Conditions @ MindSay

   Once your area of living has been alerted for a potential Ice Storm, the following actions should take place immediately if and when possible: Try to have these items on hand or at least a majority of them before the storm strikes. In most major ice storms, power failures occur. Ice storms differ in time lines, one storm may last for only a day or some to ten to fifteen days before your power is restored again, so be prepared for long-term survival. If your house runs on electricity … it is a good idea to have the items below on hand.

   If you have a gas stove … light the burners and keep the flames low. Open a nearby door or window just enough to allow escaping gas to exit. Do not stay near the stove. Check the stove regularly for burning. If your eyes begin to water …. Turn the burners off a few minutes to allow any fumes to go outside through the open cracked door or window before relighting your stove again for warmth.

• Purchase or have available … a generator with 5000 watts or more. Check your fuel level every seven hours. Always keep enough fuel on-hand for at least two refuels.
• ( All generators should be outside and away from your house / dwelling at a distance of twenty feet or more. Use a long extension cord from the generator to the house / dwelling .. then attach additional cords to the main generator extension cord as needed. Do not overload your generator. Check your generator every 40 hours of operation for oil.

Turn your generator off .. unplug all electrical cords .. check oil level .. fill as necessary .. wait ten minutes .. restart generator, attach cords.

Insure that the exhaust from the generator blows away from the entrance.

• Purchase or have available … extra long extension cords
• Purchase or have available … a heater that runs on propane … have extra tanks on hand.
• Purchase or have available … a Kerosene Lamp / w/ plenty of kerosene fuel
• A chain saw or saw tool. These tools are handy when clearing fallen limbs or debris.
• Tools for scraping off ice on walkways or driveway.
• Bags of rock salt for melting the ice areas.
• Water … bottled water by the cases.
• Blankets
• Purchase or have available .... flashlights / batteries
• Buy or have available …. "D"cell batteries for lamp lights
• Buy or have available … extra lamps powered by batteries
• Buy or have available …. a battery-powered T.V. for advisories
• Keep an ample supply of can goods and other food that will not spoil.
• Keep breakables, away from all windows.
• Keep everybody in the household away from all windows.
• Have a cell phone on hand and charger.
• Do not try to plug in a hair dryer to any cords.
• Check your generator fuel gauge every seven hours for fuel level.
• When fueling, turn generator off first. Fuel tank, (do not over fill). Allow five to ten minutes before restarting.
• Remember, during most ice storms, tree limbs break and fall from the heavy ice accumulations. If seated in the house, sit at the farthest point away from any windows or your tree area outside.
• If you lose power to your home, you may try staying with family or friends who still have power in their homes.
  
• Call your local power company and report all power shortages, when you lose power or know of someone else who has.

          Stay clear of downed power lines or exposed electrical fixtures.

Ice Storms are dangerous .. and at times can produce lightning too. Stay warm and safe.

      

A s winter arrives, it usually means it is time for some cold weather, time to take the hoses off to the house's outside faucets and to prepare winterizing everything, to include your vehicles. You may even get some snow to compliment the beauty of your Christmas. During the cold weather season, always keep your fuel tank full. This keeps a driver from running out of gas while driving in slow heavy traffic during hazardous conditions, or if waiting for help while stranded off the side of a road somewhere.

   Snow / Ice Driving Tips

• Drive below the posted speed limit
• Don't get in any hurry
• When starting off from a dead stop, take your foot off of the brake and allow your vehicle to move forward on its own idle speed, do not give your vehicle any gas until you are moving forward under control again.
• Always allow yourself plenty of distance from any vehicle in front of you for reasons like stopping, an obstacle in the roadway, a signal light or stop sign.
• When necessary to stop or slow down, lightly tap your brakes until you have dropped down to your desired speed or stop. Do not stomp on your brakes, this will only cause your vehicle to slide and that you will lose control.
• If your vehicle goes into a slide, take your foot off of your gas pedal slowly as your speed declines, and slowly turn your steering wheel in the direction that your vehicle is sliding, example, if you are sliding toward the right, turn your steering wheel right, left slide, turn it to your left. Remember to turn into the direction of your slide.

    This will allow the driver to use their heater for staying warm, knowing their gas tank is full. If having to pull over off the side of the road, try and find some level ground and to make sure that you are parked off of the roadway enough for your own safety and the safety of others. Turn your emergency flashers on and keep them on. If your vehicle is in good condition, you might turn your car off and save some fuel until it becomes cold again, then start your vehicle back up, if you fear that your car may not start again, leave the engine running, do not shut the car off.

   It is also a good idea to store these items in your vehicle before the bad weather hits, things like a cell phone with a charger cord, thick blanket, flashlight, a piece of cardboard that can be placed under a tire should one get stuck in the snow, a heavy-duty jacket, Ice scraper, winter coveralls, snow boots, a small shovel, some long-term snacks, a 'I NEED HELP SIGN', these ideas help believe me. Always remember to keep your doors locked, that you never open your door to any stranger, tell the helping motorist to get you some help from a law enforcement agency, and to wait for that police officer to show up. Right? Right. It is also true and sad, that there are fanatical idiot drivers on the road too.

   Yes, a four-way stop sign means stop to all motorists. But, when driving and approaching a four-way stop sign when ice is on the road, do not stop if possible, continue driving through the intersection slowly, because the driver behind you may not be able to stop in time. This also allows the drivers behind you to maintain their traction and from getting stuck waiting on the parked driver in front of them. This same rule applies for drivers driving uphill on ice approaching a four-way stop sign. Have some courtesy for the drivers behind you.

   Thinking smart and being a Cautious Driver during Hazardous Weather Conditions is very nice, and a safe idea too, but in the real world we all know everybody does not adhere to safety or respect for other drivers. I shook my head sadly to hear a t.v. reporter this weekend say "Mother Nature" was responsible for 6 deaths this weekend. I wanted to tell her," No, lady! It's the friggin idiots that THINK they know how to drive 55 in a snow storm!" Or how bout the idiots that think because they have FOUR WHEEL DRIVE vehicles, they can drive when and however they like on ICE.

   During this special time, People begin to hurry around shopping for Christmas gifts, visiting and or are generally preoccupied with something else on their minds or a cell phone crammed in their ear while driving. This practice while driving is dangerous enough on dry pavement than trying it on a road covered with ice.

   This season will be no different, we will have those idiot drivers who think they are expert drivers, who don't care about paying attention to their own driving, that will speed around on ice or drive crazy through road construction sites during hazardous road conditions. These people endanger their own life as well as the lives of other people when doing so.

   Hazardous road conditions are bad enough to be driving on, so when a dumb *** adds beer drinking, horse playing, showing off, cell phone conversations or looking down at the floor board for whatever reasons, they will get someone injured or killed. People need to drive safely, cautiously and to give other drivers plenty of room.

   If these crazy drivers are driving recklessly because they are in a hurry, or think it is cool, they are wrong. I suggest that they leave earlier to wherever they are going, so that they won't have to hurry. So, during this time, stay alert, keep your eyes on the road, for other drivers' driving, and especially watchful for that Rambo moron driving up behind you like a bat out of hell. This is excellent advise to be mindful of during this season. Maybe, this information will save someone's life.

Jim Heitmeyer

I rarely, if ever, delete a post, but I was just not satisfied with the way yesterday's post was worded, so ... I may or may not try again at some point. 

 

My goal, above anything else, was to bring sex out of the closet of things not talked about in the open.  There are so many people with sexual "issues" and few places where honest and open discussion is available without hoops to jump through. 

 

When Jesus went about the streets ministering to the ill, oppressed, and sin-bound, he didn't require anyone to fill out an application in triplicate, pledge their firstborn, or even make a donation.  His gift of love, life, and forgiveness is given freely.  Too often we put pricetags on our "gifts". 

 

So ... two questions:

• Where does grace end?
• What might have happened if Jesus charged for His service(s)? 

~ B

For those of you who have never heard the term Sacroilitis, don't feel like you are alone. I didn't know such a thing existed until roughly two to three months ago when my wife was diagnosed with this along with DJD. For those of you who have experienced the pain and treatments of sacroilitis, then my heart goes out to you and i would love to hear what worked for you! For those of you who do not know or understand this condition, i will attempt to explain. Sacroilitis is basically the inflammation of the SI ( Sacro iliac ) joints that hold the lower half of the spine (basically your tailbone) to the back of the pelvis. There is a small area of bone in the upward center of the back of your pelvis that is held tightly to the back of your pelvis with several little finger type joints that allow limited movement. Because of it's little movement, doctors have been reluctant in past years that such a thing with limited motion can cause such pain. The fact is that as we age this joint can become stiff and actually "lock". This joint only moves about 2-4 millimeters when we flex or bear weight. The joints main function is thought to be a sort of shock absorber for the spine as tensions and weight are distributed, stretching the joints in various directions. Injuries such as falling , motor vehicle accidents, a blow to the side of the pelvis, or degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) can cause can cause the ligaments that hold these SI joints in place to to be strained, thus cause way too much motion in the joint. The excessive motion can eventually lead to wear and tear arthritis in the joints. Doctors may offer two solutions, exact opposites of each other. Stabilization or mobilization. if you are determined to have degenerative arthritic conditions, rest and medication might be the best fix, if the doctor feel the joint is too immobile and stiff, then exercises such as walking and physical therapy might prove helpful. I ask now of anyone who has experienced such pain and diagnosis to please come forward and help the many other americans who share this misfortune. Please tell us what eases YOUR pain. Inquiring minds want to know. :)

Does it exist? Are we as humans capable of giving unconditional love to another? I've been doing alot of soul searching and thinking about this lately and I don't know if it's possible. I know that my pup loves me and is dependent on my giving her food, shelter and love but does she love me because of that or just because she loves me?

There is no definition of "unconditional love" in the dictionary but on the web it is defined as "love given with no conditions or expecations". So, when we fall in love, do we automatically set up a barrier of limitations to protect ourselves form getting hurt by the other person, perhaps not even aware that we are doing it?

I've been called a little naive about alot of things by various people in my lifetime, and perhaps I am naive about love to a certain degree. But as a very good friend said to me recently, being naive is not a bad thing and that I am pure. I don't know how pure I am but I guess compared to some, I may appear that way. The definition of "naive" in Webster's Dictionary is as follows: "not worldly or sophisticated." Well, perhaps I'm not as worldly as some, but, not sophisticated? I don't know about the latter part of that.

Anyway, I'm learning about life as I live it. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imaginaiton but I've been called a good person by some and I try to do my best for those that I care about. This is me for what it's worth, imperfections and all. :)