then finally gave her advice to the class: “Remember the lessons you’ve learned here in how to be social….”
As opposed to the academic lessons they had learned.
One of my co-hosts explained to me when I was telling this on air that a Kinta cloth is a colored cloth indicating African royalty. That she was dispensing grace from her royal personage to the class of 70% white kids.
The speaker after her, a gentleman in his late 50’s reminding me in appearance of John Bolton who was the head of the school board, then spoke of not feeling bad not honoring his cultural heritage by not wearing a kilt!
He then spoke of thanking those who made possible these kids having a great future. He asked us veterans in the building to stand!
Both my boys were fully cognizant of the slap just delivered to the previous speaker and looked to me and smiled as the audience clapped.
I think they both appreciated that I hadn't earlier stood and called out the progressive racist that had spoken earlier.

This is a test. It is only a test...

Had this been a real emergency, you would have been told to go immediately to PitchPull and read about his date with a Playboy Bunny.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

I just found out that Joe Mama is writing me into his ongoing saga.
Stay tuned!

Well I failed the test.
It looks like bloggers can no longer link to their blog posts on FB.

Yet I saw a post on my timeline for someone flogging their new CD "american C**t".
Seriously.

Karma, or something like that

Last year, about this time of year, I hired into a company called Mobis, in Detroit.
Last year, I wrote this about it:

As you may have read here, my work life has been interesting this year.
In that last post about work life, I said that I was about to start a new job.
Let me tell you about that.

When I interviewed for the position, I was sent a job description that was for a different position than the one I was applying for.
I was applying for Assistant Maintenance Manager, which (from the description I was given verbally) seemed more a Maintenance Manager position by another name. The job description that was mailed to me was for a Controls Manager, something I was actually more interested in.

I met with two guys for the interview (let's call then Steve and Tim, because that's their names), one (Tim) being the Plant Manager and the other (Steve) being the Engineering Manager.

They both seemed impressed with what I could offer them and we discussed both roles. They said that they wanted to hire me and would figure which role for me to take later.

I started my first day, but was not given an assignment, so I made it a point to go out on the factory floor and familiarize myself with the processes. While on the floor, I met the Maintenance Manager, who had not been at the interview, and who had not been mentioned to me. That was perplexing.

I ended up staring at a robot assembly cell (EPS, electronic power steering) that just shouted opportunity for improvement. As I was taking notes, Steve walked up behind me and asked what I was doing. He then assigned me to continue developing a plan for improvement of that cell as it was a big bottleneck for them. He also said that they were still deciding on which position I would take and that I would have a voice in that decision.

Over the next few days, I did just that. I called vendors for parts to improve the gripping of the part. The Maintenance Manager had told me that since the cell (and all the equipment on the floor) had been built in Korea, there were replacement parts that he could not source and asked me to find sources.
I started doing that also.

At the end of the second week there, I gave Steve a three page document with a plan to improve the EPS cell.
He then told me that he had just been tasked by the COO (above Tim) to get all the equipment programs (robots, controllers, vision, touchscreens) backed up as soon as possible. I told him I would begin on it Monday.

On Monday I started to inventory all the equipment to be backed up.
I was then introduced to a new hire, Geoff, about my age, as the new Controls Manager.  ???
The project I was working on would normally fall to someone in that role, so I assumed he would be taking it over. In talking to Geoff, he said that he also had been awarded that project, but that he actually wasn't the Controls Manager, that his role was still to be determined. I said I would be happy to work with him on the project, but was confused by the situation. He was also.

In the meantime, this Korean based company was changing it's internal IT system to force every document to be stored in their proprietary cloud.
There were a lot of problems.
I could not take a video of a process and plug my phone into my laptop and transfer the video. The software would not allow it. I could not share it on a server with others for discussion. You could not write to a thumb drive. IT called the new system the MVirus as it was causing them so many problems.
For someone to share a powerpoint presentation, they ended up putting their phone under a camera connected to a projector which would then project the images on the phone's display!
I sat in a training session and asked how we could possibly share large Autocad or Solidworks files with each other, vendors or customers and was told that we could not. Incredible.

One afternoon, I went to the maintenance office to suggest to the purchaser where she might get a replacement part mentioned earlier.
Tim, the Plant Manager followed me into the office. He asked how it was going and I told him about the suggestions I had given Steve. The Maintenance Manager was standing there and asked if I had copied him. I said no, but if he'd like, I would. He got a little upset and said that I should. He then turned to Tim and asked in a very abrupt manner, exactly who I reported to. Tim told him that I reported to the Maintenance Manager, of course. This was the first I heard this.
The Maintenance Manager then demanded I move my desk into his office.
I did the next day. He then gave me some assignments he wanted me to do.
While I was doing some of this, Steve came up to me and asked if I got his email. I said I had not. He said I should have. I showed him my phone, that I had not. I asked what he had wanted to communicate to me. He said he was scheduling a meeting about the software backup project, drop what I was doing and proceed with that.
I found Geoff and asked how I could help. He said he was still planning and would get back to me. I asked him to call me if he heard of the meeting Steve mentioned being scheduled. I went back to my desk to work on what the Maintenance Manager had asked me to do.
At 2:57 PM, Steve showed up at my desk and asked if I was coming to his meeting. I told him that I had not received a notification. Just then, an Outlook popup appeared on my laptop. I told him I would be there and he walked away.
I looked at the notification. It had been sent only a few minutes prior, but the meeting was scheduled for an hour earlier! Whatever.
I walked up front, found Geoff and we went to the meeting.
Steve lumbered in, sat in front of Geoff and began to question him about his progress (in an unfriendly manner). Geoff replied that he was still trying to figure out where all the equipment to backup was, as he was new to the plant.
Steve told him that that was no excuse, that he himself had to learn the plant floor in a short time.
He then turned to me and asked what I had been doing.
I told him I was doing what the Maintenance Manager had me do while trying to support Geoff. He asked why I was doing that. I said that since I reported to the Maintenance Manager, I felt I should do what he asked. Steve said that the decision as to my role had not yet been made. I said that that was interesting as Tim had told me otherwise. Steve stared at me with his mouth open for roughly twenty seconds after which he closed it, and then said, "You are dismissed from this meeting.".
I said "Thank you" and left.
The next day, the Maintenance Manager told me that my new priority was to assist Geoff on the backup project. I did that.
I had also come in on Sunday afternoon and reprogrammed the EPS robot at the request of the Production Manager. The changes I made reduced it's downtime to zero for three days after implementation.
On Thursday morning, at a standup meeting presided by Tim, the Production Manager congratulated me on my accomplishment with the EPS Robot and asked that I apply similar magic to the robot next to it. Tim then assigned me to do so. The supervisors and managers standing around me patted me on the back.
Twenty minutes later, Steve found me and asked me to come up front with him.
We went into an office wherein I met the new HR manager.
I was then informed that I was being terminated.
I asked why and was informed that it was because of the disrespect I had shown Steve in a meeting. When I asked which, I was told I knew. When I insisted, I was told it was the one where I had said that I reported to the Maintenance Manager. I was then also told that I had spent too much time on my phone and that I just wasn't showing the initiative they required.
I asked the HR Mgr if it was normal to terminate someone with no progressive discipline. She replied that they were an "at will" employer.
I thanked them for saving me the decision to quit such an insane organization.
Being fired isn't always the negative it seems to be.
This was the second time I had been fired in one year!
But as bad as that sounds, if you are not suited for a position or vice versa, either you quit or you are fired. It doesn't mean you are unemployable or a bad person.

Last night I got a call from a recruiter, looking for a Maintenance Manager.
I asked where the job was geographically because they often don't want to tell you who it is.
Detroit.
I said Detroit is a big town.
He said Fort Street.
I asked if it was Mobis and he said yes.
Hah!
I told him the above and he was happy to hear it.
He didn't want to poison his name with people he was trying to place.
In retrospect, I think it would have been cool to have him submit my resume and interview.

Stuff

Had a really good radio show Saturday.
Good calls and discussion on Kavenaugh, Republicans and whether we should bother to vote for them and other news.
You can listen here.

It's listen to this or the voices in your head.
I recommend this.



Other than that, I'm too busy working at work, working at home, working on the newspaper or being out on my boat or going to the range to publish a post that contains information you can't get at a blog on my sidebar.
I know I woke up this morning with a great idea for a post, but I lost it getting ready for church. I think it was related to the radio show content.

Scherie and I got laser grips for our pistols.
It almost takes the fun out of shooting!
Put the laser on the target and squeeze.
Her snubnose .357 is more accurate than I thought!
It's the short sight radius that caused the bullets to spread out on the target.
But that laser seems to guide the bullets in the way a ground observer leads a Spooky or a Spectre air crew.

The American Dream

Two Saturdays ago, our son Scott came to visit us from Groton/New London with his what we came to find was his fiance.
We then found that they intended to be married the next weekend in Connecticut.
The next day Scherie was moping about the house until I asked her if she'd like to visit Connecticut again.

Unfortunately, Scherie never saw the wedding.
She had a series of seizures the night before and a hospital stay of a few days.
We got her out and we had a nice visit with the couple all to ourselves.
That is not the point of the story.

We stayed in Connecticut at a Rodeway Motel that was pretty nice.
An older couple was outside using a ladder to wash windows.
They were clearly of "India" Indian descent.
I went inside and the guy behind the desk was Indian also.
We talked a bit and I asked him if I could ask a personal question and he said yes.
I mentioned that everywhere I traveled in the US motels were run by people from India. Why was that?
"We are doing work Americans do not want to do.".
I laughed remembering that my parents owned a motel, The Swan Creek Motel, and I swore I'd never be a landlord after that.
He said that was true. They came to this country and bought properties that were being sold for that reason.
He then told me that 85% of the motel/hotel industry here is owned by Indians!
If you see a white person at the desk, there is probably an office of Indians in the back.
I told him that where I come from there is a huge community of Indians that have settled in Canton Michigan.
He then told me that when he saw my drivers license, he thought "Hi neighbor".
He was raised near Meijer's between Sheldon and Canton-Center Roads! Near where my son Caleb was born.

Immigrants coming here legally making a life for themselves.
The American Dream.

I shared this story on the radio Saturday, but we had Bill Federer on for the first half an hour.
The Drift Radio Show July 28, 2018
What a tour de force.
I highly recommend you listen to him.

He is Risen!

He is Risen.
And because He has, we may too!

It's front page news!

A Funeral to Remember

Scherie and I went to the funeral of a friend this week.
A friend of many.

Linda and Thayrone Hughes

I interviewed Linda on air a couple months ago.

Around that time I also interviewed Jim Curtis of Old NFO (Nobody Asked Me) fame and I think Linda sat in on it. Can't find the link.

Linda fought cancer fiercely. She didn't lose.

She's in the Winner's Circle.

She walks with Jesus now, and the funeral was an amazing celebration of her life and death.

I got to sit and talk with her dad for a while.

He was seated alone in his bibs and I thought I'd ask how he knew Linda.

What a great guy. actually a great Guy. That's his name.

Scherie had struck up a conversation with Evelyn, his wife, who was seated away from him. It's only fitting that such wonderful people would have such a wonderful daughter.

I first developed a friendship with Linda by regularly calling in to her radio show The American Dream.

She supported my effort to win that radio ad contest "Your Voice Your Ad".

We'd talk history, culture, politics and theology. Americana. 

It's with pride I say, that my son and I were once working on his boat in my garage when I remembered to turn on the radio only to hear Linda say, "I wish Ed would call in." to answer a question she had about the Bible.

I later met her when I started co-hosting The Drift with Gary Wellings.

My wife Scherie met her on occasion at the studio and they too struck up a friendship.

Linda left this life for a better one but left many missing her smile, wit, grace and presence.

I miss her and the community is diminished by her absence, but others obviously miss her more.

Prayers for her husband and family, please.

Gun Control

Published as a comment at Old NFO:
When I got a pistol as an adult and showed my dad, he remarked that I should be careful and not store it where the kids could get it.
I asked him if he thought putting it in a cigar box just inside the attic access under the insulation might be a good place.
The look on his face was priceless.
I liked that he stored the war trophy PPK with loose bullets rolling around in there so I don’t think he ever missed a few.
At least I kept it clean for him.