Another Two Weeks Gone

First, my appreciation goes to all veterans for their service to our country. Thank you and all the best to you on Veterans Day!

In my last post, I mentioned an Audible book French language course waiting to be downloaded via Wi-Fi to my Kindle. I went to the library and downloaded it, but nothing was there although it said I was at the 100% point when I opened it. Oh, well. I didn't order it and don't care enough about it to contact Customer Service after having heard the sample.

I went ahead and ordered a Sansa Fuze by SanDisk because of the longer battery life compared to the Clip+ and Clip Zip and its ability to play videos. I immediately loaded it with my MP3 Bible and road trip mix as soon as it arrived and was charged. Plugging old mini speakers from a cassette recorder into the Fuze, I enjoyed listening to it while shopping for a couple of knives for my Preparedness kits.

Having decided on Benchmade knives more than a year ago because of the company's excellent reputation for high-quality knives, I decided it was time to settle on the models and placed my order on Monday.

For a sheath knife, I chose the Rant, model #515, drop point, plain edge, and am very pleased to have gotten it below retail price from a Marketplace Seller on Amazon. It should be delivered next week.

For a folder, I selected the model 511H2O Griptilian in orange so it's easy to spot, modified drop point, also plain edge, also below retail price, which arrived yesterday morning in excellent condition from Outfitter Country, a different Amazon Marketplace Seller. I really like how easy it is to open and how it feels in my hand. After attaching a wrist lanyard with a mini cord lock so it can't fall very far like in the movie, "127 Hours," I slipped it into my Mobile Survival Kit.

But, I keep taking it out to play with it, it's that nice.

Signs of the Times

Telling an acquaintance who likes to read ebooks on her iPhone about Amazon's free Kindle for iPhone app reminded me how I used to hear adults remark, "They oughta make a pill for that."

Now, people say, "There's an app for that."

As we enter the second decade of the third millennium, I wonder if there will be a new catch phrase associated with the period and, if so, what it will be. Only time can tell.

In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of the holiday season.

Happy New Year!

On Eclipses and the Coming King of Kings

Did you see the lunar eclipse last night? I did even though I've seen both solar and lunar eclipses before. This one was special because it's been 372 years since a lunar eclipse coincided with a winter solstice.

So close to our celebration of the birth of Christ, the event reminded me of the signs of His second coming.

No, I don't believe the predictions for May 21, 2011; May 21, 2012; or Dec. 21, 2012.

Yes, although the Bible says no one knows the day or the hour of His return, the Bible also states that we will know when to look for His coming.

First, we must not forget that the word will be preached to ALL nations before He returns. Currently, there are tribes in South America that are known about but have yet to have any contact with outsiders much less preaching.

After the great tribulation occurs, there will be the signs of volcanic eruptions, the great earthquake, a total solar eclipse, during which the sun looks black, followed by a total lunar eclipse, during which the moon turns blood red under the right atmospheric conditions, followed by meteor showers and/or stars going dark.

Back in 1998 or '99, I quickly scanned NASA charts that went up to 3000 and found no predictions of a total solar eclipse followed by a total lunar eclipse. Not seeing anything in the charts that match the Bible and not hearing about actual events, I quit thinking about it.

The bottom line is that I do not believe the Lord will return before Y3K. If He does return sometime during this third millennium, it would neatly correlate to Jonah's three days in the whale and the three days between Jesus's death and resurrection.

Merry Christmas!

Matthew 12:40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

2 Peter 3:8. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Matthew 24:
14. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16. Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25. Behold, I have told you before.
26. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

(Notice that the angels gather the elect after the tribulation. Mark 13 and Luke 21 agree.

Matthew 13:30. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Other than pointing out these four confirming references, I'm not going to get into the Pre- versus Post-Tribulation Rapture argument.)

Acts 2:
19. And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come

Revelation 6:
12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

(A lot of things happen between Revelation 6:13 and Revelation 19:11.)

Revelation 19:
11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

For Holiday Shoppers

For those of you still considering what to get the bookworms on your holiday gift list or if you're licking your chops anticipating what you might buy yourself with the gift money you receive, here's some information about ebook reading devices. If you need only a stocking stuffer, Book Darts has Christmas specials.

This CNET article, updated last month, compares Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, and Apple's iPad with mentions of other e-readers, including the Sony Readers, to give you an idea of what's out there and their features. It says they're available at Best Buy if you want to see them in person without driving thither and yon.

As may be expected, the Nook is also available at Barnes & Noble with the iPad at an Apple store. Amazon's Kindle is also available at Staples and Target. Sony Readers are also available at Borders, Costco, and Fry's. Kobo eReaders are available at Borders and the new wireless Kobo Wi-Fi eReader is available at Wal-Mart stores in black only.

Four things you might want to know:

1. The Nook's touted LendMe feature lets you loan your ebooks to friends. However, it depends on the publisher and, if allowed, permits loaning only one book to one friend for only 14 days. You can't read it while it's loaned out. You can't loan it out again.

[Update: Amazon released this feature for the Kindle on Dec. 30, 2010 with the same limitations.]

2. If you've been borrowing books from your local public library and think getting an e-reader will significantly decrease the length of time you'll have to wait to read current popular fiction, don't count on it. I read a report of how libraries have ebooks in the EPUB format, but because publishers are concerned about decreased sales if libraries loan ebooks, there's a restriction making borrowing an ebook comparable to borrowing a hardcopy or worse. As a result, the author had to wait 18 weeks before getting the ebook he wanted to read on his Nook.

3. The Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Sony Reader all use E Ink technology. However, at this time, only the Kindle and Sony Reader Touch are using the latest E Ink Pearl displays.

4. The Kobo eReader battery is not replaceable.

For comparison purposes, e-reader user guides are available for the Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Sony Reader.

Try before you buy or avoid buying an e-reader because you already have something that will do - free apps for ebook reading devices such as the Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iTouch, Mac, PC, and Windows Phone 7 are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.

(Note: All devices are not supported by every bookseller and the free app may not have every feature that is available on the corresponding e-reader.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Going through Wal-Mart yesterday morning, I noticed that a shelf had a large bare space where the Great Value French-fried onions were supposed to be. So, if you don't have a green bean casserole on your table as usual, it might be because whoever does the shopping for your feast got there too late and didn't want to buy the significantly more expensive brand. Maybe Wal-Mart will have enough in stock for Christmas to satisfy everybody.

Me? I'm feeling lazy, too lazy to actually count my blessings, but not too lazy to think about adding them up.

Hopefully, you'll be better about it before you eat or watch the game, the fights, the hero show, Beyonce, or whatever you plan to do.

Hopefully, I'll be better about it by that time, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Veterans on Veterans Day

To all veterans of the armed forces of the United States of America -

Thank you so very much for your service to our country! I treasure the freedom that you fought and bled for, for each one of us Americans. I am often appalled at how women are treated in too many other countries and thank God for letting me be born here with people like you who believe in protecting us and preserving our freedom.

My prayers are with you.

White Christmas

Those who prayed for a white Christmas overdid it this year. Oklahoma and Texas are not supposed to get blizzards!

It was nearly 60 degrees Fahrenheit when I went to Walmart on Monday afternoon. I was ready to go on Saturday then realized the fallacy of going there during the weekend before Christmas when I didn't absolutely have to. On Monday morning, my thoughts were confirmed by a lady who said she went on Saturday and couldn't find any place to park so returned at 1 a.m. to avoid the crowd.

It was crowded when I got there on Monday shortly after 2 p.m. even though it was a week day. I was fortunate in finding a parking space right away although it was nearly the farthest from the store. I didn't mind, figuring I can use the exercise.

Walking to the store, I was perturbed to see a shopping cart standing at the rear of an SUV with a woman's purse in the child seat begging to be stolen. I stood watching for a minute, unnoticed by the woman in the driver's seat of the SUV bent over like she was looking for something. What was she thinking, leaving her purse like that?

I walked up to her door. "Excuse me, please don't leave your purse out like that."

She got out. "I only wanted to get something," she protested.

Why didn't she take her purse with her where it would be safer?

"I could have grabbed it and ran off, if I was that type of person." And she would have never known until it was too late.

She looked annoyed. "Thank you," she said, retrieving her handbag.

"Merry Christmas," I replied as I left.

Once inside, I navigated the crowd until I was in the back corner with the flashlights. The pegs for the pocket-sized mini flashlights were empty leading me to think they are the popular stocking stuffers for this year. It's a good idea.

I searched the LED key ring flashlights for a red one for a lady I know but found only one that is too big and too heavy for a key ring for my taste. There weren't many key ring flashlights to search through because those pegs were mostly empty. Another popular stocking stuffer?

After reading a label for a grandmother looking for the right size for her baby grandson and lifting a case of soda for an elderly woman in one of the motorized shopping carts Walmart provides for the less able, I checked out and left; my good deeds done for the day.

Set for the holiday, I awoke on the morning of Christmas Eve to blowing sleet and snow. By 9 a.m., my car was sealed shut. The sleet soon abdicated in favor of the fiercely driven snow. I had planned on going back to Walmart for some chocolate candy and quickly cancelled the thought.

One doesn't usually think of needing a vehicle preparedness kit in case of being stranded in the snow in Oklahoma and Texas, but that's what's been happening according to the evening news.

So, I'm socked in, safe and warm, watching the 24-hour "A Christmas Story" marathon on TBS, waiting for daylight to check out my gifts.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, America!

You're 232 years old, now, still a young 'un compared to other countries.

Not yet potty-trained, you still have to learn how to deal with your own waste.

You still need to learn to eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep in order to maintain good health.

You still need to learn how to lock your doors so that thieves don't sneak in and rob you of what's rightfully yours alone.

You still need to learn how to manage your money and to take better care of your natural resources because they are what sustain you and have enabled you to grow as much as you have.

But, even with these and the other negative things you need to grow through, you're still the country in which a lot of people want to live and few want to leave.

Although many celebrate the national holidays of other countries, they're celebrating them in the United States of America and not in those other nations. That, in itself, is a sign of your goodness because having big bashes themed on our cultural diversity is what we Americans do to remember from where we came and to joyously celebrate the freedom and the wealth we have in you.

Look at St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo, for example. St. Patrick's Day is a quiet, religious holiday in Ireland except where the Irish have learned the value of the American tourist dollar, not the boisterous day of parades and green beer that it is here, and Cinco de Mayo is mostly ignored even in the Mexican state of Puebla where the originating event occurred.

So, celebrate your birthday and have a good time doing it.

May God give you wisdom to grow on.

I love you!