Saturday Blog

Only when we forget about ourselves, when we get out of the thoughts of ourselves, can we fruitfully communicate with others, listen to them, and influence them. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom, 18 February)

Work all the time. Do not think that work is a disaster for you, and do not seek praise or reward for your work. (Marcus Aurelious in A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 19 February)

It's taken me all my life to understand that it is not necessary to understand everything. (Rene' Coty in Abounding Grace by M. Scott Peck, p. 383)

A man must learn to endure that patiently which he cannot avoid conveniently. (Michel de Montaigne in The Heart of the Possible by Alexandra Stoddard)

• I'm having lots of fun reviewing the books I've read in the past few years. I own used copies of most of them. They are stored on bookcases in our basement. At the same time as I'm renewing the books I've read I'm noticing how many good books I own that I still want to read. There are most certainly more books on hand than I can read in my lifetime. I know there are copies of books about the life of Willa Cather, books by Stephen Ambrose, Walden Pond, Anna Karenina and books of the Daily Bible Study Series of William Barclay, et al.

Mr. Dickie

Live This Day Fully

I plan to live this day fully, so I avoid letting my thoughts and memories take me back to living in the past. I have come through events and circumstances a stronger and wiser person, and I can be free of feelings of regret or resentment about mistakes or mishaps that I have experienced.
(Colleen Zuck, et al., Daily Word for Healing, p. 51)

• Yesterday afternoon I went to the Bowie Seniors Center. The purpose of the visit was to use one of the two computers they installed for public access to the Internet. This was my first time to use either of these computers. I took along some blank CDs and my thumb drives. I backed up some photographs to a couple of the CDs. I'm not used to using their version of Windows so the whole process was a learning experience. I also got on AOL to check Email. I looked at Facebook and my Google blogs. What a difference it makes when you have high speed access to the Internet. You must sign up to use these computers. Each session is limited to 30 minutes. The other computer was also in use. Noone came by to sign up. Both of us stayed signed on for more than an hour. I didn't accomplish everything I wanted. I was satisfied with how it worked out. I learned how these computers worked and came away with two CDs of backup.
• The classmate group on Facebook still is having trouble getting our Facebook friends into the group. We are trying to understand why it takes folks so long to join the group after an invitation has been sent. For the last week there have been two or three people Nancy has been waiting to join each day.

Mr. Dickie

"Stand in the Door!"

Photo: Mr. Dickie (back view of "Stand in the door!" in Omaha, NE)

Many "older" children go through life either secretly or openly hating their parents. They blame them for past abuses, neglect or favoritism and they center their adult life on that hatred, living out the reactive, justifying script that accompanies it. (Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits fo Highly Effective People, p. 117)

Most of us are so paralyzed by the trappings of our lives that we wouldn't recognize a miracle if it stared us in the face. (Gene Cotton in The Upper Room Disciplines - 2006, 19 February)

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world. (Helen Keller in One More Day by Sefra Kobrin Pitzele, 18 February)

• I'm enjoying reviewing the books I've read and posting them to weRead(IRead). The process does remind me of that fact that I lost my book catalog when my laptop computer failed. I still have a backup copy. The problem is I backed up in the DBF file format and I don't have a program on my computers that can read this format. Looking at my book collection in the basement reminds me that I have purchased too many used books. I have so many that I would like to read "sometime."


• I enjoy each day checking to see who else has joined The Class of '57 group on Facebook. It's a slow process getting folks to join Facebook and then to join the group. Once a classmate has joined the group there's one more step, encouraging them to post to The Wall and to the topics in the Discussion Board. So far I'm the only one who posted to the photo area and to the links area.


• Yesterday I went for an hour long walk in the neighborhood. I was pleased to see that the county finally removed the porta-potty they place in "the hood" when they were picking up leaves in the fall. After the walk I stayed outside for at least another hour talking to some of the neighbors.

Mr. Dickie

Take a Good, Hard Look

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Airborne - "Stand in the door!" At a park near Con Agra, Omaha, NE)

Take a good , hard look at your life and take responsibility for everything. Seek truth and justice in your daily life. Don't let pride stand in the way of understanding and peaceful living. Allow others their truth even if it differs from yours.

Know that you are solely responsible for your actions and for your inner peace. Be grateful for this and all blessings. Remember that free will is the blessing that allows you to experience life in order to learn the lessons that lead to wisdom. It is often more difficult to be grateful for the uncomfortable lessons; they also allow you to grow when you take responsibility for your part. Look for the lesson in any challenge and the challenge dissipates. If you allow it, everything that happens to you is designed to teach holiness and bring you closer to God.

Affirmation: I am true to myself and grateful for all my life's lessons and oneness with God.(Susan Smith Jones, Choose to Live Each Day Fully, day 63)

Principles

Principles always have natural consequences attached to them. There are positive consequences when we live in harmony with the principles. There are negative consequences when we ignore them. But because these principles apply to everyone, whether or not they are aware, this limitation is universal. And the more we know of correct principles, the greater is our personal freedom to act wisely. (Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, p. 123)

• This morning there was an artcile in The Washington Post Business Section about the bankruptcy filing of Ritz Camera (the largest U.S. photography retailer) this past weekend. This store started in Atlantic City ninety-one years ago and is still held by the family. The headquarters is located in Beltsville, MD a few miles from our house. I have been in the headquarters store a few times in recent months. There are 800 stores in 40 states, 51 in the Washington, DC area. There are 6,424 employees. They are going to try to stay in business. After reading the article I have my doubts.
• This morning I realized that I should send a "suggest" a friend message to one of my new Facebook friends. That's a neat part of the Facebook experience. Yesterday several folks joined the "Class of '57" group. Next thing is to encourage them to post to "The Wall" and to the Discussion Board.
• Last night I brought up a stack of books from the basement and posted them to my weRead(IRead) account. My goal is to post 100 books. I won't have any trouble reaching that number. I've posted 79 so far. I tried to post all of the seven Harry Potter books. I don't own those so I have to do a little research to determine which ones I missed.
• I'm trying to understand how my Google Henthorn group works. There are certain aspects of it that I don't like. It seems difficult to let the visitors know what's in each of the files that are uploaded to the Files area. Perhaps I need to write a "Page" with file descriptions. Because I haven't made a lot of use of the group I seem to have forgotten what little I knew about it.
  

Mr. Dickie

Email Posts Test

This message is a test to determine if I installed an envelope icon, with an arrow on it, at the bottom of my posts. Clicking on the icon allows the visitor to Email my posts.

The test worked. Now if I ever write anything profound you can even Email it to yourself. Or you can annoy all your family and friends by sending the posting to them.

Mr. Dickie

Pigeons

Imagine a flock of pigeons in a corn field. Imagine that ninety-nine of them, instead of pecking the corn they need and using it as they need it, start to collect all they can into one big heap. Imagine that they do not leave much corn for themselves, but save this heap of corn on behalf of the vilest and worst of the flock. Imagine that they all sit in a circle and watch this one pigeon, who squanders and wastes this wealth. And then imagine that they rush at a weak pigeon who is the most hungry among them who darest to take one grain from the heap wihout permission, and they punish him.

If you can imagine this, then you can understand the day-to-day behavior of mankind. (William Paley, A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 23 February)