Modern Day Daniel

One of my favorite people in the Old Testament is Daniel. As you remember when Jerusalem was invaded by the Babylonians - see Nebuchadnezzar - they had several goals. One of course was to lay waste to Jerusalem.....which happened over and over again. But Nebuchadnezzar, no flies on him, had another goal. Instead of just invading and taking any 'ole thing, the edict was to find "Children in who was no blemish but well favoured, and skillful in all wisdom and cunning in knowledge and understand science and such as had ability in them to stand in the King's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans." Nebuchadnezzar wasn't just any Babylonian, he was a Babylonian with a clear goal. Take slaves, but take smart ones. He had a city to build....with hanging gardens....remember?

So enter Daniel, one of the greatest in the Old Testament and his three friends. Their names were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.....we know them better by their Babylonian names, Daniel was renamed Belteshazzar, and then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. The king provided for them a daily portion of the King's meat and wine. He did that because he thought it would be the best for them...the King decided what was best for them, very important point...... However these young men would not eat the meat nor drink the wine, they had been given a strict law about what food they could eat...and they wanted to follow what they had been taught. They wanted grain....and no matter what the King wanted they were not going to go against the covenant they made.

These young men followed God not the King.....in the end they were brought before the King and their health was ten times better than the magicians and astrologers who had followed the King...

Now why am I bringing up this story....a great story.....but why?

We are living it today.

There is a mandate (a mandate is something you are forced to do) in Obamacare that contraception must be provided by every health insurance provider. Seems benign, most women use contraceptives. But here is the problem. President Obama is telling Catholics they must provide contraceptives. Must....you must. It does not matter that your religion forbids it.....you must. And it does not matter that most Catholic women use contraceptives. What matters is our government telling a religion that they must obey President Obama and not the God they worship. The military would not allow Priests to read the letter from the Catholic hierarchy over the pulpit 2 weeks ago furthering the perception of denying free speech. Sorry Catholic hospitals, built with Catholic money donated by Catholics....we the government tell you what you can do with the tenants of your religion.

Nebuchadnezzar would be so proud.

It doesn't matter if you are Catholic or not, this is a shot over the bow for all people of faith. ....this administration is telling us that the government is to be bowed to....the government is the last word...they know best.

Oh really?

Push back? You ain't seen nothing yet.

Stevie Nicks would do it...

As you know Stevie Nicks is the patron saint of my blog.....the reason is very simple......she was in the background of my youth. When I was young I didn't worry about much of anything....I kept life very simple.....tan, work, play tennis, dance, sleep.....simple.

And Stevie Nicks approved. She could twirl out on a stage in a beautiful black dress, long blonde hair and great music....and we all felt pretty.

I am not having a mid life crisis....but I miss that Donna sometimes....she was a lot of fun. And by the way, she was always late too......so not everything changes.

I have to remember that once upon a time I had fun.....We all need to remember that. So dance to Motown today! Lip sync your absolute favorite high school song....call up a friend who knew you when you had a waistline and laugh about the one that got away. Relive some harmless pranks.....and just laugh!!




Best Medicine.....Stevie Nicks would do it.

A little of this, a little of that

Caucus, Superbowl, Ashleigh's lawsuit.....where do I start?

First Nevada's caucus.......simple. We had a great leader of our little precinct. No confusion, no problems....there are 500 people in our precinct, 47 bold souls showed up. We elected a delegate.....then we listened to folks speak about their favorite candidate. Every person who spoke represented their candidate well. Oddly enough their personalities were just like the candidate they chose to represent. The Newt Gingrich supporter was direct and to the point. The Ron Paul supporter was passionate about liberty......the Santorum supporter was the weakest. She was simply against Mitt Romney. I wished Santorum had a better speaker....and then several folks stood up for Mitt, plain spoken and to the point. I was thrilled only one was Mormon. And they all had good reasons......We were home by 11....I am a good American. I feel strongly that the presidential race is important....but Barbara Bush was right when she told a group of U.S. college students, "Your success as a family—our success as a society—depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens at your house." So no matter what occurs.....rock your house. Block the contention...hug your family.
Results? Santorum 2 Ron Paul 8, Newt Gingrich 12 and Mitt 25.....almost exactly how the rest of the state went. There are some voter problems in our fair state.....welcome to 2012....I don't think Nevada will Caucus ever again....primary next time, please?

Since my husband and children are Giants fans.....the superbowl was great fun....loved the catch made.....I love it when professional athletes look like professionals. And although not a fan of Madonna, I totally want to grow out my hair and dance more....she was doing cartwheels!!

Ashleigh's lawsuit.....5 years ago (count it 1 2 3 4 5 years ago) She got stuck in a traffic jam on the freeway. Stop and go.....and the woman in front of her stopped too short and Ashleigh ran into her. She was going 5 miles an hour. No damage to Ashleigh's jeep....but the woman she plowed into at such a high rate of speed was severely hurt......NOT. Our insurance company investigated her had pictures and everything, she went bankrupt during this time, Ashleigh went through 3 attorneys in this ridiculous journey.....the woman has 4 other cases, none of which can come out in trial....and Ashleigh lost. The jury, and heaven help us if this represents America, didn't even blink.....gave her every penny. The judge even said when the jury left that the woman would get every penny. How about that blind justice? Unless you have been sued you cannot know how it feels. This won't affect Ashleigh except in much higher premiums, but seriously? You do realize people can sue you for any reason at any time....right? When we were being sued people would say all the time, " drop the case." Are you kidding? Once the suing starts you are in for the ride until it is over. Our lawsuits.......there were 3, were soul wrenching. We survived, family and marriage intact, but the people who sued us have shredded lives. I think putting people through that kind of pain damages you in ways you cannot know. I will never do that to another person.

On to a new week.....a great week ahead.....

PayPal or PayEnemy?

Napoleon is credited with saying that an army moves on its stomach.....I think I will be known for the saying....."I move forward on the velocity of my mistakes."

At an age that my mother was quietly winding down I find I am ramping up. And it is disconcerting. Learning the computer is not a sweet little hobby so that I can organize pictures and keep up with old friends....it is the keeper of my business, my bills and my money.

And you need to know I have been measured and I have been found wanting.

The other day I received a payment for services rendered through Paypal. At first I was upset at the enormous charge for simply using Paypal to funnel money from one source to my personal bank account. But then I was annoyed at how long it took for the money to go from my Paypal account to my bank......one day, then another day....3 days? I called and found out I have to request Paypal to send the money to my bank account. I had used it in the past and never needed to do that. But if I was more savvy to the world of commerce I would have suspected it.

One button, just that one request.....and the money was on the way. But according to the brain trust at Paypal it would take another 3 to 4 days. In my ignorance I had added almost a week to the process. Lesson learned, it won't happen again.....but how many other land mines are ahead for my very unprepared self?

A few years ago I was doing some geneology at the family history library. I approached a volunteer worker there with a problem. After we discussed it and I was still unclear she looked me straight in the face and sternly said, "Sister I am 87 years old and I am learning the computer....we are not going backward.....learn the computer!"

What have you learned to do? What mistake have you made that we can learn from?