WHY I STAYED UP ALL NIGHT !

          "Couldn't Sleep At All Last Night"

1. Up all night studying for a blood test

2. Failed to find an honest TV info commercial 

3. Afraid Repo Man would come back

4. Wrote complaint letter to Look magazine

5. Reviewed old report cards---same result

6. Tried to identify 3 honest politicians 

7. Assembled all bills 90 days past due

 8. Played Solitaire with  a deck of 51 cards

 9. Finally opened last year's Christmas cards

10. Tried to find mates to 47 socks

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday

THE BEST SINGER YOU PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF --- LENNY WELCH

LENNY WELCH : He recorded some great music in the early--mid '60s. Super voice and some wonderful arrangements---especially on his signature song--"Since I Fell For You" 

Go to this You Tube link and hear some super music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7xrQY_FLM4&list=AL94UKMTqg-
9Cxry4Qv5MDHcmZ1cXY5P29

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday 

The Mystery Is Not A Mystery Anymore

In my home there are five television sets, three wireless phones, smart phones for my  two teenage grandsons who live with us, and an old flip cell phone that I use, more radios than I can count, five laptop computers on the Internet, 

THE PONDEROSA ---Magnet for Drifters, Ex-cons, & Runaways

On any given day at least four old Ponderosa  re-runs can be viewed on satellite or cable. Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe were quickly pressed onto this series and the results show it. Only Adam had any screen time on a horse.

Poor acting, second class scripts, and phony sets notwithstanding, the show always had a high moral plane. This cut and paste TV show become number one for many months. 

One of the recurring plots revolved around visitors to the Ponderosa. Often there was a connection with Daddy Ben---after all he lived in several places. Almost without exception, a lovely girl is part of the crew that stays with the Cartwrights.  

Adam or Little Joe falls for the smiling, beautiful and helpless (often scheming) maid.Every now and again Hoss is visited by Cupid and he has to battle a brother over some stylish and seemingly innocent miss.

I wonder if the show were filmed today would Hop Sing get into the mix and contend for the attention of some sweet, young thing from back East? 

While I am at it, is it just me but Sheriff Roy Coffey always seeks help from Ben and the Boys when he is in trouble but let a simple false charge be made against the Cartwrights and he starts seeking a strong limb and a new rope. What is wrong with that picture? I personally think the sheriff is Bi-polar and needs to get into treatment. I know I'll never give again to the Silver City Sheriff's Association.



  

Livers, Gizzards and Wings

Rural convenience stores sell gas, cigs, and beer----just like their urban counterparts.

Many of the rural Oklahoma convenience stores sell a variety of ready to eat fast foods. Pizzas are popular but do require a prep time before they are ready to be picked up.

It is the deep fried chicken livers, gizzards and wings (and sometimes catfish) that brings in the pickup trucks, motorcycles, and all manner of cars. Cowboys, ranchers, oilfield hands, students, ballplayers, busy Moms who work outside of the home, fishermen, hunters, sales people, and a vast array of other folks stop to sample these Sooner State tasty delights.

Upon entering one of these rural stores, the smell of cooking oil that is near the flash point can be detected. Sometimes a thin transparent light blue cloud hangs magically suspended from the ceiling. The cloud signals a busy and profitable day for the store.

Many of the stores have a few tables and benches where the gourmet food can be consumed and juicy gossip exchanged. Retired men, hunters, and fishermen usually get first dibs on the few tables and benches.  

Of course gas, diesel fuel, candy, soft drinks, bread,
milk and beer is offered for sale. Some stores sell sacked cow and horse feed, weed killers, worms and minnows.

The front windows are nearly covered with school sports schedules.  Coming rodeos and church event signs are there also. A hastily drawn sign seeking blood donors for a community member injured in an auto accident shares adjacent space with another hand drawn sign for items requested for a burned out family.

These stores are routine transit points for most of the people I know, love and serve. How blessed can this old preacher be?

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday

UNCLE WALTER 'GK' GIVENS

          THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION
     ( DO YOU HAVE AN UNCLE WALTER? )

Uncle Walter “GK” Givens

Uncle Walter “GK” (Grassy Knoll) Givens was not your typical atypical crazy uncle that seems to be standard issue for each American family. No sir! Uncle Walter came to earth from his own alternate universe. Sadly, he spent much of his life attempting to find the worm hole portal through which he must have transited en route to a troubled sphere called Earth.

Older family members summarily dismissed the Star Trek explanation for his bizarre behavior; instead, they point to a head first fall from Miss Carrie Sutton’s prize apple tree when Walter was six years old. He was in a coma for nine days and when he awoke he told of a fantastic voyage from somewhere in the night sky to Earth. He, and the people that knew him, was never the same.

At age 12 he created a firestorm by writing a letter to the editor of the local newspaper by stating there was a huge conspiracy between Santa, the Tooth Fair, and the Easter Bunny and the seven dentists in his town. 

Later, at age 16 he accused the TV and radio weathermen of getting a kickback from area grocery stores each time snow or other bad weather was forecast. To prove his point he went from grocery store parking lot to grocery store parking lot counting cars after a forecast of bad weather. He stated there was an almost 100 percent correlation.

As he grew older his conspiracy theories grow bolder. He believed in November , 1963 the JFK assassination involved a second shooter on the grassy knoll.

Much of what he learned about conspiracies he picked up from the late night “Coast to Coast AM” radio broadcast. He slept until 11am most days.

A year after the tragedy in Dallas, when ZIP codes were implemented, he knew the codes were a sneaky communist plot to sub-divide the United States into easy to rule cells after the USSR defeated the USA in a threatened preemptive nuclear strike.

In addition to conspiracy theories, he made several “outside the box” deductions. One was to reduce the school dropout age to 14 from the present 16. His reasoning went like this: When a student drops out of school at 16 they realize their mistake later but are too embarrassed to return to school at 18 or 19. Therefore, if they drop out sooner they will be more likely to come back to school later!

School dropouts were of major concern to Uncle “GK”. He read a study that said many boys left school early to work full time so they could keep a car on the road. Well, why not have the government subsidize teen car owners to keep them in school? He said it could be called Medi CAR!

Since UFO’s, Greens, and Greys, are real we need to start communicating with them. But how? Uncle “GK” figured the only universal constant is the mathematical concept of Pi. He convinced a couple of dozen true believers to join him on a hilltop outside of town to use their car headlights to flash “3.14” in International Morse code for two hours each night for a week. No answer ever came. It appears he had not thought this through too well---why would an advanced civilization know or even care about the International Morse code?

Of course the moon landing was faked, Elvis was alive and owned a Krispy Kreme donut store in Detroit, and alchemy was a subject that should be taught in every high school and college.

He believed the government was keeping secret the radio power transmission experiments of Nikola Tsela to protect big oil and the electric industry. He made a feeble attempt to duplicate the experiments and only succeeded in knocking out power to all the homes in three blocks around his old two story home.

One of his prize projects was trying to develop a biodegradable bubble gum. He field tested his work in most of the parking lots in town. All of the bubble gum remained as planted. The only outcome was four letter words from men and women walking to and from their cars in the parking lots.

At one family reunion he brought a bologna covered cheese and macaroni casserole. Strangely enough the kids loved it. No adult would try it. 

 His best suit of clothes was a ‘70s lime green leisure suit. He always wore the suit to weddings, funerals, and when he was called for jury duty. He was called three times but did not survive the first round.

This poster man for crazy uncles never married. He had one date while in high school. Late at night, almost every night, he thought of the girl of his one night date and wondered if she had married, had children, grand kids and whether she was happy. He hoped she was as happy as he was. His only regret in life was that he had never kiss a female, Mom doesn't count.

 This nightly fleeting thought was always quickly replaced by his current project or an idea that no one had ever thought about. Crazy Uncle “GK” slept the sound sleep of a happy man and looked forward to each new day.

Glenn <><

Just West of Yesterday

TRUTH HURTS---A LOT v2.0

At times I feel like a stranger lost in an undiscovered country.

No amount of preparation can get you fully ready for the feelings, physically and mentally, a person experiences as they enter a chapter of their life called Old Age. (Someone has jokingly said Old Age is 15 years older than you are !!!!)

I accidentally discovered a portion of a poem written by Thomas Carew (1589-1639) that sure hits me where I live. Truthfully, I feel uneasy knowing someone (outside the Bible) centuries ago knew exactly how I would feel in 2014.

Disdained Returned.

He that loves a rosy cheek,
Or a choral lip admires,
Or from star-like eyes doth seek
Fuel to maintain his fires;
As old Time makes these decay,
So his flames must waste away.

Strangely, I am listening to 1950s music as I type this. I have been young and now am old---I think I like young better !!!!

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday 

"IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME" ----Brook Benton v2.1

 

SHAWNEE IS BLESSED WITH TWO BOOMERANG DINERS. THE 50'S MOTIF AND GREAT HAMBURGERS MAKE THE DINERS A FAVORITE PLACE FOR ME AND THE GRAND KIDS.

I CAN NAME MOST OF THE SONGS, SINGERS, DATES, ETC. THIS IS ABOUT THE ONLY TIME I CAN IMPRESS THOSE KIDS.

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday

MAJOR MARK JUST AHEAD !!!

PLEASE LET FAMILY AND FRIENDS KNOW ABOUT THE BLOG.

WE ARE JUST A THOUSAND HITS AWAY FROM 10,000 ! 

IT'S ALL GOOD !!!!!

What About The Economic Future For Your State??

You might find the following link interesting:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/04/15/which-states-have-the-best-economic-future/

 

"The heart is deceitful above all things,....."

Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it."

Have you ever learned shocking info about a person you once knew several years ago? It happened to me this week.

A young couple with three little girls moved into our neighborhood about 12 years ago. When I met them the husband and the wife joyfully told me they were joint youth pastors in a church in a nearby town.

For what ever reason, they left that church and not very long thereafter, they went through a terrible divorce that included late night screaming and the local police department. After they moved the house they were renting had several fixtures broken or missing and holes in the walls that would make Hulk Hogan green with envy.

All divorces are sad and difficult on all concerned. This week I learned the woman had been arrested for child porn production, maybe involving her own children.

According to newspaper accounts she produced the child porn and forwarded it to a local pastor who sold it on the Internet!

I wanted to vomit. The fate of those girls concerns me more than anything.Sexual abuse is a crime that seems to keep on being replayed in the victim's mind and heart.

Some may ask--so what? Here's why I have included this account:

All of us have made snap judgments about people that time proved us wrong.

In addition, within the human heart, even born again believers, there is the capacity to do all manner of sin and wickedness.

It now appears each of the child abusers will get 15-30 years in prison. Knowing what I know about the code of prisoners I doubt if either make it out alive.

SO MUCH FOR MY BASKETBALL PREDICTIONS

CONGRATS TO UCONN MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM FOR BIG WIN OVER UK!!!

I WAS WRONG !!!!!!!!

GLENN <><
Just West of Yesterday

NON-DEBATABLE REPLIES TO---"Are you gaining weight?"

1. Both my mother and father come from big boned families.

2. You should have seen me last year. I've dropped 65 lbs since Christmas.

3.  I might have been given the placebo in the clinic's weight loss study.

4.  My daughter and son-in-law bought a Daylite Donut Shoppe a couple of years ago. They pay us in donuts to watch their 18-month old twin boys.


5. I know now why my late mother would not let me play with you when we were kids.

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday

REVEALED----The Secret Life of # 1875 !!

North Vernon Old Library

OK ! The title is a bit of an overreach. Number 1875 was my library card number at the old North Public Library.

Each Friday, sometimes on Saturday, my folks would journey to the big city of North Vernon for groceries and a host of other stops. I would be let out in front of my home away from home--The Library.

The brick and concrete was almost a sacred temple for me. As I climbed the outdoor steps, I knew was entering the Holy of Holies.  

Upon entering, a library patron was immediately aware of the unmistakable odor of old books written by authors many times smarter than you.

The circulation desk was straight ahead as you entered the second floor of the library. Usually two ladies sat behind the desk. One was old, cranky, and not very nice. The second was much younger, much prettier, and possessed a figure of some delightful confirmation ----at least to a teenage farm boy. Her voice was as pleasant as her looks. I always tried to present my books for checkout to her. 

The periodicals that garnered my attention was Sky and Telescope, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Boys Life (Boys Scout Magazine) Scientific American, and occasionally, Car and Driver. In addition, I tried to read at least one fishing article from Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, or Sports Afield.

The newspapers were attached to long wooden rods with slits in them. The sports page was my first destination and the second was the radio program schedule. Our little black, tubed Admiral was my private portal to the world.

CONFESSION TIME : Later, as a high school student, I would check and see what movies were playing in Louisville and Indianapolis. Here comes the confession---I would look at the Burlesque Show ads---even though I never went. Some of the girls had some very exotic and intriguing names. (Thank God for forgiveness!)

During my years at the library I read a lot of biographies--- Abe Lincoln, Buffalo Bill, Babe Ruth, Kit Carson, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, David Livingston, and a score of others.

I read every book in the library on astronomy and cosmology. Ditto for radio and electronics. All of the non-fiction books were by and large written prior to 1950.

Rarely, I would venture into the fiction stacks. Here the books were published more recently than the non-fiction works.

As I previously mentioned in an earlier Post, I was the only boy that qualified for a summer reading program party. I believe I read 20 books that summer to earn the entrance to the cookie and punch celebration at the library.

Even though more than a half century has elapsed, I distinctly recall the locations of the books and periodicals I read the most.

For years, I kept my old # 1875 library card. The card has long since been lost. However, the memories of that wonderful and mysterious fount of knowledge and inspiration will remain until I cross the River to that Golden City not made by Human Hands.

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday

FINAL FOUR PREDICTIONS---You Heard It Here First !!!!

Most of the talking sports heads said that the Big 12, includes Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, was the premier basketball conference. It turns out the SEC  has two teams and the Big Ten has one team in the Final Four.

Readers of this Blog know my love affair with OK and the Prairie. However, the Big 12 seldom has the best men's basketball conference. Hats off to the Big Ten, my all season choice for the toughest conference, and the SEC, my second choice for the toughest conference. 

FEARLESS PREDICTION: My kinfolks might kill me for my pick; however, I pick Wisconsin to defeat UK and Florida to beat UConn. And, are you ready for this --------Wisconsin to beat Florida in 2
OTs  

No guts no glory !!!!  Put me in coach !!!!

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday

POP QUIZ---If April Showers Bring May Flowers-----

What Do May Flowers Bring????


Traditional Answer:  Pilgrims !

Military Families Answer:  Broken Household Furniture !

< I had 14 different  USAF assignments in 20 years and we had lots of broken furniture >

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday

The Minster and The Model (Complete)

THE MINISTER AND THE MODEL  (All Parts Complete)

THIS POST IS FICTION. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL.

                     THE MINISTER AND THE MODEL

                                       

It took Mark Robertson two weeks to pray up enough courage to tell her.

It took Susan McElroy two weeks to stop crying after he told her.

In less than 60 seconds, Mark brought a four-year, white-hot relationship with Susan to a complete halt. Friends and family were equally stunned by the out-of-the-blue announcement by Mark. How could he do that?

Both had just graduated from State College, with highest honors. Mark was Mister Everything in baseball. He batted .407 for four years, led his conference three years in RBIs, Slugging Percentage, and Stolen Bases. He covered center field with gliding ease and had a powerful laser like arm. He led the nation for two straight, years in Put Out Assists from the outfield. 

He was a handsome specimen of very high intelligence and sound body, articulate, and steady boyfriend of the most beautiful girl on campus---Susan McElroy

Susan won so many beauty contests her father had to build a larger glass door cabinet to hold them all. In college she was elected Homecoming Queen, the

 Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, and a sure fire bet to win the State Miss America contest---the death of both grandparents on her mother’s side in a three car accident took her out of competition. She was a talented singer, tap dancer, and the top student in her professional modeling and fashion design class. She and Mark had it all figured out: His almost certain baseball career and her frequent out of town modeling appearances would fit together nearly perfectly. 

However, all of those plans evaporated when Mark announced he no longer could deny nor ignore the unmistakable Call from Almighty God to be a minister. After all he was a frequent speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes,  assistant Youth Director in both his local church and campus church, and a much sought after speaker at high schools throughout the state. His affirmative answer  to the Call of God meant his T-Ball through college dreams  to play in the major leagues was now a thing of the past.

Dreams can die in an instant but memories never die.

Susan now had a very difficult decision to make concerning her plans to be a professional model or forget about her altar-bound relationship with Mark. Mark was unmovable about his decision to enter seminary as soon as possible. He and Susan seemed destined to spend their lives together---what was she now to do ?  

Susan did not immediately know what to do; but she knew her life long dream, from her first Barbie Doll to her graduation, to become a professional model was totally incompatible with being a pastor's wife.

The next 10 days for both Mark and Susan seemed trance like, neither believed in Zombies, yet they both seem to walk and talk in an numbed state of mind and body. They would briefly see each other when CDs and other items were located that belonged to the other. Both hated these necessary, but awkward, meetings. Neither mentioned the reason for the breakup.

Mark called baseball scouts from the Angels, Cubs, Giants, and Cards and told them of his decision to enter the ministry. Two of the scouts used language he had never heard before and probably never hear again. All expressed major disappointment. Only one wished him well in his career in the ministry. 

Susan had a job offer in Chicago at the Front Cover Modeling Agency even before she graduated. A phone call and a couple of emails later and the position was officially hers. 


Mark, on the other hand, was starting from scratch. His pastor in his hometown church made a couple of calls on his behalf. The necessary seminary paperwork arrived in an Overnight Delivery the next day.  It was completed that night and faxed back to the Gateway Seminary in San Francisco the next day.

In spite of the mental hygiene that comes with positive work, both had a dull pain that felt like a headache that would not go away: Perhaps it never would.

Susan and and Mark had a finally meeting in their favorite sit down sandwich place. Each ordered only a Coke. Neither said much. Their tearful eyes said everything for them. Outside, a third grade kiss on the lips and an embrace that seemed like minutes served as the official and  final good-bye. Driving was very difficult for both.

Someone has wisely observed that about 10 percent of our lives is what actually happens to us. The remaining 90 percent is how we react to the 10 percent. Would the hurt ever subside for both Mark and Susan?

It was only the Grace of God and Time that enabled Mark and Susan to keep pursuing their respective careers in spite of the pain. Mark would often remember the admonition of his college baseball coach, "Gents, sometimes you have to play through pain."

Following graduation from seminary, Mark was called as an associate pastor at a small church in Redlands, CA. When the senior pastor retired, Mark was the unanimous choice to succeed him.

In two years, under Mark's leadership, a new worship center, daycare, gym, and education space was completed and the 200 members soon became 1,500 members.  

A staff of 15 helped Mark and the church to meet the spiritual needs of the local population, minister to the ballooning Hispanic community and to work with the many international students at the nearby Loma Linda University.

The phenomenal growth of the Mountain View Church made Mark a frequent speaker at church growth conferences. A hectic schedule of three preaching services on Sunday Morning, endless staff meetings, weddings, funerals, counseling, and hospital visitation ruined his feeble attempts at staying in shape. He was no longer the fleet footed center fielder that once seemed destined to be in the major leagues. He was paying the price of sacrificial service.

During this entire journey he never stopped missing Susan, but he did occasionally ask God if it was right for him to serve others yet hurt her and him so much.

Alone on his bed at night he often recalled the softness of her skin, her clear and cheery eyes, and the captivating fragrance of her flowing blond hair. He could almost hear her reassuring sweet voice that seemed coated with love and desire. He longed to see her again, smell her again, hear her again, and yes, kiss her and draw her close to him.

Mark was unaware that Susan's modeling career was on the fast track and getting faster. She was featured in the last two Sears summer catalogs, appeared in a ton of fashion shows, traveled to Rome, Paris, and London to judge several design contests, and she appeared in a half dozen info commercials. It was the info commercials that caught the eye of a production company's casting executive who would later invite her and her agent to Hollywood for a screen test.  

Susan worked very hard to win and maintain her ascent to the top. She went through three hard workouts each week; counted calories at each meal; and tried with modest success, to be in bed by 11 pm each night. Her skin remained flawless, even without makeup. Her posture was West Point correct and her eyes had the dual feature of compassion and competition glowing within them. Her toned figure remained a major selling point in the cut throat world of international class modeling.

She could model an evening gown to open a fashion show; change a dozen times; and bring the house down with the latest in the new line of fashionable beach wear. Susan was a genuine, smoke free, drug free, silicon free, head turner, both on the runway and the sidewalk.

After firing her first two agents who each had substance abuse issues, she found a tireless, likable  and reliable agent that located all of the modeling work she could handle. Good help has always been hard to find. 

Like Mark, she often reflected on their storybook romance together. Would she ever see him again? Wonder if he ever married?

Only those who believe in the Divine Providence of a thrice Holy God or those who kept the novels of Charles Dickens near their bedside, appreciate the hardly believable events that were about to unfold in the lives of Susan and Mark.

Mark was scheduled to be the featured speaker at the National Church Growth Conference in LA. All of the platform personalities for the conference were staying at the Weston Regency on Wilshire Blvd. The conference paid all of their expenses.

The day before the conference was to begin, Mark had a late afternoon sandwich and took the elevator to the entrance of the upscale shops connected to the hotel. He planned a short walk before reviewing his sermon notes for tomorrow.

Just as he came to the entrance to Saks Fifth Avenue he bumped into a woman wearing sunglasses and she had a Saks shopping bag in each hand. 

Mark apologized for the collision and the woman removed her sunglasses and for a few seconds Mark and Susan stood speechless. What do you say after five years?

Both spoke at once and asked the same question, "What are you doing here?"

"Suzie Mac (Mark's pet name for Susan) you look great! Really great."

"Mark, I'm her in LA for a screen test tomorrow. It could be my ticket to Hollywood. What about you?"

"I am here for the National Church Growth Conference which  starts tomorrow in a church near here."

Again each spoke at the same time with the same question? "Are you married?" 

Susan replied, "No."

Mark echoed the negative.

"Say Suzie Mac, how about having dinner with me
 tonight?"

"Mark, I can't. I'm having dinner with my agent to review the schedule for tomorrow. What say you join us at 8pm?"

Mark replied, "Suzie Mac, you have a date. I'll be in the lobby waiting for you."

This chance encounter, if it was chance, had an immediate effect on Mark. He felt ten feet tall and all of the good times with Susan came flooding back.

Mark offered verbal thanks to the Lord as he showered and shaved. All of the insurmountable issues that caused their separation did not seem to matter tonight. He was going to have dinner with the only girl he ever loved. 

At 7:30 pm Mark sank into one of the overstuffed, leather covered easy chairs in the hotel lobby. He tried to look through the current newspapers from LA, San Francisco, and New York. He turned the sheets of newsprint without reading anything but the cut lines below some of the photos. His mind was on Suzie Mac.  

Prompt as always, Susan and her agent came into the lobby exactly at 8 pm. She was wearing the always stylish LBD, with a diamond necklace.

Mark struggled to free himself from the grasp of the large chair and stood with his gaze centered on Susan. (She is as beautiful as I remember her thought Mark)

Susan spoke first, "Mark, this is Charlie Newton my manger and, as of this afternoon, my fiancee. Charlie, this a long time friend, a very good friend,
Mark Robertson

Mark was dumbfounded. He bravely shook Charlie's hand and knew it was useless to speak at that moment. He nodded as Charlie said, "Mark, I am happy to meet you."

Susan turned her ring so Mark could admire it. "While I was shopping in Saks, Charlie was picking out this gorgeous engagement diamond at Tiffany's. I knew Charlie was serious about me, but this ring is unreal. What a surprise?"

The diamond was so big it looked like a joke ring a junior high boy would buy at a novelty store---the ring that shoots a stream of water in an unsuspecting admirer's face . Mark's annual compensation package at his church had just recently been raised to 84k. That mammoth piece of former coal probably cost three or four times that much. Susan and Charlie were definitely in the financial big leagues.

Mark somehow regained some semblance of composure and said, "I hope you both will be happy. I will not be able to dine with you; I have last minute points to incorporate into my sermon."

Mark shook Charlie's hand and gave Susan a politically correct peck on the cheek and headed for the elevator door. (Dear God in Heaven, please do not let me cry or collapse on the floor.) God answered Mark's silent request.   

As Mark prepared to step into the elevator, he turned and saw Susan and Charlie walking out of the front door, holding hands.

It took three attempts for Mark to get the magnetic card strip key to open the door to 1407. He swiftly walked to his bed and fell on his knees, "God, please let me know why I am required to carry this burden of total love for Susan." Now the tears came.

Mark washed his face and dried it. He walked to the sliding windows and opened them and stepped out onto the small wrought iron porch that was attached to each room.

He looked down and saw the continuously busy traffic of honking, sometimes speeding, cars. Perhaps all of them were happy. He was very sad.

At 11:45 pm Susan called Mark's phone and there was no answer. Same at 12 am and same at 12:15 am.

Mark was not in his room when Susan called because his afternoon light sandwich did not hold him through the night. He went to the Night Hawk Diner for a midnight snack and missed her call.

The following evening when he returned from the conference he was given a note by the desk clerk. It read:

        My Dear Mark,

        I called you at midnight last night to
        let you know I returned Charlie's ring
       at dinner. He was more in love with the money 
      a movie star would make and less in love with me.

        Also, the screen test was less than overwhelming. The double out was
        to  too much for Charlie---he flew back to Chicago
          alone ----- and looking for work.
         
        Hope your speech went well.

        Love always,
        Suzie Mac

        PS: Please call me @ 555-555-5555.
              I would like to come back to LA
              very soon to keep that dinner date
              you invited me to. In addition I
              have some questions about the
              expectations of a minister's wife.

Mark tossed the note into the air and yelled,
 "Praise the Lord!!" and everyone in the lobby
looked at him. Under his breath he prayed,"Thank you Lord for making me afraid of heights!"

The next day he called Susan and urged her to
come the very next weekend. She said, "I'll be
there." 

In addition, he told her he had been asked at the conference by the President of Pacific World Outreach University to prayerfully consider joining his staff as the Director of Church Growth Research and to coach the university baseball team.

Home runs often come late in the game!
                         THE END

Glenn C. Peck <><
Just West of Yesterday

"Do Not Seek The Treasure." *

This Post could be someone playing a ruse on me. I guess I am the simplest person who received the following phone call:

A non-PCHS grad called from another state and asked me if I knew anything about the rumors of a silver cache being buried in Jennings County. The caller did not specify if the alleged silver was in coin or bars. The only reason I stayed on the call is I know the caller. He has been known to chase the Rainbow before.

I would appreciate an email if anyone reading this Post has heard the same rumor: (I have no interest in pursuing the treasure---just curious.)

ke5gk@sbcglobal.net

The "Gold Fever" TV Show announced recently that gold had been found in several small streams in Indiana. I personally heard and saw this telecast. (As a teenager fishing in the Great Graham Creek, I often fantasized about large  gold nuggets just laying on top of a sand bar or shore line.) 

* Quote from   Oh, brother where art thou ? 

NO INDIANA TEAMS IN MEN'S NCAA TOURNEY---SAY IT AIN'T SO !

HELP !!!!!!

I have lived in OK since May 28, 1986. For all those years I have touted Indiana as the center of the Basket Ball Universe.

Now, I am clothed with the rags of a false prophet. No Indiana colleges in the Men's Big Dance ! What is going on in this world? Ky has three. OH has three.

The following article shares my disappointment.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/-loser-state---no-programs-from-indiana-will-be-dancing-in-ncaa-tournament-234217685.html;_ylt=AwrTcdJr5ylTRQoATgJjmolQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByc25qcnVyBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNARjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkAw--

Oh well, I can watch some more Gunsmoke re-runs!  

Glenn <<><
Just West of Yesterday

DOES YOUR WAL-MART EVER LOOK LIKE THIS ????

The following link (and photos) should make us appreciate our respective Wal-Marts:

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12530078/1/24-pictures-from-a-walmart-that-make-sears-look-classy.html


I can hear our Wal-Mart in my sleep-------

"ASM to register 17."

"Mr Rogers your car is ready in automotive."

"Wet clean up in the baby department."

"A 99 to electronics to transport  a 102in TV."

"Will the owner of a white Chevy van, OK license plate EGY 385967294859581095614974561 please move your van. You are parked alright; but your license plate is blocking the parking lane on aisle 6." 

Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday