A Christian Viewpoint

So Linda and I bought a brand-new computer about two weeks ago. And we picked it up at the beginning of the week. And it has been an agonizing and frustrating experience. The monitor would not work because we have the wrong cable. Three days later we finally get the cable. Then we find out the speakers will not work. Another day and a half of teeth grinding. And then we come to the point of loading new programs, well not new ones, but ones that I have loaded on my previous computer. Now I find that they can’t load, they can’t run, they can’t do anything. So what is a guy to do? The good news, is that at least some of the newer programs work.

Here is where it gets interesting. I also have to set up all the old e-mail accounts and bring them over to the new system. That has been another experience of frustration and grinding of teeth. It appears that all of my e-mail clients that are based at Christianmuse are not functioning. Oh we can get them but we have to use a browser, go online, and work using an inferior program. So I want to apologize to all our friends who have been sending us e-mails and not getting any responses. I am hoping to have this problem resolved soon.

So have patience with us, with me, as I learn how this new Windows 7 program works and how it changes the way I do things. Perhaps, in a month or two, I will begin to think that this is a wonderful computer and a wonderful program. But that certainly is not today.

God bless and have a beautiful weekend.

A month without a post? That is nothing new, though I am trying to get away from that and post more often. Reason I’m not?

Physically? A new back injury/muscle injury… stops me from walking because of a great deal of pain. An operation, slated and cancelled and slated again and done (took longer than expected before the bleeding stopped). Burns on legs… not healing as well as they should. Sores on feet… not improving and still painful. Sitting at the computer writing/surfing/playing… next to nothing at all… leg goes numb and then quickly becomes too painful to continue. Overall, hasn’t been a very good six weeks.

Spiritually? Doing pretty good. In fact this year has been the best one spiritually than any in the past two decades. Hmm… perhaps the enemy, not being able to get me spiritually, has decided to attack me physically? Now if I could get a word of knowledge about it that would be great.

Mentally? Caught between The Rock and a hard place. Thanks to Jesus I am not overwhelmed by the current difficulties. I do have a lot of empty time that I am having trouble filling with good things. The drugs I am on give me the slightest buzz so that time slips away a little easier/faster than normal.

Tomorrow I will do a post about a book I just finished reading. That will be done between a blood test at one hospital and an MRI at another. For today… it’s about me: the good (spiritually), the bad (mentally, though not that bad) and the ugly (physically).

Today was the day I went in to get surgery for a bladder stone. Nothing to eat after midnight. Nothing to drink after six in the morning. Go to the hospital hungry and thirsty. Get changed into the official garb. Lie back and answer a hundred questions for the third time.

Time to put in the intravenous line. A needle into the back of the hand… oops. A needle into the back of the hand… oops. Call over another nurse: a needle into the back of the hand… oops. Try the other hand, needle goes in, a hush comes over the nursing staff, hurray, they struck oil.

Now 9:30, time to sit back and wait for the operating room to open up at 10:30… 11:30… Wife wakes me up for my snoring is interfering with the electronics… 12:00… 12:30… Ah, here comes the doctor, “sorry Mr. Raymond, we have to postpone your operation for another day.”

Hmm… fully prayed up by friends and family and when the time comes there is no dance. So, grab something to drink, swallow some painkillers, eat a sandwich and let out an enormous burp that echoed down the hallways of the hospital. Got dressed and went home.

Should have guessed, April 1st, April Fools Day.

So much fun I think I will do this again… soon.

ps: My thanks to all those who prayed for me.

Sounds like all I had to do today was stay at home, sit by a cozy fire, relax in my easy chair with a hot cocoa in my hand. Not! A snow day for me is something that I dread. A blizzard no less. I can feel my back muscles stiffen in anticipation of the work to be done.

First, I like to pray before the storm gets to my house. You never know, God might have pity on this disabled frame of mine. Actually, they were saying 30 to 40 centimeters of snow to fall. God listens! I got less than half of that in my neighbourhood. Still, that is a significant amount of snow.

What makes it hard is that the snowplows come down Cannon and like to plow two lanes of roadway snow onto my meager little sidewalk. Five inches of loose snow ends up being 20 inches of packed snow and ice. Fortunately I survived. Then comes the walk to where we park the car. Again, about six inches but all of it loose. Quickly done, though having no place to throw the snow can be a challenge sometimes.

So I’m done? No! The plows come again, specially down the side street just before Linda comes home. Clean it up, again. Linda comes home I tell her to park across the street. I’ll park the car later. Hmmm… not before the plow comes down that side street again. Legs quivering and back shot, I use the back end of the car as a plow to get in. I’ll leave it for the next day.

The only thing that makes me feel good about the day? They were calling for a lot more snow than I got. For that I am thankful. Couldn’t have coped if God didn’t smile on my request.