A friend of a friend had a new neighbour, a handsome and friendly guy but their dog did not want to do anything with him. Later on it turned out the man was a spy. Dogs know. My very friendly beagle mix very seldom turns someone down, and the few times it happened, she was right about these people, too.
At 12, I was bitten on the cheek by a dog immediately when getting out of the car while visiting a farmer friend.
Come to find out the dog was a rescue from the local vet. They took the dog back to be put down and the vet said he should have put him down when he bit him.
Probably put the dog down for rabies test to keep HPP from getting rabies shots. When on the head (mine was on the lip) not that much time to lose. And those shots were murder...compounded in glycerine and injected into the abdominal muscle. Put me off shots forever and caused white coat syndrome until self diagnosed in my 70s.
That is terrible. I love dogs and German Shepards are my favorite. I had one growing up and a couple after I got married. When I was a little girl my moo would take me to piano lessons. My teacher had a large German Shepard dog that was mean. She would usually have it put out of the way when we would go to lessons. One time he was out. My mom carefully got out to make her way to the door, the dog clamped his mouth around my mom’s wrist just as the teacher came out. Scared me to death. It always makes me Leary of other people’s large dogs , especially if they are barking. If the dogs don’t bark they usually come and sit by me and let me love on them. We have a yorkie and a Shih Tzu.
I called the doc who administered the shots Dr. Tummy. I guess I held no animosity for him. It's taken me about 65 years to recall that the dog was a cocker spaniel. I was bit on the face, the scars are hard to see now - when it doesn't matter.
My son was bitten by my Brother’s Cocker Spaniel when he was 4; that was a hard one for me, because Erik, my son, had to get stitches in his lip, & the only way the ER doctor could take care of this bite, Erik had to be put in a child restraining “bag-“, or something to that effect. My friend was visiting us at the time, & she went into the ER room ‘cause I couldn’t handle this - I couldn’t stop crying & watch my son go through that! Very traumatic for all of us!
When our boxer jumped on me (a 6-yr old-me not the dog) his paw hit my eye. I like dogs that keep all four paws on the ground. Why do people teach their dogs to jump on people? Are they too lazy to bend over to pet them?
It does prompt me to think about those times that I've been aggressively charged while on walks or bike rides. And many more times that I've been startled by sudden barking as I passed in front of those houses. Is it their expansive sense of territoriality? My failing anti-perspirant? Canine anti-human discrimination? I've asked some of them, but got no answer. Or am I just.... a bad person? Heavy questions that require introspection.
Dogs like to protect their territory. but lack of training makes them unable to distinguish when to protect. But they also love to bark at everything. Riding my bike I have been run at by dogs many times. They love to chase things. Most of the time, depending on the dog, I will stop and tell the dog no and go home with an authoritative voice. Now with my e-bike I can quickly throttle it to 25 mph.
At my old place there was a guy who had two rottweilers who went after bicyclists. Despite several warnings he never confined them. Then the sheriff went out there. The dogs attacked him and were both shot on the spot. Owner was also charged with harboring dangerous animals.
There has been increasing tension around here. It seems every male dog on a walk lifts his leg on my brick mailbox (which probably doesn't help the flowers I planted there this spring). And every time I witness it through the front window, I have to run out there and re-mark it, just to make the point that, oh no, this is MY territory.
Tell me about it. The other day, I looked out at a man with big dog. Dog was rolling/pushing/crushing a small (but expensive) flowering bush I had planted last Fall and was nursing along. I opened door, said politely "Your dog is destroying my plant". Man let dog continue while looking on and replied, "No, he's not?!!" What the heck #%^&%&&^*!!!!!!!
WOW! Too bad the dog owner didn’t keep the dogs fenced in, or sounds like lack of training as you mentioned. We moved to a rural county back in 1992; the neighbors had 2 Rottweilers; one was aggressive, one very friendly. Roper, the friendly Rott, was always on our property visiting us. She was a wonderful dog & my kids really liked being around her, but we were always protective of our children when Roper visited.
I think it's a territory thing. My yellow lab is a lover. The only time he shows any aggression is with an occasional alpha dog. The rest of the time, when people approach, you can see the anticipation in him as to how many pats and rubs he can persuade the visitors to give him.
I had a male friend with exactly the same complaints. I've never experienced such problems generally (2 roman nosed dogs did jump at me snarling). Most dogs have been friendly. I got the impression he may have had a fear reaction - tension, sweating? Do dogs conclude that equals guilty as suspected?
Wait. Not fair. I've had dogs. But I'm a cat person. I don't like the cleanup after dogs and you can't leave a dog alone for 3 days like you can a cat. On the other hand dogs do like me so I guess I'm ok.
I really look forward to Friday's and Sunday's funnies, today's post had some winner's thanks to all who contributed and I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Please remember to keep the flood victims and those still missing in your prayers because praying does create miracles.........
Oh, I just turned news coverage on this morning, & didn’t know about the flooding. Very , very sad & horrible. Prayers for all those that are missing...
07/06/25: Sometimes there simply isn't a silver lining or anything that prayers can do. If we could consistently evade disaster, what would life be like?
I have to say today’s Sunday Strip was perfect 😇. My Sunday rant🙄.
We all learn and grow in different ways, many times it’s a community, or a group. It can be at our job, where we learn from a person that is stronger in an area that we are weak in. Or here on sub stack, where we learn from the good Doctors or the experiences of their great subscribers. Over time we can grow, we become educated, it could be we learn to be more compassionate, certainly we become better, more educated people.
Within these groups are individual people, each of us with our own individual deficiencies. Some of us, myself included, struggle at times with dwelling on those limitations. If I was a little more self confident, a little taller, if I had a nicer personality, if I grew up in a better home, or maybe if I controlled my temper better, be a little more patient. We often let our faults and weakness become an excuse to stay at mediocrity. The truth is God doesn’t just use perfect people. If he did, none of us would have a chance.
As believers our life is not put on hold until we become perfect. Gods calling uses all of us as we are growing, while we are changing. Like most all of the disciples Peter was far from perfect, he had a bad temper, used bad language, cursed at people. His faults showed right up until the crucification of Jesus and I’m sure beyond.
He had plenty of room to grow but yet he was still chosen as a disciple, one of Jesus’ right hand men. You would think Jesus would have picked someone more polished more disciplined. When you have a heart to please God you may make mistakes, you may have areas you need to strengthen, but that doesn’t disqualify you from doing good along the way. If God could use Peter in such a great way, with all his flaws, he can surely use us. The scripture says Gods power shows up greatest in our weaknesses. So if we wait until until we are perfect, we will be waiting all of our life.
This doesn’t mean to accept our limitations, we should always try to grow, improve, strive to do better. Isn’t this why we’re all here? But in the meantime we shouldn’t beat ourselves up because we haven’t arrived. We are Gods workmanship, it’s a lifelong process. There will always be areas we need to work on. Instead of condemning ourselves we need to start accepting ourselves. There is power when we conclude I like who I am. I’m happy with myself.
Here’s a great short story I had come across with a connection.
There was an elderly Chinese woman. She had two large pots that hung on the end of a long pole that would rest on her neck and shoulders. Every day she would walk from her house down to the stream to get some fresh water. One of the pots had a small crack in it, the other pot was perfect. Because of the crack when she’d get back from the long walk that pot with the leak would only be about 1/2 full. This went on week after week month after month.
The perfect pot was very proud of its accomplishments, always bringing a full pot of water. But the pot with the crack, well it felt a little embarrassed, ashamed by its imperfection. One day it said to the elderly woman I really feel bad that I don’t measure up, I’m only delivering about 1/2 of what I was supposed to. The woman said, have you noticed that there are flowers on your side of the path from where the water has leaked out? That’s because I’ve always known about your flaw so I have planted seeds on your side of the path, every day when we return from the stream you water those seeds. For the last 2 years I have picked those flowers and decorated my house. Without you being just the way you are there wouldn’t be this beauty in my house.
Every one of us has unique flaws and weaknesses. We could easily be down on ourself. But just like this lady, God knows where to plant the seeds to get the most out of our weaknesses. Remember God is not finished with us. Don’t go through life being against yourself. Dare to say I like myself. Be the best you can be with what Gods given you. Keep striving and you’ll find you will become everything Gods created you to be. Happy Sunday!! J.Goodrich
Thank You Robbie, most all of my Sunday posts here are a learning experience for me. I try to come across a subject that I can relate to, many times to what we’re all going through or have gone through. It’s something how things repeat over and over again throughout history. Thanks!!
Great story, James! Our company motto was, "We strive for perfection and settle for excellence." There was only one perfect human. We can strive to emulate Him but never get there. And even if we did, then we would be prideful about it and ruin it.
King David had the pride problem in I Chronicles 21 with a little nudge from the Adversary. Read that chapter in the NKJ because the NIV omits a key phrase. Let me know it you are as blown away by Ornan the Jebusite as I am.
53rd Chapter, this was something that happened to me a few years back. Not a cracked pot story but a story of something interesting I learned.
A few years ago my wife and I stayed at the Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire for our anniversary. The hotel has a beautiful old farmers porch that wraps around it. We decided to sit out and have a snack and being a carpenter I noticed one baluster was installed upside down. I pointed it out to my wife. She said it figures you would notice that. It was strange to me that the carpenter messed up 1 baluster. Of coarse I then had to walk around and see if there were any other balusters upside down, I couldn’t find one out of thousands on this extremely large porch. I was amazed that where we sat was the only upside down baluster and I happened to notice it. I’ve never heard of a reason to do this and even being a carpenter for 40 years I’ve never noticed an upside down baluster before.
However an upside down baluster is generally installed that way for a reason-and there is a fair amount of superstition behind it. Come to find out this is a longstanding tradition of builders carpenters or craftsman installing one single upside down baluster on purpose. It’s to acknowledge only God is perfect, and everything man-made and man himself will have its flaws.
The other train of thought behind installing an upside down baluster lies in superstition. It’s believed an upside down baluster will prevent the devil from creeping up a staircase and capturing anyone who is about to die.
Hope you had a great 4th of July, enjoy today. Thanks for helping me learn and grow!
Very interesting story on baluster, James. My husband learned to create stained glass years ago. He fashioned several small/medium and a couple big pieces for family a number of years. He always set one piece of glass in backward for the same reason. Even our faces are different on each side.
Yes, absolutely, but what gets me is, in the NKJV, after seeing the angel with the sword that had just killed 70,000, with his sons hiding themselves in fear, "Ornan continued threshing wheat." The NIV leaves out this phrase, and thereby robs the reader of being able to ask the question, "I wonder why he wasn't afraid?"
Awesome “Rant”! I also look forward to your “Words of Wisdom”, & as mentioned below from Swabbie Robbie, your stories are wonderful sermons; Thank you! I have had to learn to be more tolerant of others, but mostly myself. Years ago I hated “change of any kind”; but, as I matured with age, & gained a little bit of wisdom, I began to make changes in my attitude, & found out “change can be a good thing”! As I have mentioned in comments previously, my Daughter has always had my back, & always told me over & over, that “God has your back”, Mom! Have more Faith in God & he will always guide you in the direction you need to go. Your Sunday “rants” have helped me in many ways! Have a great & Blessed Day! Thank you.
We all seem to struggle with who we are, where we are in life……I’m 66 and still struggle daily. Add in the stress of adult kids(their stresses) grandchildren(their stresses) it becomes quite overwhelming at times. Thanks James, I really needed that today! 🤗
07/06/25: SCORE! (Runner Up: Re-written as per District Judge (in Algeria): How did the name for Spain, "Iberia," travel 4,000 miles east and become "Siberia"?)
And Three Cheers (Mandatory) for The Lower-End All Star Game!
A $765 Million Dollar "Victim" (07/06/25)
"2025 MLB All-Star Game rosters: Oversights, other takeaways
"ESPN Doolittle (07/06/25)
"National League
"Biggest oversight: Juan Soto, New York Mets
"... I'm guessing Soto is a victim of his own standards. Yes, he signed a contract for an unfathomable amount of money, and so far, he hasn't reinvented the game as a member of the Mets. He has just been lower-end Juan Soto, which is still one of the best players in the sport. His OBP is, as ever, north of .400, he leads the league in walks and it sure seems as if Pete Alonso has very much enjoyed hitting behind him."
Two pictures here really told the truth. The getting rid of cash is total control. Once they have your cash every transaction can monitored or EVEN REJECTED. This is restricting the second amendment. Visa and Mastercard already have a separate code for firearms sales so they can easily identify it. The Wisk one was funny because once they took phosphates out of detergents nothing gets clean anymore. An olive oil stain on a t-shirt lasts forever. Also, they have new product that now gets rid of smelly laundry. Once phosphates were taken out nothing gets clean. I add TSP to all my laundry replacing the phosphates they removed. They claimed phosphates were making water “sudsy” and it was somehow harmful. Yet, most water goes to a plant that cleans it and septic tanks have leach fields with hundreds of years of evidence for them and I don’t think phosphates hurt anything. It was all bullshit.
I did a search and all I got was a Thrift Savings Plan. I know enough that they don't go into the laundry or at least not the laundry in the traditional sense‼️⁉️‼️😀😜🤣
It’s a cleaner you can probably get at your local hardware store. It’s called Tri-Sodium Phosphate. It comes in a cardboard box and is a powder. I cut the corner of the box and shake it a couple times before I stick the clothes in. Cleans like the 80’s!
And I called the Fri. group eclectic! Hard to pick a fave tho the garden tip was a hoot. The d.e.i. pilots scary enough but then consider they may also have jab effected tickers. Fast train indeed!
Thanks for starting the Sunday Strip out showing the original Big Beautiful Bill....It was just one of many that elicited a laugh...or created a moment of reflection on an issue, such as, the stomach with oil in it, or chicken or vegetables...or communism!
Thanks for the great Sunday strip. I loved the garden tips and the one about if you don’t follow due process coming in you shouldn’t get it going out!! So true!!
A vote for Liberal Barbie. Anytime I attempt to learn the liberal perspective I get "I hate Trump" or "That's racist" or "you're racist". If I try can we discus why I'm a racist, I get "I can't talk to a Conservative". Then we're making some progress.
Spot on about the dogs liking you.
I usually re-assess my take on the people that don't like dogs and the people that aren't liked by dogs.
Dogs know.
A friend of a friend had a new neighbour, a handsome and friendly guy but their dog did not want to do anything with him. Later on it turned out the man was a spy. Dogs know. My very friendly beagle mix very seldom turns someone down, and the few times it happened, she was right about these people, too.
I get on well with dogs perhaps because was bitten by one as a tot and got rabies shots so they feel a sense of kinship?
At 12, I was bitten on the cheek by a dog immediately when getting out of the car while visiting a farmer friend.
Come to find out the dog was a rescue from the local vet. They took the dog back to be put down and the vet said he should have put him down when he bit him.
ugh, not funny.
Probably put the dog down for rabies test to keep HPP from getting rabies shots. When on the head (mine was on the lip) not that much time to lose. And those shots were murder...compounded in glycerine and injected into the abdominal muscle. Put me off shots forever and caused white coat syndrome until self diagnosed in my 70s.
That is terrible. I love dogs and German Shepards are my favorite. I had one growing up and a couple after I got married. When I was a little girl my moo would take me to piano lessons. My teacher had a large German Shepard dog that was mean. She would usually have it put out of the way when we would go to lessons. One time he was out. My mom carefully got out to make her way to the door, the dog clamped his mouth around my mom’s wrist just as the teacher came out. Scared me to death. It always makes me Leary of other people’s large dogs , especially if they are barking. If the dogs don’t bark they usually come and sit by me and let me love on them. We have a yorkie and a Shih Tzu.
I called the doc who administered the shots Dr. Tummy. I guess I held no animosity for him. It's taken me about 65 years to recall that the dog was a cocker spaniel. I was bit on the face, the scars are hard to see now - when it doesn't matter.
Rambler, how sad 😔 ‼️‼️‼️
My son was bitten by my Brother’s Cocker Spaniel when he was 4; that was a hard one for me, because Erik, my son, had to get stitches in his lip, & the only way the ER doctor could take care of this bite, Erik had to be put in a child restraining “bag-“, or something to that effect. My friend was visiting us at the time, & she went into the ER room ‘cause I couldn’t handle this - I couldn’t stop crying & watch my son go through that! Very traumatic for all of us!
I don't like saying this, but in most cases of larger K-9 it's usually true.
The offender was aiming for the throat...but missed. You are fortunate.
I have witnessed full on K-9 to K-9 attacks. I had a friend get bitten by his own black lab under his right ear when we were 12. Unforgettable!
But I do still enjoy and respect the love of an un-abused trained animal.
And have yet to be bitten or faced with fear at the thought of it.
We had quite a few variations growing up. Some require full time jobs.
Others simply want 2 bowlfuls, a warm spot, and lots of praises.
I too was bit as a child and got the rabies shots! I've never liked dogs since.
When our boxer jumped on me (a 6-yr old-me not the dog) his paw hit my eye. I like dogs that keep all four paws on the ground. Why do people teach their dogs to jump on people? Are they too lazy to bend over to pet them?
Rarely is a dog taught to jump up on people.
I think it's some sort of greeting behavior.
It can be broken quite easily, but some here would think it a cruel way to train.
I've used on every dog I've had.
I like and trust most dogs much better than I like most people. If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand!
I feel that way about animals in general.
It does prompt me to think about those times that I've been aggressively charged while on walks or bike rides. And many more times that I've been startled by sudden barking as I passed in front of those houses. Is it their expansive sense of territoriality? My failing anti-perspirant? Canine anti-human discrimination? I've asked some of them, but got no answer. Or am I just.... a bad person? Heavy questions that require introspection.
Dogs like to protect their territory. but lack of training makes them unable to distinguish when to protect. But they also love to bark at everything. Riding my bike I have been run at by dogs many times. They love to chase things. Most of the time, depending on the dog, I will stop and tell the dog no and go home with an authoritative voice. Now with my e-bike I can quickly throttle it to 25 mph.
At my old place there was a guy who had two rottweilers who went after bicyclists. Despite several warnings he never confined them. Then the sheriff went out there. The dogs attacked him and were both shot on the spot. Owner was also charged with harboring dangerous animals.
There has been increasing tension around here. It seems every male dog on a walk lifts his leg on my brick mailbox (which probably doesn't help the flowers I planted there this spring). And every time I witness it through the front window, I have to run out there and re-mark it, just to make the point that, oh no, this is MY territory.
Ha ha! You have entered a battle you can't win. 1st of all there are many more of them than you and your family.
Tell me about it. The other day, I looked out at a man with big dog. Dog was rolling/pushing/crushing a small (but expensive) flowering bush I had planted last Fall and was nursing along. I opened door, said politely "Your dog is destroying my plant". Man let dog continue while looking on and replied, "No, he's not?!!" What the heck #%^&%&&^*!!!!!!!
Actually, James - the nitrogen in human urine fertilizes the plants. That's a good thing.
I hadn't thought of that; good point. And what am I so worried about? White flowers... yellow flowers; they're both beautiful.
I hope the human isn't doing his dirty work in your yard too, James!!! 😯😯
WOW! Too bad the dog owner didn’t keep the dogs fenced in, or sounds like lack of training as you mentioned. We moved to a rural county back in 1992; the neighbors had 2 Rottweilers; one was aggressive, one very friendly. Roper, the friendly Rott, was always on our property visiting us. She was a wonderful dog & my kids really liked being around her, but we were always protective of our children when Roper visited.
I corrected some typoes
I think it's a territory thing. My yellow lab is a lover. The only time he shows any aggression is with an occasional alpha dog. The rest of the time, when people approach, you can see the anticipation in him as to how many pats and rubs he can persuade the visitors to give him.
I'm voting for the 'failing under arm protection', James. Back to the big, bad screen to view/discover the newest in smell technology!
No reason for my vote other than I liked the humor of you adding it to your list!
I had a male friend with exactly the same complaints. I've never experienced such problems generally (2 roman nosed dogs did jump at me snarling). Most dogs have been friendly. I got the impression he may have had a fear reaction - tension, sweating? Do dogs conclude that equals guilty as suspected?
Wait. Not fair. I've had dogs. But I'm a cat person. I don't like the cleanup after dogs and you can't leave a dog alone for 3 days like you can a cat. On the other hand dogs do like me so I guess I'm ok.
I really look forward to Friday's and Sunday's funnies, today's post had some winner's thanks to all who contributed and I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Please remember to keep the flood victims and those still missing in your prayers because praying does create miracles.........
Oh, I just turned news coverage on this morning, & didn’t know about the flooding. Very , very sad & horrible. Prayers for all those that are missing...
07/06/25: Sometimes there simply isn't a silver lining or anything that prayers can do. If we could consistently evade disaster, what would life be like?
I have to say today’s Sunday Strip was perfect 😇. My Sunday rant🙄.
We all learn and grow in different ways, many times it’s a community, or a group. It can be at our job, where we learn from a person that is stronger in an area that we are weak in. Or here on sub stack, where we learn from the good Doctors or the experiences of their great subscribers. Over time we can grow, we become educated, it could be we learn to be more compassionate, certainly we become better, more educated people.
Within these groups are individual people, each of us with our own individual deficiencies. Some of us, myself included, struggle at times with dwelling on those limitations. If I was a little more self confident, a little taller, if I had a nicer personality, if I grew up in a better home, or maybe if I controlled my temper better, be a little more patient. We often let our faults and weakness become an excuse to stay at mediocrity. The truth is God doesn’t just use perfect people. If he did, none of us would have a chance.
As believers our life is not put on hold until we become perfect. Gods calling uses all of us as we are growing, while we are changing. Like most all of the disciples Peter was far from perfect, he had a bad temper, used bad language, cursed at people. His faults showed right up until the crucification of Jesus and I’m sure beyond.
He had plenty of room to grow but yet he was still chosen as a disciple, one of Jesus’ right hand men. You would think Jesus would have picked someone more polished more disciplined. When you have a heart to please God you may make mistakes, you may have areas you need to strengthen, but that doesn’t disqualify you from doing good along the way. If God could use Peter in such a great way, with all his flaws, he can surely use us. The scripture says Gods power shows up greatest in our weaknesses. So if we wait until until we are perfect, we will be waiting all of our life.
This doesn’t mean to accept our limitations, we should always try to grow, improve, strive to do better. Isn’t this why we’re all here? But in the meantime we shouldn’t beat ourselves up because we haven’t arrived. We are Gods workmanship, it’s a lifelong process. There will always be areas we need to work on. Instead of condemning ourselves we need to start accepting ourselves. There is power when we conclude I like who I am. I’m happy with myself.
Here’s a great short story I had come across with a connection.
There was an elderly Chinese woman. She had two large pots that hung on the end of a long pole that would rest on her neck and shoulders. Every day she would walk from her house down to the stream to get some fresh water. One of the pots had a small crack in it, the other pot was perfect. Because of the crack when she’d get back from the long walk that pot with the leak would only be about 1/2 full. This went on week after week month after month.
The perfect pot was very proud of its accomplishments, always bringing a full pot of water. But the pot with the crack, well it felt a little embarrassed, ashamed by its imperfection. One day it said to the elderly woman I really feel bad that I don’t measure up, I’m only delivering about 1/2 of what I was supposed to. The woman said, have you noticed that there are flowers on your side of the path from where the water has leaked out? That’s because I’ve always known about your flaw so I have planted seeds on your side of the path, every day when we return from the stream you water those seeds. For the last 2 years I have picked those flowers and decorated my house. Without you being just the way you are there wouldn’t be this beauty in my house.
Every one of us has unique flaws and weaknesses. We could easily be down on ourself. But just like this lady, God knows where to plant the seeds to get the most out of our weaknesses. Remember God is not finished with us. Don’t go through life being against yourself. Dare to say I like myself. Be the best you can be with what Gods given you. Keep striving and you’ll find you will become everything Gods created you to be. Happy Sunday!! J.Goodrich
I always appreciate your Sunday "rants". They are better than most sermons I have ever heard in church. Thanks for taking the time to write them.
Thank You Robbie, most all of my Sunday posts here are a learning experience for me. I try to come across a subject that I can relate to, many times to what we’re all going through or have gone through. It’s something how things repeat over and over again throughout history. Thanks!!
Great story, James! Our company motto was, "We strive for perfection and settle for excellence." There was only one perfect human. We can strive to emulate Him but never get there. And even if we did, then we would be prideful about it and ruin it.
King David had the pride problem in I Chronicles 21 with a little nudge from the Adversary. Read that chapter in the NKJ because the NIV omits a key phrase. Let me know it you are as blown away by Ornan the Jebusite as I am.
53rd Chapter, this was something that happened to me a few years back. Not a cracked pot story but a story of something interesting I learned.
A few years ago my wife and I stayed at the Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire for our anniversary. The hotel has a beautiful old farmers porch that wraps around it. We decided to sit out and have a snack and being a carpenter I noticed one baluster was installed upside down. I pointed it out to my wife. She said it figures you would notice that. It was strange to me that the carpenter messed up 1 baluster. Of coarse I then had to walk around and see if there were any other balusters upside down, I couldn’t find one out of thousands on this extremely large porch. I was amazed that where we sat was the only upside down baluster and I happened to notice it. I’ve never heard of a reason to do this and even being a carpenter for 40 years I’ve never noticed an upside down baluster before.
However an upside down baluster is generally installed that way for a reason-and there is a fair amount of superstition behind it. Come to find out this is a longstanding tradition of builders carpenters or craftsman installing one single upside down baluster on purpose. It’s to acknowledge only God is perfect, and everything man-made and man himself will have its flaws.
The other train of thought behind installing an upside down baluster lies in superstition. It’s believed an upside down baluster will prevent the devil from creeping up a staircase and capturing anyone who is about to die.
Hope you had a great 4th of July, enjoy today. Thanks for helping me learn and grow!
Very interesting story on baluster, James. My husband learned to create stained glass years ago. He fashioned several small/medium and a couple big pieces for family a number of years. He always set one piece of glass in backward for the same reason. Even our faces are different on each side.
That's great, James, thanks!
Yes, Ornan was willing to GIVE it all to King David! The place eventually became the site of the Temple, very valuable real estate even today!
Yes, absolutely, but what gets me is, in the NKJV, after seeing the angel with the sword that had just killed 70,000, with his sons hiding themselves in fear, "Ornan continued threshing wheat." The NIV leaves out this phrase, and thereby robs the reader of being able to ask the question, "I wonder why he wasn't afraid?"
What a beautiful story, James. Thank-you.
Excellent story! Thank you!
Awesome “Rant”! I also look forward to your “Words of Wisdom”, & as mentioned below from Swabbie Robbie, your stories are wonderful sermons; Thank you! I have had to learn to be more tolerant of others, but mostly myself. Years ago I hated “change of any kind”; but, as I matured with age, & gained a little bit of wisdom, I began to make changes in my attitude, & found out “change can be a good thing”! As I have mentioned in comments previously, my Daughter has always had my back, & always told me over & over, that “God has your back”, Mom! Have more Faith in God & he will always guide you in the direction you need to go. Your Sunday “rants” have helped me in many ways! Have a great & Blessed Day! Thank you.
I’ve always loved that cracked pot story! Have thought of it many times in my life.
James, great story.
My question is why do you call it a rant?
Thanks Ana, I think some people look at my post as a rant. It’s probably just me I guess.
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
We all seem to struggle with who we are, where we are in life……I’m 66 and still struggle daily. Add in the stress of adult kids(their stresses) grandchildren(their stresses) it becomes quite overwhelming at times. Thanks James, I really needed that today! 🤗
07/06/25: And on the lighter side, the cardiologist's funeral was Not For The Faint of Heart...
Are three or more pliers together a multiplier?
Great answer. If you take a pair of pliers apart it won't ply at all.
Oh Ho! Good !
oh, I believe you have it right!…:)
Yes. Good one. But we still don’t know what two are called
2-ply pliers. Th, th, that's all, folks....
Not quite all, a brace of pliers?
Two-pairs-of-plyers? LOL!
07/06/25: SCORE! (Runner Up: Re-written as per District Judge (in Algeria): How did the name for Spain, "Iberia," travel 4,000 miles east and become "Siberia"?)
And Three Cheers (Mandatory) for The Lower-End All Star Game!
A $765 Million Dollar "Victim" (07/06/25)
"2025 MLB All-Star Game rosters: Oversights, other takeaways
"ESPN Doolittle (07/06/25)
"National League
"Biggest oversight: Juan Soto, New York Mets
"... I'm guessing Soto is a victim of his own standards. Yes, he signed a contract for an unfathomable amount of money, and so far, he hasn't reinvented the game as a member of the Mets. He has just been lower-end Juan Soto, which is still one of the best players in the sport. His OBP is, as ever, north of .400, he leads the league in walks and it sure seems as if Pete Alonso has very much enjoyed hitting behind him."
Perhaps we can point to some of our problems due to Bill Gates being a billionnaire.
You mean Bill Gates, the convicted predatory monopolist?
I expected Liberal Barbie to have blue hair 🤣
I wound think rainbowed
LOL! Blue hair seems to be the new color this year; I have seen red, then pink, & green the past four years!
Two pictures here really told the truth. The getting rid of cash is total control. Once they have your cash every transaction can monitored or EVEN REJECTED. This is restricting the second amendment. Visa and Mastercard already have a separate code for firearms sales so they can easily identify it. The Wisk one was funny because once they took phosphates out of detergents nothing gets clean anymore. An olive oil stain on a t-shirt lasts forever. Also, they have new product that now gets rid of smelly laundry. Once phosphates were taken out nothing gets clean. I add TSP to all my laundry replacing the phosphates they removed. They claimed phosphates were making water “sudsy” and it was somehow harmful. Yet, most water goes to a plant that cleans it and septic tanks have leach fields with hundreds of years of evidence for them and I don’t think phosphates hurt anything. It was all bullshit.
James, please 🙏 explain what is TSP.
I did a search and all I got was a Thrift Savings Plan. I know enough that they don't go into the laundry or at least not the laundry in the traditional sense‼️⁉️‼️😀😜🤣
It’s a cleaner you can probably get at your local hardware store. It’s called Tri-Sodium Phosphate. It comes in a cardboard box and is a powder. I cut the corner of the box and shake it a couple times before I stick the clothes in. Cleans like the 80’s!
Thank 😊 you ‼️
You’re welcome. The environmentalists are to blame for this. Ridiculous.
I would guess trisodium phosphate
Ana - Tri Sodium Phosphate = TSP.
Borax sprinkled in works very well.
And I called the Fri. group eclectic! Hard to pick a fave tho the garden tip was a hoot. The d.e.i. pilots scary enough but then consider they may also have jab effected tickers. Fast train indeed!
Good Morning Dr. Malone. The first cartoon is a keeper ! Good to see you on American Thought Leaders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZQOuvW1Euw
What a great strip today! I always love that you include a bit about gardening in your Sunday strips.
Thanks for starting the Sunday Strip out showing the original Big Beautiful Bill....It was just one of many that elicited a laugh...or created a moment of reflection on an issue, such as, the stomach with oil in it, or chicken or vegetables...or communism!
When I interview people for jobs in my business, I usually bring my dog. If he doesn't like them, I don't hire them.
Your human resources department! or, is it canine resources dept?
Thanks for the great Sunday strip. I loved the garden tips and the one about if you don’t follow due process coming in you shouldn’t get it going out!! So true!!
Friday and Sunday funnies are worth the annual subscription. And the farm stories.
A vote for Liberal Barbie. Anytime I attempt to learn the liberal perspective I get "I hate Trump" or "That's racist" or "you're racist". If I try can we discus why I'm a racist, I get "I can't talk to a Conservative". Then we're making some progress.
Thank goodness for pairs of eyeglasses. Try using a pair of pliers and holding two monocles at the same time. It can't be done.