STEAMY BACK TO SCHOOL HODGEPODGE!

     Well Labor Day has come and gone and that means that so has the Summer of 2014. However, apparently the Granite State did not get that memo because it was close to 90 degrees today with humidity in the mid to high 60% range. That's hot and sticky...very hot and very sticky. SWMBO is having a ball. She loves this type of weather and does not even have the common courtesy to "glow" just a little bit. Me, I'm "glowing" like a pig!
     Oh well, let's try and cool off by answering this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge questions. Thank you Joyce for this week's posers.

1.  What's something you wanted to do this summer that you never got around to actually doing?

     I would have liked to rent a cabin alongside a cool fresh mountain lake and spend a few days enjoying the beauty of lake living... Maybe next year.

2. Share a favorite memory of your own back -to-school days as a child.

     Favorite back-to-school memory? Really? You've got to be kidding! I hated to see the summer end. I always had lots of fun with my friends playing baseball, going fishing and playing all kinds of games throughout the summer. I lived just over a block from the Merrimack River where I had tons of adventures either by myself or with my group of friends. Favorite back-to-school memory? Sorry, not no way not now how!

3.  What's one chore or daily task you prefer doing 'old-school' ?

     There are no chores I liked doing...period! What part of "chores" do you not understand? If chores were enjoyable they wouldn't be called CHORES Just saying!

4.  Share something you've learned in life through the 'school of hard knocks'.

     Way back in 1971 I had a 1965 Chevrolet Bel Air with a small V-8 engine. Back in those days the distributor (That part of the engine that sent a spark to the cylinders to cause the gas to combust. Hence the name internal combustion engine.) had points which open and closed as the engine ran. Those points had to be gapped. Also there was a coil that sent about 15,000 volts through the gap to the cylinders. When you check the gap of the points it was important to make sure that the ignition with was in the "OFF" position. On one occasion the ignition switch was in the "ON' position. I proceeded to check the gap with a metal gauge designed for that purpose. I completed the circuit and received an electrical shock from the coil that caused my arm to go numb for about an hour. LESSON LEARNED! 
  

5.  As a child, did you mostly bring or buy your lunch for school? What was your favorite thing to find in your lunchbox?

     I usually brought my lunch and sometimes was given money to buy a carton of milk. I loved finding Hostess devil's food cup cakes with cream filling in my lunch bag. They made my day.

6. Football season is upon us which has me wondering... how big of a sports fan are you (not just football) ? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being 'I scream at the players through my television screen' and 1 being 'is knitting a sport?' where do you fall in fandom? 

     I like football. I'm about a 7 N.E. Patriots football fan which means I sometimes yell at the TV. I also watch Boston Bruins ice hockey. I'm about a 9 hockey fan. Which means I yell at the TV and sometimes at SWMBO. Finally, I am a baseball fan. I'm about a 5 or 6 Boston Red Sox fan which means I sometimes read a book or surf the Internet during games.

7. Share a favorite quote you think might inspire students of all ages at the start of a new school year.
     "A man learns to skate by staggering about making a fool of himself: indeed, he progresses in all things by making a fool of himself." Bernard Shaw In addition to the quote I would encourage the student to try new things knowing that everybody struggles at first but the effort to learn is worth the risk of making a fool of yourself.

8. Insert your own Random Thought here.
     Are you a Bible reader? Do you regularly open that wonderful and miracle Book and expose yourself to the wisdom, the comfort, the warnings to be found therein. I am amazed at the number of times that God tells us in the Bible to "fear not!" He says that we need not fear because we are His and there is no reason to fear. 
     "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. HIS mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is HIS faithfulness. The LORD is my portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in HIM" (Lamentations 3:22-24) The Prophet Jeremiah prophesied some terrible things that were going to befall the Jewish people. And yet he proclaimed this truth found in Chapter 3, verses 22-24 of his Book of Lamentations. God's love for us NEVER stops. HIS mercies NEVER comes to and end. They are NEW every morning. 
     So when the Bible says to "Fear Not" you can believe it because it is true! May God bless you this week!