Well besides the one great thing that happened yesterday I also managed to fetch my son's car back from the body shop all repaired.  Once he got his wheels back the phone kept ringing as all his buddies managed to get the word.

Actually I was quite surprised though, as he came home from the body shop, parked the car, and went to bed.  I figured he could be out running with his friends.  He told me he was just tired and did have to go to work today.  It was a little surprising.

I wanted to say something about something that was bothering me, but rather than go into a tirade I will just say, this is my blog, I have freedom of speech and expression which I earned while protecting this country during my 26 years of service, and I will blog about anything I want.  

Finally if you haven't been to Laila's blog, she is my mystery woman.  We have been friends for a while and after things went bad here we went from friends, to game buddies, to lovers, to soul mates. 

At lunch after blogging my last entry I ran off to Jack in the Box to get some lunch.  I was going to skip lunch and just catch something when I got home, but the guys made a lunch run while we were in lab and arrived just about the time I was finishing the last post.

The smell of the food was overwhelming so I had to make a run.  Jack in the Box is pretty close to the base so I decided to go there and was thinking of tacos, but got Chicken Strips instead. 

On my way to Jack in the Box I saw what I consider to be an accident waiting to happen.  I saw this beat up little black Toyota pickup truck.  In the bed of the truck, were 5 ten-foot sections of wrought iron fence.  It was all placed in the left hand side of the bed of the truck.   The wrought iron was not placed lengthwise in the bed of the truck.  It was standing on the end so it was going up ten feet from the bed of the truck.  I was sure that these clowns was going to tip over on a turn and kept my distance.

Speaking of that, California has a law that says that when a school bus is stopped and picking up or dropping off passengers they will display red lights and a stop sign.  That means traffic in both directions will stop.  On Friday and again today I saw people on residential streets, blow right by the buses.  This was in my neighborhood of Paradise Hills in the vicinity of Rancho Hills Drive and Reo Drive, in case any law enforcement folks read my blog and would try and catch some of these people.

I have noticed a kind of lawlessness with the drivers in the neighborhood.  They do not stop at stop signs or red lights, they do not obey the right of way rules, and now they are not stopping for school busses.  I wonder how many have licenses, as these people seem to be unaware or just don't care.  One of these days a little kid is going to get hit in the neighborhood, and then maybe law enforcement will get involved in ticketing these lawbreakers.

Anyway, enough on raving about drivers, the chicken strips were good, but I do not recommend the buttermilk sauce that comes with them.  I took one bite and it was terrible, so I used catsup instead.  He chicken strips were good, but now tonight I am going to have to have a salad or fruit for dinner to compensate for the fried chicken strips.

Fried Chicken two days in a row, which is not good for my new healthy diet, though the new woman in my life will like it as she thinks I am too skinny.  Well I guess that is it, lunch is almost over.

Today I got up early, but then rolled over and went back to sleep.  I guess it was not wise to sit up until 2 AM last night and then try and get up by 6 AM.

I chatted online for a little while and then took a really nice hot bath as the weather we have had the past couple of days aggravated the nerve in my lower back.   It isn't bad, just annoying to have that minor but constant backache all the time.

After the bath I left for church.  I found a better way to get to the parking lot that was much faster than in past weeks.  I got there about 10 minutes early so I had a chance to kneel down a talk to God for a few minutes.  I thanked him for some things and asked for a few more.

Father Ron gave the service this morning.  The first reading was from Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 (26B).  It was where Got told Abraham to sacrifice his son, and after he was sure Abraham was going to do it, had it stopped at the last second.  Abraham had displayed total faith and commitment to the lord.

The second reading was from Romans 8:31b-34, which talked about God's love for us, and that he, gave his son to us.

The Gospel was Mark 9:2-10 where Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to a mountain and a cloud appeared and from that cloud a voice told them "he is my son, listen to him".  As they were coming down the mountain Jesus told them to keep it a secret until the Son of Man arose from the dead.

The church bulletin asks the following questions.  What does "rising from the dead," mean to you, personally, in your own life?  Relate and experience from your life that demonstrates your understanding.  What can you do to help ensure that you have the faith to continue the journey when you are "down the mountain"?

I would like to say that I have risen from the dead spiritually.  For quite a number of years now I was neglecting going to church and all.  Now I have been attending regularly and will continue to do so.

The sermon today was that Abraham was ready to make a huge sacrifice in demonstrating his faith in God, and after demonstrating that faith God shows him e does not want bad for him or society.

Our sinfulness demonstrates lack of this ultimate faith.  We sometimes do things for personal gratification, that we know are sins.  We will always pay for them in the long run. 

He then went on to talk about how the church as a community must grow this faith in God.  He said this week is a perfect time to get on track as Wednesday and Thursday they are holding confession and will have 15 priests there to make sure it goes quickly.  He also said that he would like us to stay for the entire service on one of those nights to pray the Rosary and ask for community forgiveness. 

I have been putting off going to confession, but this looks like the best opportunity to do it, so I will attend one of the services and get it done. 

He also said that since St. Patrick's Day falls on the third Friday of lent, the Bishop said we did not have to fast this Friday.  That is a good thing though I don't really plan on making corned beef and cabbage.

After church I went to Popeye's fried chicken and got a 3-piece meal with cole slaw.  I have been staying away from fried food and eating more fruit and salads but I decided to spoil myself today as I have been fasting on Fridays.