I'll leave anything else for PMs, but I'll reply just this time for encouragement for others.
Horn usage? Every time I see a thread on which horn should I get, I think back on those mission trips. In the Philippines, it was used just as a polite way of saying, "I'm here.". No one used horns in Thailand, though the traffic was horrendous. They were the nicest mannered people I've ever seen behind the wheel of a vehicle. Tanzania and Kenya...well they didn't seem to use their horns much at all. Only in the US have I noticed horns being used, and it is invariably for vindictive revenge.
As for not getting hit...I think God sends angels to watch over me. The wreck on June 8th was the latest example of how I should've died. If you saw the pictures, you'd never believe anyone walked away from that. But I did...with God's grace. (or luck, if you don't believe in God)
At 11am, I was asked to go to a friend's home to talk with his 40 something year old son. He's a drug addict. Comes home once in awhile when things are seemingly bottomed out, then gets into an argument with his parents and walks out. I talked with him for awhile before he once again, walked out. Friday is a repeat of the bomb-cyclone event we just had. I wonder (and pray) if he'll come back again. I told him and his parents I'd talk with him any time.
It wasn't a one-sided situation. Just a thought for anyone reading this...I'd probably walk out on his mother too. She's a nice lady and well meaning. But gosh, she'd either drive someone crazy, or they'd learn to just blow her off. I'd tell her that, but I don't think she'd quit talking long enough to listen.
I did prison and jail ministry for 20+ years till the COVID lockdowns started. It seems like it has helped to prepare me for what I see today at the Damascus House. I'm floored, humbled, just blown away that anyone (God included) would ask me to do what I did today. If you'd asked me 40 or 50 years ago if my life would be like this, I'd say you were crazy. But as flawed as I am, it seems God uses me. Which is what I told the ER doc on June 8th when he said he's usually sewing up people's livers when they get into accidents like I had. And I just walked out of the hospital with no pain other than my foot from the foot surgery in March, months before.
We did just now get the power back on. My laptop battery was getting low. I was making plans to spend a few hours at the church (that has power) to recharge. My wife can tell you the number of hours and minutes we were out of power.)
It's good prep for surviving a disaster. If I can't last 24-72 hours without power...can I survive weeks without power? Just like we do a dry run on packing for a trip, this can be a dry run for going through a week or a month without power. I'm teaching my Life Group tomorrow on the parallels of the Jewish wedding traditions and Christianity in the New Testament. I think it is fascinating.
Thinking back on that situation in the intersection, I just find times like that "fun" or "exhilarating". In a car, everyone treats you like one of them...another pylon on the race to get wherever they want to go. It seems people give me a "safe zone" on the bike for the most part. I suppose it is a little respect for probably being the only crazy motorcycle rider out a few hours after the storm we had.
Regarding the storm. First, I don't want to diminish what the people in North Carolina experienced. I went outside several times from about 4 pm to 6 pm. I have 200+ foot trees in my neighbour's yard (south side where the winds usually come from) (and mine too on the north side). Hardly a breeze it seemed. I went in to play pinochle online with my daughter and my 97 yr old FIL. My internet connection started getting shaky. Hmmm...that was unusual. Especially with the winds I saw in the tree branches out my front door. That happened a couple times, and at about 7pm, the house went dark. Pitch black. That's what a bomb cyclone does I guess. The barometric pressure just collapses. And the "problem" was that the winds were circulating around so what we got was an easterly wind, not the normal southerly wind. Those branches have fallen off, but not those from the east. I had poo-poohed off the weatherman's warnings about the storm because if seemed so miniscule. But this time he/she/it/they were/was right. I've seen worse...but not recently.
And Friday is supposed to be a repeat. Same thing, only different.
I ride because of the fun...and the challenge in a world without challenges. What will I find on Friday???
Chris
Horn usage? Every time I see a thread on which horn should I get, I think back on those mission trips. In the Philippines, it was used just as a polite way of saying, "I'm here.". No one used horns in Thailand, though the traffic was horrendous. They were the nicest mannered people I've ever seen behind the wheel of a vehicle. Tanzania and Kenya...well they didn't seem to use their horns much at all. Only in the US have I noticed horns being used, and it is invariably for vindictive revenge.
As for not getting hit...I think God sends angels to watch over me. The wreck on June 8th was the latest example of how I should've died. If you saw the pictures, you'd never believe anyone walked away from that. But I did...with God's grace. (or luck, if you don't believe in God)
At 11am, I was asked to go to a friend's home to talk with his 40 something year old son. He's a drug addict. Comes home once in awhile when things are seemingly bottomed out, then gets into an argument with his parents and walks out. I talked with him for awhile before he once again, walked out. Friday is a repeat of the bomb-cyclone event we just had. I wonder (and pray) if he'll come back again. I told him and his parents I'd talk with him any time.
It wasn't a one-sided situation. Just a thought for anyone reading this...I'd probably walk out on his mother too. She's a nice lady and well meaning. But gosh, she'd either drive someone crazy, or they'd learn to just blow her off. I'd tell her that, but I don't think she'd quit talking long enough to listen.
I did prison and jail ministry for 20+ years till the COVID lockdowns started. It seems like it has helped to prepare me for what I see today at the Damascus House. I'm floored, humbled, just blown away that anyone (God included) would ask me to do what I did today. If you'd asked me 40 or 50 years ago if my life would be like this, I'd say you were crazy. But as flawed as I am, it seems God uses me. Which is what I told the ER doc on June 8th when he said he's usually sewing up people's livers when they get into accidents like I had. And I just walked out of the hospital with no pain other than my foot from the foot surgery in March, months before.
We did just now get the power back on. My laptop battery was getting low. I was making plans to spend a few hours at the church (that has power) to recharge. My wife can tell you the number of hours and minutes we were out of power.)
It's good prep for surviving a disaster. If I can't last 24-72 hours without power...can I survive weeks without power? Just like we do a dry run on packing for a trip, this can be a dry run for going through a week or a month without power. I'm teaching my Life Group tomorrow on the parallels of the Jewish wedding traditions and Christianity in the New Testament. I think it is fascinating.Thinking back on that situation in the intersection, I just find times like that "fun" or "exhilarating". In a car, everyone treats you like one of them...another pylon on the race to get wherever they want to go. It seems people give me a "safe zone" on the bike for the most part. I suppose it is a little respect for probably being the only crazy motorcycle rider out a few hours after the storm we had.
Regarding the storm. First, I don't want to diminish what the people in North Carolina experienced. I went outside several times from about 4 pm to 6 pm. I have 200+ foot trees in my neighbour's yard (south side where the winds usually come from) (and mine too on the north side). Hardly a breeze it seemed. I went in to play pinochle online with my daughter and my 97 yr old FIL. My internet connection started getting shaky. Hmmm...that was unusual. Especially with the winds I saw in the tree branches out my front door. That happened a couple times, and at about 7pm, the house went dark. Pitch black. That's what a bomb cyclone does I guess. The barometric pressure just collapses. And the "problem" was that the winds were circulating around so what we got was an easterly wind, not the normal southerly wind. Those branches have fallen off, but not those from the east. I had poo-poohed off the weatherman's warnings about the storm because if seemed so miniscule. But this time he/she/it/they were/was right. I've seen worse...but not recently.
And Friday is supposed to be a repeat. Same thing, only different.
I ride because of the fun...and the challenge in a world without challenges. What will I find on Friday???
Chris
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