Sometimes, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is very short, ar at least seems that way. Like this year.

Yesterday, after church, the Praise and Worship leader asked those of us who sing what we wanted to do for the Christmas program. After all, we only have one day a week when everyone is available for rehearsal (Sunday evening) and there are only two more of those before Christmas… so we decided to brush up on Carol of the Bells along with the traditional songs.

With that in mind, and the closeness of Christmas getting more prounounced every day, I offer these two messages:

First, to my friends on the right, who adhere to the mantra “Common Sense, Please”:

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

And, to those who wander in here from the left-leaning areas of the world, where common sense isn’t:

Best wishes for a stress-free, non-addictive, gender-neutral, socially responsible and environmentally conscious winter solstice holiday. These wishes are sent without regard to race, gender, religion, creed, color or economic strata. The wish granting party, hereinafter referred to as “I” does grant the wish receiver, hereinafter referred to as “you” the freedom to accept or reject these wishes as determined by you on your own terms; that is, with regard to how you practice your religious or non-religious traditions of this time of year with the proviso that your practices are not to interfere with or abrogate the traditions of those around you who may or may not share the same traditions as you. Also, it is understood that these wishes are not an implicit permission to force others to share your religion, nor is it permission to allow others to share their religion (or lack thereof) with you. Additionally, these wishes are extended insofar that a fiscally successful, medically uncomplicated and personally fulfilling recognition of the generally accepted calendar year of 2009 would be enjoyed by you, but not without realizing that not all people recognize the same calendar and certainly not without recognizing the contributions of other cultures and societies as they have contributed to the time-measurement device known as the “Judeao-Christian Calendar System” which generally accounts for a one-year term involving twelve individual and inherently different months grouped in a repeating pattern for traditional reasons. (Disclaimer to note: This greeting and the additional wishes are subject to clarification or withdrawal, depending on the recipients’ attitude. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes, nor does it require the wish recipient to actively engage in the fulfillment of said wishes. The wisher assumes no responsibility for any unintended emotional stress these greetings and/or wishes may or may not have incurred upon those who are not caught up in the spirit of the holiday or, for whatever reason, simply do not celebrate this time, other than to tell you to put a band-aid on your owie and call a waaaahmbulance. Losers.)

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Weekends sure go by fast – especially when you spend the nights driving a cab and the days sleeping.

Sunday evening, we went to the Luminaria at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Here’s a sneak peek:

To see the entire album, drop me a line via e-mail, and I will send you the link on Facebook.

How was your weekend?

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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I mean, I have so much rolling around in my head – I doubt all of it will get written.

Saturday evening, I got my first cab at about 1645 hours. When I went out to check it and get it ready to go, I had to put air in the left front tire – and I wasn’t sure it would stay there. Once I got on the road, I could hear the “tik-tik-tik” of something metallic in the tire, so I pulled into a parking lot and looked it over – sure enough, a nail in the tread. I took that one back, and got a second cab by 1715 hours. First call was to a bar on 83rd Ave. and Indian School. A lady (who apparently is an early-evening drinker) needed a ride home. When she tried to get into the back seat, she couldn’t. I mean she just could NOT get her body to work right so she could climb into the back seat. She asked if she could sit in front, and I told her yes. I went around, opened the front door, cleared my stuff off the seat, and held the door for her. Now, the cab company policy is that the driver is not to touch the passenger. That means that the passenger is supposed to be able to get themselves in and out of the cab on their own. If they need help due to a medical condition, then the passenger is supposed to contact a non-emergency medical transport company. At any rate – this lady was having a hard time getting into the front seat, also. Don’t get me wrong – she could walk under her own power – she just couldn’t climb onto the seat. At one point, I noticed that the exertions had caused her to urinate in her jeans. Yes, she was working that hard to climb into the cab.

Did I mention that she is a little person? A dwarf – midget – whatever they call themselves.

She finally got herself situated kind of oddly – so that her legs were in the area of the floorboards, and her upper body was on the seat – and she was pretty much laying, face down, on the front seat of the car after fifteen minutes of attempting to get in. She gave me the address, and we were off. Once we arrived at her house (about seven blocks from the bar) it took her another five minutes to get back OUT of the car. She was, however, very gracious, and tipped nicely (the fare was $5.00 and she added two). I managed to keep a straight face until I was at least a block away, and then I just couldn’t help but laugh until the next call came in…

Maggie Thornton cross-posted a piece on global warming on her own Notebook and on Reject the U.N. regarding Global Warming. You’ve all heard how 2500 distinguished scientists have backed the warming models used in the dire predictions – have you heard that 500 of them have since retracted their support? Or that more than 31,000 scientists have signed a petition stating that all the hot air about Anthropogenic Global Warming is just that – a bunch of hot air? I wonder why the MSM hasn’t published any articles about the group that is fifteen times larger…

From Wild Phil comes news that there is a new wine designed especially for seniors. From his e-mail:

California vintners in the Napa Valley area, which primarily produce Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio wines, have developed a new hybrid grape that acts as an anti-diuretic.
It is expected to reduce the number of trips older people have to make to the bathroom during the night.

The new wine will be marketed as

PINO MORE.

I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE!

Perhaps they can start serving it at 83rd and Indian School first…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Saturday we had a yard sale. Since we were going to have the yard sale, and TMBWitW didn’t want to do it by herself, I skipped driving a cab Friday night so I would actually be awake on Saturday. I’m glad I did – I got to spend all day with my wife and our MEG. I even got some pedal time with MEG:

Due to the vagaries of Software and readers, the photo may appear fuzzy – simply click on it to get a close-up view – and no, I didn’t crop it incorrectly – I was pedaling so fast my poor wife couldn’t keep me in frame as the picture snapped…

Saturday night, I did get a cab. My third fare was a threesome (four, counting the little boy) that I picked up from a bowling alley near my house. The mom and dad were having a slight disagreement about something, the uncle was concentrating on the boy, and I was helping the uncle get the stroller in the trunk. The mom got in the back seat, thought of something, jumped back out, and then the dad jumped in. For whatever reason, this seemed to stoke the discussion to a higher level. After I dropped them off, I headed over to Westgate (where the UoP Stadium and the Coyotes Arena are) to see about snagging a fare from there. When I parked, I checked the back seat, which I had the habit of doing before picking up a fare – and then decided that I needed to check the seat after dropping fares off from now on. The escalation of the discussion happened right after the dad had jumped in and sat on the mom’s drink – which was now soaking into the back seat on the passenger side, which is the most popular side for fares to sit on – and I didn’t have enough paper towels to soak it up. So – off to the house (which is nearby – I think I mentioned that) and my wet and dry vacuum.

TMBWitW was cooking a big batch of manicotti for Afterglow Sunday after service, and was sore from standing at the stove. Turns out she was up until 0030 fixing the five pans worth. It was worth it, though – talk about some good food!

After a pretty solid night (I only had one bad stretch where I didn’t have a fare for about an hour), I was ready to prep the cab for turn in – it was about 0300, and I needed to turn in about 0430, I had made rent and then some, and I was working on no sleep since 0600 Saturday morning – and I was sitting at Bethany Home Road and the I-17 when I got a call for a fare at Glendale Avenue and I-17 – it was only a mile north of me, so I grabbed it and headed up there. I picked the guy up, and he needed to go to Tempe! Well, I figured I had just enough time to get him there, turn around and deadhead back to the cage, so I went ahead and ran it. It was mostly freeway, anyway, so travel time wasn’t bad. Once I dropped him off, out of habit I hit the “book” button and almost right away I had another pickup in the area. I could have kicked myself. If I turned the cab in late, I would be charged $5 for every 15 minutes late. Since I had committed to the fare, I picked him up – he was at Mill and University – and hoped that he was going west, so I was at least headed back the right way! Thankfully, he needed to go to 32nd Street – which is west, so no problem. I got him dropped off and jumped on the freeway and booked it hard for the cage. I stopped to bring the gas gauge up above 1/4, and headed for the yard. Just as I pulled in, I remembered that I hadn’t vacuumed the entire car yet – so I had to turn around and book it for the car wash. I did get turned in within allowances – exactly twelve hours and fifteen minutes after I picked it up. Those last two fares turned my solid night into a good night.

How was your weekend?

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Two hundred and thirty three years ago, the United States Marines Corps was founded in Tun Tavern. From the initial mission of guarding the sailing ships of the fledgling United States Navy to the current mission of being an elite, multi-environment superior fighting force, the United States Marine Corps has proven time and again that they are the best.

To all Marines everywhere: Happy Birthday. If you are away, come home safely and victoriously. If you are home, Welcome Home.

Bob Parsons, the founder and CEO of GoDaddy.com, shares a birthday card with all of us. Happy Birthday back, Bob. Thank you for your service, and welcome home.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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