Camp Talk

My duties at church camp last week were to teach the tenth graders in Bible class and to serve as counselor in the tenth grade boys’ cabin. We did not spend much time in the cabin during the day, just one hour for rest in the heat of the day. But the conversations were interesting. The boys talked about everything from sports and music to politics and the best acne treatment. And girls! It was fun watching guys from different areas of Texas interact!




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Black Friday

Today was Black Friday, but I did not get out to shop. I was too busy watching the great college football games. Besides, I did not want to fight the crowd. And I had already bought a lot of gifts that I plan to give. I bought my son in law an new Adidas golf bag, his son, my oldest grandson an new basketball and a warm up suit, new bicycles for the little boys, and a new coat for my granddaughter. I still have some shopping to do, but not so much that I had to go out today!





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Weight Loss

I have been over weight for quite a few years and need to take some pounds if I am going to be able to take care of the two young men who are now living with me, our youngest grandsons. I may take some diet pills to help get the weight loss started but I have joined the YMCA and am working out at least twice a week to help get myself more aerobically fit! The combination is probably the best way to approach the change of lifestyle.




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Mom's Sconces

One day my mom received a painting from her favorite aunt. It was a round canvas, with a diameter of 24 inches. It was a still life of flowers in a nice vase. My Mom wanted it framed professionally. When she brought it home from the framer, she had also bought a sconce to place on each side of the painting when it was hung on the wall.

She was so proud of it, but we all made fun of the sconces. We used to tease Mom, telling her that all we wanted to inherit from her when she died was those sconces. She took it well enough, but never understood why we laughed.

It quit being a joke when Mom passed away. Each of us would have been happy to have the painting and the sconces. They found their next display site at my sister's house.






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Ladies Lounge Improvements

When we remodeled our church building, one of the primary improvements was to the ladies room facilities. It was our intention to make the ladies as comfortable as possible. We increased the number of stalls from four to nine so there will be less waiting. WE also installed five vanities, with makeup mirrors for each one. There is even a parlor outside the restroom facilities, with a sofa and two lounge chairs.

The ladies are very pleased at the improvements.





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Going Home

We just dropped our daughter off at the airport in Houston for her return flight to Singapore. She has lived there for nearly fifteen years and counts it as home, but when she comes back for a visit she often stocks up on things that are not as readily available in Singapore. In fact she sometimes brings a almost empty Samsonite over that she fills with jars of salsa, and other ingredients for Mexican food, Dr. Pepper, as well as toiletries and such!





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Watches

I have never bought an expensive watch, but I have two that I value very highly. One is the Pulsar that was given to me by the parents of the teens at church. I had done some things with the kids that their folks appreciated and let their pleasure be known with the watch. I have worn it now for more than fifteen years.

The other is a gold Hamilton watch that my grandfather was given at his retirement. I received it upon his
passing, so it has great sentimental value.



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Charity Golf Tourney

Some of the guys at church convinced me to participate in a charity golf tournament to help raise money for an orphans' home. It is a good cause and the fellowship will be more than worth any embarrassment I might feel over my game. I have not played in a several years. I should get on my golf shoes, pick up my clubs and go to a driving range today before the event tomorrow, just to get comfortable again with both the shoes and the clubs!






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Batteries

I had never heard of nimh batteries before my son in law bought one for a replacement on his Nikon digital camera. He had done some research and found that the EN-4 ultra high capacity battery was what he wanted. It promised the best service and was priced just right for him. He now says that he is going to buy nimh batteries for all his electronics as they need replacements.



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Growing Community

The small city in which I live, south of Houston and near the Johnson Space Center, is growing like crazy. When I moved here 19 years ago, there were 30,000 residents. Today there are more than 62, 000! and the precdictions are for another 40,000 in the next twelve years. You should see the neighborhoods that are being developed, most with luxury homes with lots of amenities.

Someone better figure out how to manage the traffic!



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Real Estate Agent

When I was a young man I thought that I would like to become a real estate agent. I studied for and passed my test for license granted by the State of Texas. I went to work for an agency that represented a home builder. I found that I was not cut throat enough to be really good at the business, so I eventually went another career direction and let my license go.





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Digital Cameras

My oldest daughter got so mad at me this summer. I had bought one of those digital cameras about a year ago, and I like the quality of the pictures. But the camera I bought had very little memory, so I could not take many pictures without downloading. But I bought a memory chip for the camera that will allow me to take over 600 pictures without downloading. I took it on a trip to Singapore in August, and failed to take even one picture! My daughter was so upset with me!



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Love of Horses

My granddaughter is 11 years old now and has been in love with horses for about three years. She began taking riding lessons a few weeks ago and is having a great time.

She constantly talks to her parents about moving to the country so that they will have enough room for her to have a horse of her own. I'm not sure that will ever happen, but my wife and I have decided to give our granddaughter some equestrian riding apparel as her Christmas present.




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Memory Store

When I'm on the computer and I like to keep several applications running at one time so I can go back-and-forth very easily. My old Dell needed a better memory in order to function the way I like. I went online to the memory store.com to see if they had Dell Memory that would fit my computer. They did in the purchase was very simple.



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World Series Tickets

As I sat and watched the Rockies complete their sweep of the Diamondbacks and saw the excitement of their fans, I was reminded of two years ago in Houston. That was the year that the Astros won the National League pennant for the first time in their history. I had waited for more than forty years for them to accomplish that. What made it all the sweeter was that I had already bought my world series tickets. My wife and I got to see the first ever World Series game played in Houston, or anywhere in Texas!



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GPS

Since I heard of GPS devices for the first time, I have thought it would be cool to have one. I could think of all sorts of activities in which I might benefit from having one: while driving, while hunting, while backpacking, while out on the sea fishing, and more. But I had never thought of it the way some of the young professionals at church are using them. They have come to use them as part of a treasure hunting game they like to play on the weekends.



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Jewelry

My wife is not the typical woman in regard to jewelryjewelry. She does not wear much, and in our 40 years together I do not believe she has bought any for herself. The few pieces I have bought her, aside from our wedding rings, have been very delicate and elegant. I gave her a nice diamond pendant for our 25th anniversary, and then at 40 years I gave her a strand of pearls. She is easy to please!





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Moose Jaw

It's closing in on mid-October, in some places it's already gotten cool, though not here in South Texas. And while it will not be as cold here as on the North Face of the Matterhorn, it will be cold enough to need warm outdoor gear. And surely it is better to order early and have it on hand than to wait until you wish you had it available. Besides, Moosejaw.com is having a super sale right now!



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Venetian Hotel

My friend's wife has for years told him she wanted him to take her to Venice for a romantic gondola cruise through the canals. He does not make a lot of money, so a trip to Italy is not very likely. But he just made big points with his wife when he took her for an anniversary trip to Las Vegas. They stayed in the fabulous Venetian hotel. They were able to take that authentic cruise down the Grand Canal as recreated in the Hotel! It was a wonderful and romantic weekend!



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Tools

When I went to work at a chemical plant near our home, my first job was in a department called cell manufacturing. We built chlorine cells from scratch. My job is shaping the carbon plates that fit inside the cells. It was my first experience with Ingersoll Rand air tools. I had to use a pneumatic grinder on the plates to get them down to specification required for the cell. I got pretty good at the job, and of course but to appreciate the quality of Ingersoll-Rand tools.



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