Heat Waves And AC

          So do you long for the "good old days?"  Do you yearn to go back to the way things were when life seemed simpler?  Maybe your opinion depends upon how old you are.

          Now for those who have good memories of the past, let me just share with you a simple phrase - heat wave!  Heat and humidity, as we are presently experiencing, can be very hard to bear - especially without air conditioning!

          Unfortunately I remember the days before air conditioning and what we often had to do just to survive.  And survive we did.

          My parents grew up and lived most of their lives without air conditioning.  In their later years they did have two window conditioners that provided some relief.  But they never  had central air and they never complained because that is all they really knew all of their lives.

          As a youngster, I remember "suffering" with the heat. On the worst nights I would take a pillow downstairs to the living room and try to get comfortable on the floor in front of the open side door.  Sometimes a slight breeze could be felt there.  And there was nothing else we could do.  It was the best we could do.

          And until I went to college my parents never had a car with air conditioning.  In the early years only the "rich" had ac in their cars ands we certainly weren't rich.  We drove with all the windows open. Now when you buy a car you just assume that it has ac.

          When we were first married we bought a large window fan that used to pull in the cooler air through other open windows.  That provided a little relief.  A few years later we bought a window air conditioner and that was an excellent improvement.  Finally in 1991 we were able to afford to invest in central air and it was like heaven.  Now I don't know how we'd survive without it.

          But my worst experiences without ac came during my first 25 years of teaching. During those years I taught and had my office on the third floor of a building with a flat roof.  Because of the layout of the rooms there was little cross ventilation.  And my office and the classrooms that I usually taught in were on the morning sun side of the building and caught the early morning rays of sun.  Often when I began the day, the rooms were already at 90 degrees.  And the temperature never dropped throughout the day.

          Teaching and working in those conditions was a major challenge.  I would often be soaked by the end of the first period.  Eventually we bought a floor fan for each math classroom to try and at least move some air.  And while we proposed some possible solutions with large exhaust fans to the administration, nobody was willing to provide the funds to do so.  And they didn't even appear in our area during those times. And, of course, the office area was air conditioned.  It was probably the only time in my life that I actually enjoyed attending meetings when they were held in the office area.

         I don't know how anybody actually learned anything in that situation during the hot days of the late spring and late summer months.

         My biggest joy came when our building was finally remodeled and expanded.  And everything was then air conditioned.  What a change! Teaching then was again fun.

          We also spent a summer in Florida while I was attending Florida State.  And it was hot, but everything there was air conditioned and that made it bearable.  However, it actually wasn't as humid there as it usually is in Lancaster County.

          Now you younger readers really have no understanding of what I am sharing.  Be glad you don't.  But for you older readers who yearn for the "good old days", maybe you should think about how things really were.  And pray that you don't lose your electricity and ac in these miserable hot and humid days.

Phone Menus

          Isn't it "fun" when you are trying to reach somebody on the phone and you first get a whole menu of options which you must listen to so that you can eventually navigate to the person you need to talk to?  Often it can become an Anxiety Hotline, especially if you are in a hurry.
          And often one of the biggest challenges is trying to find a way to actually talk to a real person about your problem.  Then when you finally find the right way to get to a real person you often end up with a message that says "I am out of my office. Please leave your number and I will get back to you as soon as I can" (maybe when they get back from vacation).
         Well for those of us who get bothered by these phone menus, recently I came upon the choices for a real Anxiety Hotline.  How would you like to be greeted by the following choices?
          If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.
          If you are co-dependent, please ask somebody to press 2 for you.
          If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5, and 6.
          If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want.  Stay on the line so that we can trace your call.
          If you are delusional, press 7 so that your call can be transferred to the mother ship.
          If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press.
          If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press, no one will answer.
          If you are dyslexic, press 969696969696969.
          If you have a nervous disorder, please fidget with the hash key until a representative comes on line.
          If you have amnesia, press 8, and state your name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number, and your mother's maiden name.
          If you have post-traumatic stress disorder, slowly and carefully press 000.
          If you have bi-polar disorder, please leave a message after the beep or before the beep. Or after the beep.  Please wait for the beep.
          If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.  If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.  If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.
          If you have low esteem, please hang up.  All of our operators are too busy to talk to you.

A Special Man

          Every Father's Day I especially think of my dad and what he meant to me.  He loved the Lord and devoted his life to serving Him.   He knew  how to trust the Lord when facing adversity.  My father knew how to work hard.  He was very wise. He loved his family.   He was a very special man.  I just wish that I could be half the father that he was to me.

          It would take pages for me to write about all that he taught me and what I observed while he was living.  But one thing that always impressed me was how he knew that all that he had was really the Lords.

          Dad didn't have a car until I was in first grade.  But when he finally had one, it was dedicated to the Lord.  For years every Sunday he picked up folks to take to church, even when it meant going way out of his way.  We picked up kids, or more often adults, who needed a ride.  One of those that he often picked up was an overweight lady - probably over 300 pounds - who had to be very hard on the springs of his car.  But dad never complained as we transported her to church.

          Dad was extremely influential in the founding of our church in Lancaster.  He worked with the denomination to get it started.  He helped the builders and spent hours doing things like painting the walls of the new building. and pouring cement walks.  He served as a teacher, an elder, delegate and financial treasurer for decades.  One thing that I learned later in life, that nobody else knew, was though he had little money, when our struggling church couldn't pay all of its bills, dad quietly gave enough to pay them.  Often he bailed out our church and nobody ever knew it.  He showed that all that he had - his, time, money and possessions - belonged to the Lord.

          Dad spent hours behind the scenes doing work for our church, our denomination, CBMC, Berean Bible School, Calvary Homes and Lancaster Christian School.  He was faithful in doing this work and spent many hours serving .  Actually, just hours before he died, he even completed reports for the denomination's Board of Directors which was meeting the morning of his death.  I found the reports ready to go and actually delivered them for him.

          In 1969 when our denomination closed our sister church in Millersville and could not find a buyer for the property, dad bought it.  He sold us what had been the parsonage.  Later he rented the basement church structure to a variety of groups and probably lost money on that.  Finally he was able to sell it to the local Lions Club.  But he still had about two acres of the land that would be too expensive for him to develop.  For many years we and a neighboring farmer grew things there.  I don't think he ever charged the farmer for using it.  So for years the land sat there with no prospects to sell or develop it.  And he still had to pay the taxes every year.

          Then suddenly a developer purchased some adjoining land and offered to buy dad's land,  In the Lord's perfect timing, this was the same time when our church was purchasing another property for our new church.  Dad was able to work out a deal to give his land to our church who then was able to sell it to the developer.  So this land which once belonged to our denomination provided a considerable gift to help get out new church started. Neither he nor I received anything from this sale, but dad was thrilled with the knowledge that after many years this "investment " could return to the Lord's work.

          Dad also taught me the importance of being faithful in attending the Lord's house.  Whenever the doors of the church were open, we were there.  I still remember when I was on little league baseball and football teams dad would pull up at 7 pm and I had to leave with my family to attend prayer meeting.  I now realize that dad knew that I would never be a star player, but he did know that I could become a man of God.  And today I thank him for doing that.

          But I guess one of the biggest lessons I learned from dad came with his experience at RCA.  He worked there for many years.  As a manager he was going through a process of laying off people in his department.  This was hard for him to do.  And after completing that process, when he walked in one Friday he was told that his job also was being eliminated.  He had to pack his possessions and immediately leave the plant.  While this was very hard on my mother, dad accepted it as the Lord's will.  He never complained but went about finding other jobs.  He did things like substitute in schools, complete income tax forms for people and a variety of other things.  He never missed a day of work.  Finally the Lord opened up a job as plant manager for the Osteopathic  Hospital.  Dad trusted the Lord and the Lord never failed him.  What a testimony that was for me.

          I could write much more about dad and his walk with the Lord throughout his life.  I was blest to have such a godly father who was a real example to me.  And I still miss him.

Thinking of Retiring?

          Are you looking forward to retirement?  Well some folks never retire.  General Douglas MacArthur understood this when he famously stated, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."  That might be true for five-star generals, but here are some things that happen to others as they age.

* Golfers never retire, they just lose their drive.
* Lumberjacks never retire, they just pine away.
* Accountants never retire, they just lose their balance.
* Bank managers never retire, they just lose interest.
* Vehicle mechanics never retire, they re-tire every day.
* Roofers never retire, they just wipe the slate clean.
* Engineers never retire, they just lose their bearings.
* Beekeepers never retire, they just buzz off.
* Musicians never retire, they just decompose.
* Farmers never retire, they just go to seed.
* Watchmakers never retire, they just wind down.
* Academics never retire, they just lose their faculties.
* Painters never retire, they just put a gloss on it.
* Tree surgeons never retire, they just branch out.
* Old librarians never die, they just check out, become overdue, and lose their circulation.
* Old crossword puzzlers never die, they just go across and -- hopefully -- up.
* Old milkmaids never die, they just kick the bucket and lose their whey.
* Old plumbers never die, they just get out of sink and go down the drain.
* Old teachers never die, they just grade away and lose their principals, their faculties, and their class.
* Old math professors never die, they just go off on a tangent.
* Old mimes never die, they're just never heard from again.
* Old housemaids never die, they just return to dust.

(From "The Gift of Age" (c)2010 by Richard Lederer)

So what about you?  Why not leave me a comment to tell me what happens to those in your line of work?

Change

        I grew up in the 50's, graduating from high school in 1959.  Those were good years and I have many great memories. But change happens and things have really changed since then.  Things that we never would have predicted or believed have happened and sometimes we forget all that has changed.  Well here are several comments that could have been made in the 50's.  Enjoy how things have changed.

          "If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."          "Who would have thought gas would someday cost 50 cents a gallon."
          "Pretty soon you won't be able to buy a good 10 cent cigar."
          "Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president."
          "Do you suppose television will ever reach our part of the country?"
          "I never thought I'd see the day when all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now."
          "It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet."
          "Did you know the new church in town is allowing women to wear slacks to their service?"
          "Next thing you know is, the government will start paying us not to grow crops."
          "There is no sense going to Philadelphia or New York anymore for a weekend, It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel."
          "No one can afford to be sick any more, $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood."
          "If a few idiots want to risk their necks flying across the country that's fine, but nothing will ever replace trains."
          "I don't know about you but if they raise the price of coffee to 15 cents, I'll just have to drink mine at home."
          "If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it. I'll have my wife learn to cut hair."
          "We won't be going out much any more. Our baby sitter informed us she wants 50 cents an hour. Kids think money grows on trees."

         Interesting.  Now I wonder what comments we are making now that we will laugh at  60 years from today.  What do you think?