Siege of Dome

I have just completed the finale of the two-part Empryion series by author Stephen Lawhead, entitled The Siege of Dome. While I enjoyed the first part of the story (see The Search for Fierra), I had a few criticisms with its basic development and its foundations. But this part of the story was crafted with much more crispness and attention to detail. I really enjoyed this one and was pleased that I picked these books up.

At the end of The Search for Fierra, our intrepid lost crew of fugitives from Earth led by historian Orion Treet, had found the fabled city of Fierra. In contrast to Dome, Fierra is an absolute paradise and its people lovely, vibrant, cultured, and giving. Unlike the paranoia and power struggles rampant in Dome, Fierra is a completely open society that has known peace for more than a millenium. However, only Orion Treet truly understands the history of the Fierra people and why their civilization grew on the far side of a vast, uninhabitable desert, leagues from the original Dome colony. It is this dark and deadly history that is threatening to repeat itself that he is desperately trying to avert. It is also the reason why he feels so compelled to return to Dome to do what he can, a return trip that he ultimately makes without Fieri assistance.

The story then flashes back and forth between the worlds of Dome and Fierra. Dome is quickly crumbling from within even as it moves to destroy the Fieri. Treet is working with the resistance to help topple the meglomaniacs leading the government and to stem the tide of hostilities. Back in Fierra, the people are taking their ease and living their lives as they have for centuries. The comparison of the two realities could not be more opposed. Will the resistance survive to
stop the threat? Will the Fieri leaders, now that they have understood the danger that their people and their world are in, commit to end the evil in the land? Good story-telling, a unique perspective, and well-played message make this one worthwhile.

Observations 6

My occasional blog series "Observations" was created to be an outlet to share a variety of topics that pop into my field of view as a result of a condition that many bloggers are afflicted with known as "blogger's eyes". In this state we view the world on the constant look-out for topics on which to write about. Thus we see everything from a different perspective and with different purpose than normal folks.

Today's blog came about from random odds 'n ends of things that I have noticed over the past few weeks.

• A bearded dude who I shall refer to as Stephen, told me about a real book entitled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The book description contains the awesome line, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read." Classic.
  
• I have collected the fluff from my dryer's lint trap from the past 4 years in a bag in my laundry area.
  
• I have found it is so much easier to get motivated to cook a nice dinner for someone else than for myself. The same dishes also taste much better when I share them with others.
  
• Working in my office on a Saturday or Sunday has a noticeably different feel to it, not because there is nobody around, but because I struggle to maintain concentration. It's like my body and mind are rebelling because they think that I am cheating them out of their rest.
  
• My office walls are covered in artwork that my daughter made for me when she was very young. Nobody that I know from work who has kids has anything on display in their office. I wonder when I am supposed to take it all down.
  

Lockdown

Because I work at a facility managed by the U.S. government, they have a number of basic security protocols in place. One of which is a contingent of guards that can regularly be seen cruising about the site. However, the other day when I came to work, the security detail had noticeably increased in size and presence. There were guards stationed at every roadway entrance and city police cruisers were parked in front of our main office complex. The normal building entrances were all locked and we were made to enter only through a single door. It was a bit of a surreal scene.

I soon found out that the increased security force and police presence was caused by a fired worker who had apparently made convincing threats about killing the people who were responsible for his plight. It seems that they have not yet caught up with this person as the site lockdown has been going on for more than a week now.

Yet even though I realize that the increased attention to monitoring the personnel on site is for my own good, I cannot help but remain in a heightened sense of alert. Not because I fear for my safety, but because I have the sense that if I make one little slip up, I will be arrested. I have been particularly careful to come to a full and complete stop at all stop signs and to be especially mindful of the speed limit postings. If I have to walk or drive past one of the sentries, I make sure that I do not make eye contact and I try not to draw suspicion to myself. It feels a lot like the mindset of a motorist driving past a parked police car. Regardless of how fast they are going, folks always seem to subconsciously slow their car even further for fear of the man.

Mr. Nightingale

I have historically been a pretty bad patient. Grumpy, sullen, needy, theatrical. Recently, however, I had to learn an important lesson regarding the role of a caregiver. My education took place during a weekend when I was charged with caring for my daughter who was afflicted with some combination of strep throat and/or a bad cold.

Certainly I started out with the best of intentions and a servant-minded attitude. On the Friday evening before I picked my daughter up, I went to the grocery store and bought some treats that she would like and planned some dinners that would taste good to her. After we got home on Saturday morning, I set my daughter up on the couch and covered her with a soft blanket. I placed a glass of her favorite juice, some throat lozenges, and a new box of tissues on the table next to her. We then watched a few T.V. programs before I made our lunch. As the afternoon went on, it was clear that my daughter was more than content just to lay on the couch and rest in front of the T.V.. I found myself starting to get bored and I kind of dozed off. This is something that I don't like to do when I am with my daughter because I would much rather be doing something active and engaging in our time together. By the late afternoon, I was not only starting to climb the walls, but the sicker my daughter got, the more I started worrying about catching whatever she had. After I put my daughter to bed on Saturday, I kind of moped and stewed about for a few hours feeling like I got cheated out of a perfectly good day.

On Sunday, we basically replayed the day before. At 5:30 p.m. when we normally leave for church, I asked my daughter if she felt up to going. She didn't say no but looked at me with her puffy face, red nose, and glassy eyes. Even though I knew that she was quite sick and felt like crap, I felt frustration and anger beginning to bubble up inside me. I walked into the kitchen and took about 10 seconds to regroup and remember who the patient was and to put away my selfish attitude. Tenderness, compassion, and a spirit infused with TLC then washed over me. Once I re-focused my mind, I think that I did much better for the rest of evening.

Biscuit Lesson

When my daughter was very young, she loved for me to read to her. There were several books that we came back to time and again because she so cherished the pictures and the story. One of her favorites was about a cute yellow puppy named Biscuit. In no time she had fully memorized the book and what each page contained. She would then pretend to read to me, by saying the words and turning each page after she had recited the words present there. To a casual observer, it really did seem that she was actually reading the book.

My life as a Christian sometimes feels to me very similar. I go to church each Sunday and sing the songs, listen to the sermon, and give an offering. To the casual observer, it might seem that I am a sure-footed, put together follower of Jesus Christ. Yet all too often I feel completely powerless when it comes to sharing my faith with others. It seems like I just never have an opportunity, or more likely, I am so absorbed with my own issues that I miss the few opportunities that come my way.

Yet just when I feel like an inert and impotent believer, keeping to myself and living my faith in solitude, something happens to me that helps awaken me and energize my spirit a bit. The other day at work I spoke to a new colleague about my faith and it brought him noticeably out of his shell. Later in that same afternoon, I gave counsel to a young colleague of mine who is struggling badly in his new marriage. It felt good to finally be able to make even a small difference in people's lives, not to just look like a Christian going through the expected motions on Sundays at my church.

Search for Fierra

I have just finished reading The Search for Fierra, the first book of the two-part Empryion series, by author Stephen Lawhead. My biggest issue with this science fiction yarn was the lack of sufficient development of the main characters. Lawhead typically has a deft touch when crafting backstories and personalities, a part of the author's craft that is essential so that the inter-relationships of the characters and their actions are fully motivated and, ultimately, appreciated. It is this development that leads to "real" people that fully engage you into the narrative and the setting. I think that Lawhead fell noticeably short of the high standard that he typically achieves in this regard. But with this stated, I still very much enjoyed this tale.

The story involves a historian named Orion Treet who is recruited by the chairman of the Cynetics corporation to travel to a distant outpost that has been established on a planet called Empryion. The reasons why Orion is so sought after for this trip and why a colony on a planet some 10 light years from Earth would make any fiscal sense for a private corporation is never fully made clear. Ultimately, we learn that contact with the outpost was lost very shortly after the settlers landed and that the discovery of an apparently unstable wormhole by the Cynetics folks is what makes the trip possible in a finite time period.

Upon passage through the wormhole, the small ship with its captain and three passengers lands on the planet. To their great surprise, they find a vast domed city that could not have been erected by the settlers in the short period of time that they had allegedly been on Empryion. However, the people that they encounter are clearly humans, yet their history extends back over three thousand years. Furthermore, the travelers are treated as dangerous spies from a land called Fierra that most folks believe to be the stuff of legends. The appearance of the outsiders and their clearly advanced spaceship, causes the leadership of Dome to believe that the Fieri have developed new technology that will lead to their destruction. In the frenzied environment of paranoia, the travelers flee Dome and cross a vast desert in search of the fabled city of Fierra. Their mission is not just to seek sanctuary, but to seek help to save all of Empryion. Now, onto the finale, The Siege of Dome.

iTunes Latest - 6

Back in December of 2011, I finally discovered iTunes on my Mac. This service has really helped me to reconnect with my love of music. One of the things that I really like about music is that so often a given song has a strong association with a time or with a moment in my life. So, I thought that I would share my latest five downloads and a bit about my history with each song.

• God's Not Dead - Newsboys (2011) - I learned about this song when Stephen Haggerty sung it at my church. While his version is better than the original, which relies far too much on post-production layering and chicanery, I still enjoy its message and spirit of strength.
  
• Lay Me Down - Passion (2012) - Another song introduced to me by Stephen Haggerty. The version released by Passion sounds like the singer is using a tin can for a microphone. But this is still a good, positive song that gets my feet a tappin'.
  
• Thy Word - Amy Grant (1993) - I first heard this song based on Psalm 119:105 a few years ago at my old church. It is a beautiful piece that really is a wonderful piece of worship.
  
• Faith - Celine Dion (2003) - I think that the size of her hair-do on most of her albums is well past the comical stage and I would love to introduce her to a real drum kit instead of the soul-less synthesizer pap. However, this song is a gem from her 2003 One Heart album. Soaring and beautiful.
  
• Top of the World - Mitchel Musso (2010) - I almost did not post this one because I know you will all point and laugh. Well point and laugh away, cause this auto-tuned theme song from Disney's Pair of Kings T.V. show is infectious and I really pick up the pace on my elliptical when it comes on.
  

Unstable Equilibrium

In one of the deepest valleys of my life, I found counsel, a listening ear, and a sympathetic heart from a colleague of mine. We spent quite some hours talking and praying together. It was at that time that I transferred to a new job in a different state to help move on with my life. With the passage of years, those old wounds have scarred over and I have found some sort of new equilibrium. I have found that this equilibrium is fairly tenuous, and it doesn't take too much to drive me into a state of lingering anxiety, depression, negativity, and despair.

My usual motus operandi is to quickly lose contact with folks after a move, but in the case of my old colleague, I felt separation of any connection with the past and those old wounds was best for me. Thus I have had very little contact with him over the last few years. In fact, the last time that I saw him was about 3 years ago when he traveled to the lab where I work to give a lecture. During his visit we had lunch and chatted for a few hours, yet because we parted when my life was in tatters and this was his last point of reference for our relationship, he returned to that same point. In truth, I did not enjoy the lunch very much because he wanted to talk about things that still caused me pain. The last thing that I wanted to do was talk about the past and rekindle its presence in my mind.

A few weeks ago, my old colleague visited my lab again to attend a multi-day workshop. I knew that he would try to seek me out to say hello and "catch up". When I knew that he would be attending, I stayed far away from any place where I was likely to run into him. I had to protect myself and guard my heart and mind.

Succubus

I wanted to share with you a bit of the flavor of my most recent visit to the dentist for my semi-annual teeth cleaning. The following bits of dialog occurred after the suction hose was inserted into my cheek and the hygenist had her fingers and cleaning tools in my mouth.

Hygenist - Sir, your home care is some of the worst that I have ever seen.
Me - Glurgh ...

Hygenist - I bet that you must suffer from really bad breath all the time.
Me - Urgh?

Hygenist - I am from New York and I was raised to keep it real. Your mouth is disgusting.
Me - Flauf.

Hygenist - I can't believe this. I have never seen anything else like this.
Me - Hrumf.

Shortly after the hygenist completed her beat down, the dentist came into the room to do his usual quick look-see.

Dentist - Wow, your teeth look great. I wish I had a set of chompers like yours. Keep doing what you have been doing.
Me - Geez, your soul-stealing succubus had a vastly different opinion.
Dentist - Succubus you say?

Shortly after I was done with the hygenist (who was not the regular one I normally see), I went down to another lady to get some new x-rays taken. She could not have been more sweet or welcoming. She actually spoke in a way that showed me respect and caused me to listen to her and take her advice seriously. I think that there is a lesson here.

Observations 5

My occasional blog series "Observations" was created to be an outlet to share a variety of topics that pop into my field of view as a result of a condition that many bloggers are afflicted with known as "blogger's eyes". In this state we view the world on the constant look-out for topics on which to write about. Thus we see everything from a different perspective and with different purpose than normal folks.

Today's blog came about from random odds 'n ends of things that I have noticed and noted over the past few weeks.

• I found a common house centipede on the wall in my bathroom. When I wonked it with my shoe, it exploded in a storm of falling legs. As they hit the ground, they all proceeded to pulse and flex in time with each other. Gross and cool ("grool") at the same time.
  
• A judge ruled that the state of Massachusetts must foot the bill for a sex change operation on a prison inmate who is serving a life sentence without parole for brutally murdering his wife. In his ruling the judge stated that this was necessary to correct the prolonged violation of his Eight Amendment right to adequate medical care.
  
• At Open House night at my daughter's school, the gym teacher told the parents that the two most important classes that our kids will have in high school are gym and driver's ed.
  
• I become a menace to all other drivers on the road whenever I find a mosquito in the car with me.
  
• Sometimes when I know that I won't see my daughter for a few days, I find myself missing her even when she is sitting right next to me on the couch.
  

Dream Thief

I have just finished reading one of the first published novels of author Stephen Lawhead entitled Dream Thief. Having read his many works based on Celtic lore and fantasy, this science fiction novel was certainly cut from a very different stylistic cloth. It also featured a writing style and approach not wholly polished by experience, more apprentice level than master. This is not a criticism, but an observation of how much I have seen Lawhead grow into the skills of his craft with
his later works.

The main setting is in the near future, aboard the orbiting space station Gotham. There we meet Dr. Spencer Reston, a young and talented researcher who is studying the long term effects of space travel on human brain functions and sleep patterns. Yet while life on the station seems normal, Spence is plagued by increasingly powerful dreams that are slowly beginning to control him. When he stumbles across some anomalies in his sleep research, he begins to suspect that something troubling might be going on in his lab, not thinking for a moment that he is becoming enwrapped in schemes unfolding on a much larger scale and with much greater stakes than he could ever imagine.

To get away from the station for a time, he accepts an invitation on a research trip to Mars. Shortly after arriving he has a blackout and awakens to find himself on the Martian surface with the buildings of the colony nowhere in sight and the plunging temperatures of night quickly approaching. While desperately trying to get his bearings, he finds the entrance to a cave that leads deep into the planet. As he wanders from one pathway to another, he stumbles into the remains of an ancient and long dormant city. This discovery is but the first in a series of radical findings that will forever change the
life that he has known. We are then taken on a tangled web of population mind control, aliens, world domination, the great divide between the affluent few and the poverty of the teeming masses, and the origins of religion on Earth. All topics that are explored from a unique and interesting point of view that are used to tell an enjoyable story, but will also make you think about what you believe and why.

All That

For several years my daughter and I used to enjoy a show on Nickelodeon called The Amanda Show. It was a sketch comedy program for pre-teens starring Amanda Bynes. On the set she was naturally silly, funny, confident, and talented. She seemed like she was having the time of her life, just living a dream. It was just a pure, clean, wholesome program that gave us lots of smiles and laughs.

Recently, I read a story that Amanda has had more than half a dozen run-ins with the law since March of this year. She seems to be struggling with alcohol and depression, and her life is going down a destructive path that is playing out in the checkout line rags. In one online news forum, I came across the following reader-posted comments:

• That one's not going to age gracefully.
  
• She's not hot at all, rather ugly in my opinion.
  
• She was stupid when she was a kid, she's still stupid!
  
• Typical Hollywood type, no morals.
  
• Another self-absorbed snot-nosed little starlet.
  
• Another train wreck in Hollywood.
  
• Why is she considered a "star"? She's dumb, she's ugly, and she's a loser.
  

These comments just kind of ate at me. They were polluting a very positive association of time with my daughter and, more importantly, they were attacking a person who is struggling with her existence and circumstances in the worst way. Nobody will ever look good or honorable or rational or in control or well adjusted when being judged by their worst moments. Not Amanda Bynes and certainly not any of us.

Spider Senses

There is a technician with whom I work with a lot at my job. We have been in an around each other for more than 15 years. I think that we have a good respect for each other and have a pretty easing-going rapport. The other afternoon while I was in a meeting, he was responsible for moving some equipment for me in my work area. The equipment was expensive, fragile, cumbersome, and weighed nearly a ton. The job task was to put the equipment into a specially designed stand using a portable gantry system. During this work, several pieces of the equipment were damaged.

The next day when we were working together, I was going over what happened and noted the damage. We discussed how it occurred and then I talked about how I thought the loading procedure was flawed and needed to be reconsidered. Somewhere in the conversation, my mind registered that the technician got kind of quiet and his mannerisms became much less jovial. At the time it didn't really sink in given all that was going on, as my mind was focussed on the de-briefing and how things could be done differently. When I got home that evening, it dawned on me that something had happened. It was like my spider senses suddenly began tingling that something I said had wounded this man. It ate at me through the evening. I resolved to talk to him first thing the next morning.

I found him at 7:30 a.m. the next day and pulled him aside. I told him that I sensed that I had said something that hurt him and I apologized. I immediately could see his whole body relax and his happy spirit return. In my younger days if I felt that my words had negatively impacted someone else, I would have rationalized to myself that I meant no bad intent in my remarks and the other person would just have to get over it. My feelings and how I acted upon them in this instance clearly demonstrated the kind of growth that I have been striving after for a long time.

Lovers

Volumes have been written about the differences between the sexes
Advice is broadcast from every square inch of the checkout magazine racks
Love is seemingly just a scheme to sell copy

Just when you start to be desensitized to the inherent beauty of love
Along comes a wink and a pretty smile that sets your heart to thumping
Nothing else matters in your world suddenly but making two one.

Mind lost in the clouds thinking of unicorns and crazy futures
Instant metamorphosis in your thinking and mien
Nothing makes sense and everything makes sense

Kant's "Critique" aimed to unite reason with experience
And in such times as these found to be untenable
Nothing compares with tumbling head over heels over head over heels

Meat Puppets

One of the things in life that creeps me out the most is the "wearable puppet". Whereas your normal, run-of-the-mill puppet is typically a piece of cloth with googly eyes pasted on and controlled by a person's hand, a wearable puppet is basically a costume worn by some cretin who dances around like an idiot making minimum wage. Some examples of this ilk are Snuffleupagus, the Teletubbies, Barney the dinosaur, and the Banana Splits. Just typing these names out makes me want to call the name of Ralph (if you know what I mean). Why do people in costumes pantomiming around make me so queasy, like chewing a ball of aluminum foil? I cannot say for certain. Perhaps it is because they are so annoying or because I can guess what the inside of those heavy fabric costumes must smell like after being worn under those hot studio lights day after sing-songy day.

For many years, I have kept my feelings on this topic to myself, lest I inadvertently cause trauma to another. However, a recent headline caught my eye and I knew that I was far from alone in my distaste of this foul breed. The producer of the Teletubbies was responsible for a recent movie release entitled "The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure". Over its first 3 full-days of release in 2160 theaters, the movie earned $448,000. That amounts to about $70 in ticket sales per theater per day, or less than 10 folks added up over all showings. At a cost of more than 60 million dollars to make and distribute, I sense we shan't be seeing any more movies featuring this sort of "puppetry" any time soon. Whew!

God's Story

I wanted to find a book for my morning devotionals and had nothing left in my reading queue, so I made an evening trip up the street to my local library. Because I wasn't of a mind to think too hard about what I was after, my fingers fell into an easy rhythm as they typed "Max Lucado" into the online catalog. After just a few moments of poking around, I decided on one of his newer offerings, God's Story, Your Story.

I read somewhere that Pastor Lucado's books really don't have much to do with theology, they are really just his avenue to tell his stories and anecdotes, and to tell us about God's love for us. After nearly all of Lucado's books that I have read (with just a couple of notable exceptions - see On the Anvil and He Chose the Nails), I have completed my reading and thought to myself, "He didn't tell me anything that I don't already know." Yet I have found his books provide value added to my devotional time reading.

In God's Story, Your Story, Lucado focuses on how we go about our existence, traveling along with the day-to-day currents of life, doing this and doing that. This is our story. Yet from the perspective of heaven, God is viewing a story that looks so much different. We likely do not realize it, but our lives are following a divine narrative. This book provides an opportunity to appreciate this fact just a bit more, and may allow you to see God's hand in your life where you saw only the same old-same old.

Help Wanted?

Here's a scenario for you to consider. A person is suffering from what appears to be an attack from the tickle monster. Through shrieks of painful-sounding laughter you hear:

Don't! Stop!

or perhaps you really heard:

Don't stop!

Hmmm. Quite a conundrum. Is this person in need of rescue from the assailant or are they having the time of their lives?

In this same vein, I recently came across the following sign stuck in the ground at an intersection. As I read its contents it struck me that there was an unfortunate issue with the punctuation. However, who can tell? If you cannot read the words in the above photograph, the sign says:

Make $250,000 per year drinking coffee
Don't believe!
Don't call!

But when you are raking in a cool quarter mil per year sitting around in your bathrobe and bunny slippers sipping your choice of decadent General Foods International Coffees, who needs an edumacation?

Espresso Shrine

Whatever happened to the simple and humble cuppa joe? The kind that you wrapped your fingers around and savored in your favorite old chipped mug at home or that you grabbed in a styrofoam to-go cup from the local Choke-and-Puke greasy spoon diner? It seems that it has gone the way of David Hasselhoff's career, namely, into desperate oblivion. Now some up-and-coming executive wanna-be with his hair slicked back like a bad Elvis caricature, saunters into the ubiquitous gourmet coffee shoppe staffed with an army of trained beverage consultants and begins to rattle off with a straight face the following clearly fictional utterance:

Sweety, make mine a decaf double venti, 5 pump white mocha, 3 pump peppermint, half soy,half non-fat, no foam, light chocolate whip, carmel drizzle inside and out, with cinnamon and chocolate powder on top, shaken and not stirred.

What's worse, the peppy "barista" on the other side of the counter actually understands this nonsense. Wow, this world we live in is clearly off its collective rocker.

In the old days folks were satisfied to keep a small Mr. Coffee coffee maker in their office. A scoop of Maxwell House, a splash of water, and poof, a cup of foul-smelling mud. You didn't care what it tasted like, it only mattered that this go-go juice gave you the fortitude to make it through your incessant day without drooling all over your keyboard or hanging yourself from the fluorescent light fixtures. But today, I witnessed with my own two eyes a new and disturbing trend in utter java-ocity, the personal espresso shrine. In a co-worker's office, sitting on a sturdy brass and polished chrome table, was a coffee maker the size of a 1978 Yugo. This behemoth was outfitted with more plumbing lines, steam towers, gauges, dials, and buttons than the control room at the downtown power plant. What's next?

High School

Our last day of summer vacation together likely marked our most fulfilling and enjoyable day of the summer. My daughter and I feasted on some of our favorite foods, biscuits with butter and honey for breakfast, grilled cheese sandwiches and kettle-cooked chips for lunch, and pizza delivery for supper. We played on the Wii for a bit, sat outside on the porch and relaxed, and went out on a few errands about town. No rushing, no deadlines, no pressure.

Also, as has been our tradition for some years now, we had a sit-down father/daughter talk before she headed back out into the fray. I feel it is important to take some time to remind her to be true to herself and her values, to be wary of negative peer pressure from those around her, and to review a few of the critical issues that she may be faced with. Certainly high school is a time when most kids fully shed the innocence of their younger years and seek greater levels of freedom and independence. They are faced with problems such as bullying, violence, drugs, and sexual pressures that seem to come at them all at once. I think this year's talk was likely the best one yet, for both of us. What is said is secondary to letting her know that I love her and am available for her at any time.

Even now, as my daughter begins her first day of high school, I cannot believe that we have reached this moment. Her life to this point really does seem like a blur. I always seem to find myself wishing that we had more sand in our hourglass. I am already sensing the reality that our time together is coming to an end. I am doing everything within me to give her what I can. But I do know this, a father could not ask for a better daughter to send off to high school.

Labor Day 2012

Sitting down to prepare this piece, I can't for the life of me figure out how a full year has gone by since I wrote last year's Labor Day post. I mean, it seems like I just put out that one. Regardless of my issues with mental chronometry, my wish for you on this day is pretty much the same as for other years. I hope that you have a wonderfully relaxing and stress-free day where you can both enjoy your day off, as well as appreciate that you have a job and can pay your bills when so many are struggling week-to-week to survive. Blessings to all my online friends.