Okay, I have to say this. The Negative Nellies and Nelsons (on all sides) are dragging me down.
Yes, the government in our country is in a mess. Yes, the National Debt is unsustainable. Yes, there are people who should be removed from office. Yes, the banking system is a mess. Yes, the swamp needs draining first, or nothing else can be done …. Wait a minute. What does that mean?
Are any of our problems really a surprise? Haven’t we been talking about them for years? Sometimes we need to take action to ameliorate part of the problems, and not expect that all of them will be fixed. Sometimes it’s a partial or a temporary fix. Sometimes we have to pick a target and shoot our best ammunition. Sometimes we have to perform triage.
In the case of the Obamacare Repeal/Replace issue, what is the best plan that we can actually get accomplished? Just because the Ryan plan failed, does that make President Trump or his advisors failures, as I have seen in comment sections lately?
All of us – all American citizens, including the elected officials that we support – are in the same boat. We have situations that exist, and that we have to work with, and can’t change, or (worse) pretend aren’t there. For example, Republicans don’t have 60 votes in the Senate, and their 52 votes are shaky, depending upon the matter at hand. Jeff Sessions was barely confirmed. Think about that for a minute. It took VP Pence to put him over the top. A good man like Jeff Sessions. Do you believe there are 50 votes to repeal the 60 vote threshold in order to repeal Obamacare? I suppose they could try that avenue. If they fail, then what?
There have been times in our country when it looked like all was lost. There have been times when we couldn’t see a way forward. We have been frightened, and depressed, and crestfallen. We have been hungry, and cold, and sick, and tired. Some of us even died, or lost loved ones.
There have been many crises in our history, and Americans have met them, dealt with them, and overcome, time after time, with help from God. Are we the ones who will fail? The ones who will give up?
Is it too much to ask for a bit of optimism? A bit of constructive thinking?
Optimism should never be underestimated.
In just a few years The United States of America will reach its 250th anniversary. George Washington called the American political ideal “The Great Experiment.” By 2026 will the Great Experiment have ended?
Ahhh thank you Stella for this post. Much needed 🙂
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Good, timely post, Stella.
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Well said and amen thank you.
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I am like you Stella…So tired…The media and many Americans seem to cheer any time Trump fails and Jeer anytime Trump does something good for America.
I was just coming over to post this comment . For those posting over on other sites have you noticed the new Anti Trump comeback.
Since we should not tolerate Illegals/Criminals in America, we are now not supposed to tolerate Trump since he is a criminal. Come on give me a f…ing break.
Look what Obama has turned America into.
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If President Trump and his People get anything done in this first year it will be a miracle
2 things to remember…
President Trump said he inherited a mess
And
Steve Bannon said they were uncovering a lot of corruption
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The swamp dwellers will not let the corruption see the light of day.
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Is there a drain big enough for DC
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I worked in the rental business and the answer is no. It would be like draining the Pacific Ocean!
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Cannot believe what some Americans have turned our country into.
Hey i take the blame too, but we all need to wake up.
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Those two facts are understatement.
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From general discussion comment today:
Have a MAGA day!
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Churchillian!
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How many battles has Trump lost, before?
He’s right.
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The last two years, I have spent most of my nights and days reading every news site I could find. I tried to fight the good fight for President Trump. I am totally worn out and tired of all the back stabbing and the false news. I am actually at the point where I don’t care about health care or anything else for that matter. I have had it with the mud slinging, the vicious attacks, the BS from both side of congress, and the out and out evil that is our government. I barely listen to any of it anymore and only read maybe two websites a day. This being the one site that renews my soul and I thank all of you.
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You must need the rest, shiloh. I’m happy that you find renewal here.
Sometimes I just do something that takes my mind off problems, like play a video game, or do a crossword puzzle. It helps.
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I am currently watching old Wild, Wild West videos on you tube.
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I have been watching the BBC series, Full Steam Ahead, on YouTube. I love documentary style programs like that.
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I will check it out. Thanks!
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There are hours of videos like this series. Others:
Wartime Farm (8 episodes) – WWII in Britain.
If Walls Could Talk (4 episodes) – history of the kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom.
Victorian Farm (6 episodes)
Edwardian Farm (12 episodes)
If you like history (especially British) anything by Lucy Worsley
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Love the BBC stuff just finished doing a Call the Midwives marathon…to catch up..
Its interesting the shows you find that you didn’t watch before when there is nothing on but blaming fake news.
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I love Call The Midwife too. Also, Home Fires. Both shows start new seasons this Sunday.
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cant wait for new season…I dropped the cord long ago
its netflix and hulu & any other few sites I can find
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NEW SEASONS???????
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Yes ….
I already saw Home Fires Season 2 on Acorn, but Acorn dropped it. There are no more seasons of Home Fires (it’s a really good show too.)
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{dancing around like a nut}
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Ooh, ooh, I am saving that list. 🙂
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There are Lone Ranger episodes on daily on some stations. Also, the complete Roy Rogers shows are not unreasonably priced for the hours of great viewing. I continually check sites for what’s on sale for DVD’s, then watch whenever I need a break from it all. I just wish there were more TV shows of this caliber in color instead of black & white. If anyone knows of any, please post. I would appreciate knowing. Thanks!
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I don’t have any television. Everything I watch is on you tube. Just search tv series from the decade you cant to watch. They also have just about every movie ever mead. Just takes a while to find them.
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I never knew that! Thanks! There are some funny movies I would like to see, but to pay $15-$40 for 1 movie is too much.
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A lot of YouTube is free, but they also have rentals at a reasonable price.
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I watch YouTube streaming on television.
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I’m not set up for that, so I watch on my desktop. I have a very large monitor.
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That works too!
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Archive.org offers freebies
of Books, Music, Movies
I favor the historical books that I use in genealogical research 🤓
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Thanks, I am always looking for more sources. I love history.
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Thanks for the link!
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The site has got great books for research. NY in the Revolution is one. I always say a blessing for the person who took the time to scan the book/pages in..hundred of pages and sometimes with multiple volumes to cover a state!
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For a modern take on the western watch Longmire. The books are great, and the series, though not identical to the books, is almost as good. Complete with the hero everyone expects in a western, and his sidekick, who happens to be Cheyenne.
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I liked Longmire, but got a little bored with it after they had killed off just about everybody in the local area 2 or 3 times. Okay, a little exaggerated, but it seemed that way. 🙄
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Hmm, we have a really different take on it.
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I have never been too interested in murder mysteries, with a few exceptions. I have to admit I fell in love with Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Longmire may be a little dark for me. And, I hate the Indian getting beat up so much.
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We LOVE Longmire! I’ve always thought Sheriff Longmire looks a little like George W. Bush.
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You and me both — been doing lots of binges…working on old Reba shows on Hula right now.
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Blue Bell Mint Chocolate Ice Cream….does it every time for me….if it doesn’t improve the spirits, the sugar hit makes me go to take a nap…..
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At first I thought it was perhaps only me that needed to look at fine paintings, recipes, and puppies. Guess it’s not. Our brains need calming. The opposition wants us stressed. Decompress – NOT Stress
Why worry when you can Pray!
😉
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I am back play an old old online mud game that I played in the late 90s to about 2006…
for some reason I was allowed and did freeze my character–so back to the game I go when I get too frustrated.
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Yes! I play freecell online, and have books of suduku. I hope by this summer or fall to start oil painting again. (Sigh wistful little smile)
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just can’t tolerate the news.
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Agreed! I always knew the news lied (at best by omission), but It dawned on me a few years ago when the FCC was voting on how much of a market one company could own that the “news” was not NEWS. They wait until the day before to report something (like the FCC public input), they lie, they are hysterical almost, but they never do the things they COULD DO TO STOP the thing they complain about. They do not want to stop it. They want ratings. As soon as I see this I stop watching that show – permanently. I almost never watch TV news/opinion shows now. I know more NEWS from the web than I ever did from “news”.
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I was a Hillary supported in 2008…Can’t believe I almost voted for her. Yuck but I did vote for McCain.
However, due to Hillary I now do more investigating now.
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It finally hit me over the head during the Justice Thomas hearings. I finally realized that they lie. I guess I was a sap before that.
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I have know they were all lying since the JFK assassination and I was only 9 at the time. It just never added up.
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There’s a game called “Crawl” that would blow many other old folks’ mind’s here.
Like mine. I have downloaded it, but… I donno if I wanna snort that coke.
https://crawl.develz.org/
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OH my Aardwolf is a mud game so of like warcraft but you type out everything & have to visualize everything in your head.
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It’s just sitting there on my desktop, saying, “Go on. Double-click me.”
Nope. Not gonna.
I just downloaded it for nostalgia… ah crap. See you all in a few weeks.
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Kidding. These games are crack cocaine.
They are designed to be that way, just like slot machines.
They sure are FUN THOUGH!
https://infogalactic.com/info/Operant_conditioning_chamber
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Read today Donkey Kong and MS Solitare made it into Game Hall of Fame. Some addictions can be fun, too…
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Elf Bowling…
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HAHAHAHAHA! 🙂
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At least they’re not in the middle of the road.
Czar, fist-bump.
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fed ex
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Even in a swamp there are lilies.
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Excellent – keep that one!
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I hate lilies… long story… 😦
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Sorry about that.
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Sold that house a while back… someone else’s problem now..
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Ok, I’m a bad, bad G&C I have to go back to work. Thanks for the youtube info and any other suggestions that may come up. Thank you Stella for this blog, and for your floral pictures, which I also find lovely and calming. Thank you to Stella and all the posters here who have made me feel so welcome, and for all your fun and informative posts. HAVE. TO. GET. WORK . DONE!
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All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl! Balance in all things, G&C. So glad you are hanging out here, check in periodically, ok?
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OK, I have just read the straw that breaks this camels back! I live in a very conservative county in Washington State. Our Sheriff came out publicly in full support of gun rights, so I thought we were ok here. Today he just posted on FB about a “scary” incident at a local school. Two you (as in grade school) students were caught (God Forbid) playing with a clear, broken soft gun at recess. The school went into lockdown, alerts were sent to parents and the cops responded post haste. Give me a friggin break! I’m sure he will not like my response. The last line of my response was “Gee, thanks for making a mountain out of a molehill”
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No criticism, but what is a “clear, broken soft gun”?
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It is a toy gun that cannot shoot bullets of any kind. It was also made of clear plastic, so obviously was not a real gun. It also did not work as it was broken. In other words a 1000 times less threatening than any toy gun we played with as kids.
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LOL And, probably less dangerous than a stick.
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It even had the orange tip signifying that it was not a real gun.
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I guess it wasn’t a muslim kid. I mean, look at clock boy. He got to go to the White House with a facsimile of a bomb briefcase. 🙄
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Not here it wasn’t. Just two red blooded American boys. 75% of this county has hunters that are nine and up. They are required to take a hunter safety class, which I agree with 100%, before they can get a hunting license.
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http://www.dunhamssports.com/products-page/airsoft-softair/
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Basically they make a lot of very realistic looking weapons that only fire soft rubber/foam pellets, instead of cold, hard lead. Lots of people play live action role playing games in the woods and stuff, like laser-tag all those years ago, or Paintball more recently.
Airsoft looks real as they can possibly make it, which has made cops shoot users of foam pellet shooting guns, because that is their priority when they see something pointed at them that looks like a real threat.
How Stupid America is becoming, and the rate at which it is, cannot be underestimated.
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This one was clear plastic and broken. It even had the orange tip on it. It was basically a kids toy as purchased. Not a mock Ar or Glock. It was a toy!
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ROCK!!!!
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Turn up your Bose 301s!!!!
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President Trump says not to worry. So don’t. #TrustTrump
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Yep.
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My father in law used to occasionally refer to sins against hope. Surely to give in to despair is such a thing. To give up is to be without faith and hope.
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Thank you. HOPE.
There is a reason Jews became the masters of comedy.
They were even singing in Bergen-Belsen.
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“They made a tremedous effort, which quite exhausted them…”
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There’s a reason they became the masters of survival too. If ever a people never give up, it must be the Jews.
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Wooly, I forgot to say how much I loved this recording. Thank you for posting it.
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I don’t mean to come across as a negative Nellie or Nelson, but I am fat.
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Even after the seven mile march?
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Heck yeah. It doesn’t go away overnight.
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Hey I do my part by eating half your breakfast.
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“Yeah, Look at me, I’m skinny.” — Greg “Shock G” Jacobs (AKA Humpty Hump)
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If anyone feels the spirit, and the need to pray, I am facing a difficult decision.
Wow, I actually found that.
I just received the three Bobby McFerrrin albums I ordered today.
Heh. Robert Sr. is his daddy.
So awesome. There are very few recordings of Bobby’s dad.
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That’s actually the first video of Robert Sr, that I’ve ever found.
I’m verklempt.
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The guy was the first renowned black opera singer.
I’ve heard audio, but never seen the dude. Until just now.
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I pray for you every night.
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Thx.
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🙏🏼
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Former Bossman (and everyone else in the restaurant) wants me back.
And it feels like running back to the old plantation, massa!
I could do it, too. Just gotta tell Bossman what’s up. I ain’t Kunta Kinte like I was for nine years, I’m just the guy that can do dishes like a pro, and prep, and fix your broke-a** plumbing.
Current job, which I love greatly, and whose people Iove greatly, offers me, now, about 20 hours a week. I could work both. I could work ten kitchens in this town, and dominate Dish and Prep, and be bored. But I don’t want to be Toby any more.
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Is he offering you more money? Does he value you? Has he learned anything? Is it good for your soul?
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Imagine working for a Last Name. Anyone with this Last Name can tell you what to do. Five of them. Even a 7 year old boy. “Yessir!” He was born 2 years after I was hired.
As I said. Difficult decision. On call for 9 years. 24/7.
And yet, I need the hours.
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Spent Thanksgiving at his house, or his dad’s or his brother’s, 8 times in 9 years.
Playing the part of Toby.
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You need the hours. But, you are saying you didn’t feel valued. That is important. Nobody deserves to look down on you for any reason.
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Can you get more hours at your new job? You said you could work anywhere so maybe someplace else? I don’t know Wooly it is your world.
Wish I could be more helpful.
Prayers for discernment.
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Last question: Yes.
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One out of four. Man, oh man.
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Is he offering you more money? Does he value you? Has he learned anything? Is it good for your soul?
You said that the only question that you could answer yes to was “Is it good for your soul?” It is good to remember that just because something is difficult, a chance to build character and humble yourself doesn’t mean that it necessarily always “good for your soul.”
Christ did not live a life of perpetual flagellation he enjoyed the company of his mother and earthly father, his disciples, he was happy to see Lazarus emerge from the tomb, he enjoyed the beauty of creation and the taste of fish fresh of the fire, he laughed and he loved.
Please don’t mistake perpetual subjugation of your will and not being valued as a person as good for your soul. We are a soul surrounded by flesh and bones with a mind and a heart that needs the nourishment of knowing that we are valued as human beings.
The word was made Flesh not only to save us but also to experience us.
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Lovely, that is such good advice!
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There is nothing insurmountable.
Didn’t you folks see the video of actual humans flying with wingsuits yesterday?
Nothing is impossible.
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True. But sometimes we choose not to surmount those problems. We each have to decide which path we want to take, which path we need to take. They are often not the same one.
It seems obvious to most here who have read your history with this man which choice you have already made in your head and heart. At least from your comments.
I’ll be praying for you. Prudence and fortitude.
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You’re in demand. You are worth MORE MONEY. Your decision should be made on which job makes you the most happy, and which offer comes closer to what you are worth with your expertise and work ethic.
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What she said. You won’t value yourself as much working for someone who doesn’t value you.
ADD: I decided not to continue working on a contract basis for my former employer for just this reason. They (my boss) didn’t offer me the money I was worth, and only offered me work that was the crap work that I hated (but that part is personal preference.) The work wasn’t unimportant, just crappy.
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when you work around crappy people, some of the stink is bound to stick to you too. change of pace, change of locations, change of companions, change of diet, change of jobs….but if you do the same ole stuff with the same ole expectations the same ole way, you are going to feel pretty much crazy all the time….best of luck…you alone have THE POWER of reality for yourself.
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To all of the Survivors here on Stellas Place and Next Door…
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😀
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Speaking of books and art, this is what some talented used book store employees do in their down time.
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Good book, too!
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And a positive Nelson, one of Willie’s new songs has been released but I can’t find it on YouTube yet so I hope this link works.
From Willie’s soon to be released album “God’s Problem Child”
[video src="https://secure-h264-aws.vevo.com/v3/h264/2017/03/USSM21700284/e22b3f4e-6da5-40cf-af65-d102baf70347/ussm21700284_high_1280x720_h264_2000_aac_128.mp4" /]
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One more try. If nothing else you can copy and paste this link;
[video src="https://secure-h264-aws.vevo.com/v3/h264/2017/03/USSM21700284/e22b3f4e-6da5-40cf-af65-d102baf70347/ussm21700284_high_1280x720_h264_2000_aac_128.mp4" /]
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A new song I just love. 🙂
I have a question. Will we be able to tell when Willie Nelson’s voice gets old sounding and weak? 😕
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Sure it will probably get raspy 😜. One of the songs on his new CD is “Not Dead Yet” ❤️
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(I was just being a smart a$$)
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I know I was trying to be funny in my response 🙄.
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