THANKSGIVING EVE HODGEPODGE!

     Here it is, another Thanksgiving Day is upon us. I hope that everyone has a wonderful day with family and friends. We are a blessed people and I thank God for everyone one of His blessings. One of those blessings is Joyce's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Each week she comes up with challenging questions that forces us to think. Thank you Joyce! Please enjoy this week's edition.

1. Besides U.S. Thanksgiving, it's also National Game and Puzzle Week...what game have you played most recently, and who were you with? Have you worked a puzzle of any kind in the past week?

     I can't remember the last time that I played a game. However, I regularly work Crossword Puzzles and Word Jumbles.

2. What is one place you were thankful for this year?
     This year, and every year, I am thankful for my home. SWMBO has made it a place where I yearn to get back to whenever I am away. It is truly a refuge from the world, our little island of love, joy and contentment.

3. Take a nap, watch football, go for an after dinner walk, or hit the stores...which ONE is on your must-do list for Thanksgiving day? For those of you playing along who aren't in the US, answer as it relates to any big holiday meal.

     It's not a must do but watching a football game and/or playing some sort of game such as "Apples to Apples" or a favorite board game is usually on the agenda.

4. Besides Thanksgiving, what's your favorite home cooked meal?

     I have a few favorites. I do love "Shepherds Pie," also known as "Chinese Pie." 

5. What product from an infomercial would you most like to own?

     I've got nothing! Cannot think of an infomercial much less what they were hawking!

6. Christmas shopping? Have you begun? Finished? Will you shop on Black Friday? How do you feel about stores opening on Thanksgiving Day? What percentage of your Christmas shopping is done online?

     As the founding member of the Ebenezer Scrooge Admiration Society (E.S.A.S) I would lose my lofty position in the society if I were to even think about doing ANY Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving Day. I will not shop on Black Friday...that's just nuts! I think it's inappropriate for stores to open on Thanksgiving. As far as online shopping goes, SWMBO and I do about half online, sometimes a little less than half other times a little more than half.

7. What are you most grateful for that adds beauty to your everyday life?

     I am very grateful for the gift of music. I love playing my guitar. I love jamming with like minded friends. I enjoy watching documentaries about the behind-the-scenes story of how songs are written and records are made. Case in point would be Dave Groh's "Foo Fighters Sonic Highway" currently showing on HBO. 
     Groh is the front man for the rock group The Foo Fighters and he and the band travelled to various recording studios around the country telling the stories and history of these studios and recording a song at each of them for their album "Sonic Highways." 
     There is also Classical Music, Country Music and various instrumentals that enrich our lives.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

     In my introductory remarks above I alluded to the fact that we Americans are a blessed people. We sing a song at church called "Count Your Blessings!" It urges us that when the storms of life are tossing us about we should count our many blessings and that we will be surprised at how we have been blessed. 
     I urge all of you to think about how you are blessed. Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have a job? Do you have family? Do you have clothes on your back? Do you have food to eat?
     Are you a Christian? If you are, the Book of Ephesians tells you that you have every spiritual blessing in Christ. You already have it all! How cool is that.
     So I say    H A P P Y    T H A N K S G I V I N G!  Please remember to give thanks to God on that special day!

IS IT WEDNESDAY ALREADY? HODGEPODGE!

     It seems like just a week ago that it was Wednesday and time for another Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you Joyce for another set of thoughtful questions.

1. What's something you take for granted, that when you stop and think about it you feel truly grateful for?

    I suppose like most Americans I take the right to vote for granted. However, when I reflect upon other countries where people are not allowed to vote or who exercise their vote at great peril to their lives, I really appreciate the fact I get to vote secretly and that my little vote helps chart the future of this great nation. I like the fact that no one can tell me how to vote. 

2. The color brown-love it or no? What's your favorite shade of brown? Most loved something in your home or closet in a shade of brown?

     I like the color brown, I don't love it. We have some of the walls in our living room painted chocolate brown. I do not have a most loved something that is brown.

3. What's something you're looking forward to today?

     I'm looking forward to getting a delivery of heating oil and a delivery of a ton and a half of wood pellet fuel. SWMBO insists on being warm and I insist on pleasing SWMBO. The down side of the pellet delivery is that I have to find a place to stack the 75 forty-pound bags. I also had to move the 37 bags of pellets that the "Pellet Fairy" delivered a couple of weeks ago from the garage to inside the house to make room for the delivery later today.

4. The word 'feminism' is not new, but it has been generating all kinds of headlines in recent days and months. What do you think/feel when you hear the word? If you're a woman, do you want to be described as a feminist? Why or why not?

     I get mixed feelings when I hear the word "feminism." I believe that people should receive equal pay for equal work regardless of sex. A woman who has equivalent training, ability and experience should receive the same salary as a man. Sex should not matter. 
     The problem I have with some feminists is that they treat common courtesy as an insult. They resent a man opening a door for them or complimenting them on their appearance or giving up their seat for them. I find that aspect of feminism distasteful. I was raised to treat everyone with respect and courtesy, especially women. 

5. What's something you personally can't eat without making a mess?

     Anything with sauce! I cannot eat anything with sauce without getting some on my clothes. I often joke that I don't need a napkin when I eat, I need a drop cloth.

6. When did you last surprise someone with a little gift or when were you last surprised by someone with a little gift? What was it?

     SWMBO loves my meat stuffing. Saturday, SWMBO had to teach a pet first aid class and while she was at work I made six pounds of the stuff. She also had an eye appointment. When she pulled into the driveway to pick me up I met her with a steaming bowl of my stuffing. She was pleasantly surprised! 
     I was surprised by a delivery of a few bags of wood pellet fuel by the aforementioned Pellet Fairy a couple of weeks ago.

7. Share a favorite quote, saying, song lyric or scripture relating to gratitude.

     "I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well."    (Psalms 139:14)

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

     When I was stationed in merry ole England back in the mid-1970's with the U.S. Air Force it was really boring working third shift. The mission of the base where I was stationed was to essentially keep the lights on. If war in Europe broke out a wing of aircraft would fly into the base and operate from there.
     One of the things that annoyed our superiors was when out of boredom we would clown around on the radio. They said that it was childish and extremely unprofessional or some such nonsense. A couple of classic "Unauthorized Transmissions" are as follows...
    
POETRY  
     Patrol 1: Eeny meeny miney mo how do you read my radio?

     Dispatcher: Fee Fie Foe Fum, loud and clear with a little hum!

Here's another classic....

SCIENCE FICTION
      Patrol 1: Kirk to Enterprise, Beam me aboard!

      Dispatcher: Roger that Kirk, what size board is it that you require?

MENTAL HEALTH
     Patrol 1: I'm going crazy!

     Dispatcher: Who is this? What is your call sign?

     Patrol 1: I'm not that crazy!

POST ELECTION RECOVERY HODGEPODGE!

     It has been a week since the mid-term elections. Have you recovered? Do you miss the incessant campaign ads? Are you pleased with the results?
    Today the Wednesday Hodgepodge makes a return from its brief hiatus. Thank you Joyce for another round of thought provoking questions. If you enjoy the Wednesday Hodgepodge I encourage you to join in and participate yourself. You just might learn something about yourself. No on to this weeks questions!

1. We celebrate Veteran's Day in the US of A on November 11th. When did you last interact with a member of the armed forces (either currently serving or retired)? Have you ever written a letter to a soldier, bought a meal or coffee for a solider, said an unprompted thank you to a soldier you encountered out and about somewhere? If you're not in the US, comment on a similar holiday in your own country.
     I have a few Facebook friends who are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Services. We interact on a regular basis.

2. You can have fifty pounds of anything at all (except money)...what would you choose?
     What a great question.  I have no idea what I would want in real life. So for the purposes of the Hodgepodge I would choose 50 pounds of DVD's. I would take the full seasons of all my favorite shows and favorite movies.

3. When did you last receive an invitation in the 'real' mail? What was it for and did you attend? When it comes to RSVP-ing, are you an 'early responder' or a 'last minute, barely-under-the-wire' kind of guest?
     I am an incorrigible procrastinator so I'm a just under the wire kind of guest.

4. What's something you really don't like to waste?
     Ammunition! It's too expensive to waste! One shot-one kill, that's the cost effective way to do things. Ask any professional hit-man and they'll tell you that it's true.
      All kidding aside, I hate wasting time and effort. I hate spending hours working on a project to have it go for naught!

5. Cheers, Friends, MASH, Seinfeld...of the ones listed, your favorite long-running sitcom?
    I'll go with Friends. It's silly entertainment without any subtle political propaganda, just plain old fun and humor.

6. What decision are you glad you made?
     My three best decisions are, in order of importance, (1) Obeying the Gospel, (2) Marrying SWMBO and (3) Retiring from law enforcement.

7. In this month of 'Thanksgiving' what is one thing that's different today than it was a year ago that you're grateful for?
     I am grateful that SWMBO's cancer is further into remission and that she has more energy. I am thankful that the Stem Cell Transplant is off the table...for now!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
     Yesterday was Veteran's Day. Throughout our history men and women have sacrificed their personal preferences and donned our nation's uniform to defend our way of life. 
     Americans are a noble people. God has blessed us with men and women who have marched through hell to protect the weak, rescue the suffering and defend people who condemned them for their efforts.
     So as self serving as it may sound being a veteran myself, I thank all those fine Americans who have served in the Armed Forces of these United States.