Surveyors in the field.

The surveyors are in the field today and it looks like they are laying out a roadway that will go through to the next neighborhood to the North of us.

My guess is that soon they will start work on putting a road through to it.

This morning I went to Walmart to return a diffuser that I purchased their two weeks ago.  I actually purchased it twice.  The 1st one did not work so I turn it back for a refund and bought another one.  It seemed to work for a while and then we just decided that it was real puny compared to our previous one that we bought on Amazon.  I obtained the refund our new diffuser from Amazon arrived yesterday.  It works great.  I also had to go to Napa and return some extra AT fluid that I purchased for my daughter's car.  Seems like today was a return day.

Shopping at Safeway, I picked up a NY Stripe Roast that was on sale.  When I got it home I cut it into steaks and sealed them using my Food Saver vacuum sealer then they hit the freezer. 

Susie is making Christmas goodies

New glasses. Here is my honey doing her thing baking Christmas goodies and she is sporting her new glasses that came in the mail today. 

My Daughter left her Volvo here last night with the check engine light active.  I used my MaxiDas DS708 to diagnose the codes, clear them and reset the light but this is not a permanent fix.  I also tinkered with some of the sensor wires to check for bad connections.

This evening we watched the new Mulan on TV.  It is not as good as the cartoon in my opinion but it was still good.

I sent this photo and some of this post using the Email method.  I just wanted to try it out.

Flew my drone for a few flights this afternoon.

Goofy Gift Card

 My sister sent me a gift card the other day so I could use it to buy some cheese to send to her.  She cannot buy Tillamook cheese where she lives.  I ended up paying cash for the cheese and just kept the card for my own use since I paid more for the cheese anyway.

Last week I tried to use the card and it was rejected, so I logged into the web site to check the balance.  Sure enough, it showed $60 available.  The next day I bought some diesel fuel for my Jeep and tried the card at the pump.  It worked fine and did not as for the required PIN number....hmmm.  I though OK that's nice.

The next day I went to Ace hardware to buy some stuff and used the card again and it worked great, again not asking for the required PIN number.  A few days passed.

We went to Walmart and had a large grocery bill to pay, a little over $100 so I asked the attendant at the computer check stand to help me with my gift card because I knew the balance was small and I wanted to use it up.  She helped me and made two tries.  Both times the card was rejected.  So I paid up with my regular Visa and we went home.

Yesterday evening I decided to check up on the card to see what happened.  Here it is....   The website claimed that I spent $23.80 at Ace, $42.74 for Fuel, and TWO payments of $36.28 to Walmart for a total of $139.10.  It then deducted the $60 value for the card and left me with a balance of $29.74 still on the card.  Using a spreadsheet I tried many combinations of the numbers and there is NO WAY to come up with $29.74.

I checked my paper receipts.... I actually only spent $41.34 for fuel, and $23.80 at Ace.  So.... how can you start with $60, spend $65.14 and still have a balance of $29.74?  And why did the card pay the whole amount at ACE when the sale exceeded the limit?

How is it that their records show $139.10 of purchases when in reality, the card was rejected?  I tried the card again today at an auto parts store and it worked fine, and asked for the PIN and since I was buying more that $29.74, I had to pay the balance with another card.

Is this just "New Math?"  Hmmm.  I think I figured it out.  The company that owns this card is probably owned by Dominion, the company that makes voting machines.  It is very plain to see why you should not trust a computer to count your votes for the most important office in the world.  Also, you should also never go to Vegas and play "video poker" against a computer.

Shopping today.  We headed out to Walmart in our Jeep.  About a block from home, we encountered an old Russian man standing by his big tricycle looking rather lost.  We stopped and asked if he needed help.  Of course he could not speak English but he pointed to his tricycle chain.  It was off so he could not ride.  He was also so feeble, or tired that he could not bend over to fix it or push the trike either.  I got out and fixed his chain then helped him back on the trike.  He was grateful and pedaled off toward home.

Average crowd at Walmart.  Being a rebel, I wore a mask to get in the door, but once inside, I took it off and put it in my pocket.

This afternoon I finished up a quilt that I have been working on with at "Cat" theme. 

We went for a walk this morning and one of the neighborhood streets was so trashy that Susie wanted to come back with the car and clean it up.  So we got some gloves and some trash bags and headed out.  Did the job in short order.

This afternoon I spent a lot of time welding up an Owl.  It is made out of a shovel, 2 lower ball joints from my Jeep, some curved metal from a shelf bracket, and some RR jamb washers.  It turned out pretty nice.  I found out that it is hard to weld a ball joint onto a shovel.

Tonight I spent all evening trying to order custom tee shirts online.  It ain't easy.  Not if you want a his and hers match that is NOT unisex.  Female Tee's must be fitted not just a potato sack with a logo.  Then you have to match color, font, design, etc.  When you finally go to purchase, then the surprises hit.  Amazing how it goes from $12.95 to $24.95.  That was 3 hours spent.... not very well.

Christmas Decorations

Today we finished up placing out all the Christmas Decorations including the large nativity scene in the living room.  I decided to change out the standard light bulbs that are in each piece and replace them with new LED bulbs from Ace Hardware.  That was an expensive quest....$22 bucks for 6 bulbs.....yikes.

It was sunny for a short while today so I used a bit of that time to paint a couple of welded "Ants" that I had made out of some wire and large RR bolts.

We had some soup for supper and I played D2 this evening while listening to an audio book.

Change your mind about Repentance

They are out there. You see them now and then if you are watching. I’m referring to people

carrying signs about repentance. Is that what God wants us to do....

carry a sign?

I rarely use the word repent because traditionally it has come to mean to “turn from sin.”

Repentance is absolutely necessary for salvation . Luke 24:47 says, “repentance for

forgivness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations.” (NASB) But does it mean

“turn from sin?” If it does, then how many sins would one have to turn from to be saved?

Some? Most? All? Maybe only the sins you know about? How do you turn from something

that is inside of you? That is where sins dwells (Romans 7:20).

If you say that the word repent always means to turn from sin, then you will have a problem

in the Old Testament because you will find that God often repents. (Genesis 6:6 KJV) Does

that mean he turns from sin? No. God is not a sinner.

In the New Testament there are 3 Greek words that are translated repent or repentance,

metanoeo, metanoia, and metamelomai. The basic meaning of all three words is to “change

your mind,” to think differently. You must look closely at how the word is used in its context

to determine the precise meaning of each use.

To be saved, a person must change their mind about what they were trusting in previously

and trust only in Jesus Christ to save them. To believe in Christ means to realize that Jesus

paid for all your sins on the cross and rose again. Believing always involves a change of

mind, that is why it is not necessary to actually say the word “repent” when you tell someone

the gospel. It is included in believing. The stated purpose of the Gospel of John is to produce

faith in those that read it. (John 20:31) Yet, the Gospel of John does not contain the word

“repent”, not even once. That makes perfect sense if the word repent means to “change

your mind.”

If you are honest, you will admit that you have not really turned from ALL your sin. If turning

from it were a requirement for salvation, all would surely be lost. Sin, to one degree or

another, will be right there inside of you until the day you die. (Romans 7:24) Part of our

daily warfare as a Christian is to resist it, turn from it, flee from it, overcome it, and not yield

to it. It is a battle.

When God “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30), He is not telling them

to turn from sin, He is telling them to change their mind and trust in Christ to receive eternal

life.