Social Security Shell Game: File Early or Wait?

The Social Security program in this country has undergone many changes over the 82 years since it’s inception, but I’m not here to decry manipulation or the theft of public monies by corrupt politicians. I’m looking at whether I should “retire” at age 62 or wait until full retirement age of 67 (yes, it’s 67 now). To run the numbers I used:

Retirement Calculator

This calculator gives you a personal estimate of what your average monthly Social Security benefits would be, based on if you retire early (age 62), at full retirement age (age 67) or at the latest age of retirement (age 70). This one accesses your S.S.A. data to give you an accurate payment amount.

And

So. Sec. Benefits by Year of Birth

This chart uses “average” numbers to help you make a decision without going into your personal info. Here’s how it shakes out for me.

Continue reading “Social Security Shell Game: File Early or Wait?”

For My Fellow Lexophiles (Lovers Of Words):

The following plays on words (puns) have been around the internet for some time. I cannot claim any of them as original (mine), only collected here for your enjoyment.

A bicycle can’t stand alone; it is two tired.
A will is a dead giveaway.
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In a democracy it’s your vote that counts; in feudalism, it’s your Count that votes.
A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion. Continue reading “For My Fellow Lexophiles (Lovers Of Words):”

Avoiding Regret and Repentance

We all experience regret over things we’ve said and done – or didn’t say or do when we should have. The Bible says that if we repent of our wrong-doings, God is swift to forgive us. People may not be so swift to forgive, so it is best to avoid doing things that cause anguish in the first place.

Regret vs. Repentance

Regret is a feeling of sorrow over something we’ve done. Our regret may be over the knowledge that we have inadvertently hurt someone, or it may be over the fact that we got caught doing something we thought we’d get away with. Either way regret is sorrow, but not necessarily knowing that we were wrong in doing something. In fact we may feel regret now, but if the opportunity arises again, we may well do it again because we still feel we had the “right” to do whatever we did … we’ll just be more careful not to get caught. Continue reading “Avoiding Regret and Repentance”

The Puppygate Affair

I’ve been working at the Humane Society of Jefferson County for just over 3 months. In the puppy room we have 8 inside/outside runs. There are chain link gates at either end and a sliding door in the wall that separates the inside from the outside. Outside the gates are 7 feet or so tall, inside, two runs have tall walls and gates (for jumpers) the rest have 3 foot high walls and gates. Two of these short runs had really sad gates on the inside. The bottom rails rusted completely away and fell off, leaving an oddly shaped door that was augmented by zip-tieing cat crate doors to the chain link to fill the growing gap between door and post.

I award points to my fellow staffers for ingenuity, but these were difficult to open and only going to degrade further. They did not present the best image of our facility either (they were ugly). It’s time to do something more permanent about this. So I took it upon myself to properly fix them. Continue reading “The Puppygate Affair”

Best Laid Plans

The Rescue group I work with (Steele Away Home) was supposed to have a medical day yesterday (Friday) so I requested to be off work that day — since I have two dogs that needed to be spayed or neutered. But the mobile vet clinic would not start, so the medical day got rescheduled to next Thursday. I work Thursday — I’m off Monday and Wednesday. Monday I’m supposed to take Marie’s car to the mechanicn place.

Today I asked around work if anyone would swap days with me. Bobby said he needed to be off Monday because his wife has a doctor’s appointment and he needs to stay home to take care of their 3 kids. That would complicate getting Marie’s car to the mechanic, but we could drop it off Sunday, so I agreed to the swap. That means an extra trip into town and leaving her car in the parking lot overnight, but … it would be there so they could get started on it Monday morning.

When I got home there was a message on the answering machine. It was from Bobby. His wife’s appointment is Wednesday this week, not Monday as usual: the first time that’s ever happened! So he’d rather swap Wednesday for Thursday not Monday for Thursday.

I love it when things just work out!

Tale of the Toolbox

Last week there was a fence/gate repair job that needed doing at work. A co-worker, Bobby, and I were asked to take a look at it and see what we could do. The boss had some parts that might help. They even had a toolbox … of sorts.

Bobby had recently been assigned the task of cleaning out several junk drawers, finding all the tools and putting them into a donated toolbox, sorting through the rest: toss the detritus and sort the usable “stuff” into big plastic bags by category. So our task now was simpler.

However, the toolbox consisted of 3 hammers, a half-dozen badly abused screw drivers, and a pair of pliers. We decided to bring tools from home and do the job the next day. Bobby wasn’t there the next day, so I accomplished the job with the tools I brought. All I was missing was a set of deep sockets (which I didn’t have but Bobby did) and a ratchet. But I did the job with a crescent wrench. The sockets do the job faster and with fewer bloody smears on the fencing, but a crescent wrench will do in a pinch.

I wanted to double the hinge at the top of the gate (which is at least 8 feet wide, maybe more) to keep it from twisting the hinge again. I lacked one part and a couple of bolts to do that. I picked up the hardware on my day off. I also decided to assemble a usable toolbox.

My Toolbox History

Continue reading “Tale of the Toolbox”

Why Retain the Knowledge of God

Yesterday I came across a discussion thread in a group I belong to on Facebook. The poster asked if we thought mankind was becoming more peaceful as our technological knowledge increased and we gain an abundance of material wealth. I do not believe this to be the case and said so. I do not believe this to be the case because human society as a whole is bent on replacing God with technology. I am reminded of Romans 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things that are not fitting:”

So-called “modern society” does not want to retain a knowledge of God. It actively seeks to push God out of any and all public venues and to silence those of us who desire to speak of Him. At least, to speak truth of Him. Those who are willing to promote a god that will save everyone regardless of their deeds; they may speak. But their god is not the God of the Bible. Not the creator of the universe, not the God who will sit with Jesus in judgment of mankind. Their god is an idol they have created to serve their needs and desires, because they do not want to retain the knowledge of the true God.

Lets take a closer look at Romans 1, starting with the remainder of the passage begun above: Continue reading “Why Retain the Knowledge of God”

DOG for DOG Helps Homeless Pets

Rocky Kanaka’s DOG for DOG business model might sound foolish to others in retail; he gives away at least as much product as he sells. But profit isn’t Kanaka’s driving force; his mission is to provide quality food to as many homeless dogs as possible.

Kanaka, owner of The Dog Bakery in Mar Vista California, created DOG for DOG® in late 2011 after feeling frustrated by not being better able to help dogs in need. The number of dogs in shelters grows daily and they suffer from a lack of proper nutrition and care. Continue reading “DOG for DOG Helps Homeless Pets”

For the Good of the Gospel

obedience, gospel — Elijah vs Priests of Baal

Believers are sometimes asked by God to do things that are uncomfortable. A few have been asked to do things that are mind-numbingly dangerous for the good of the gospel. Old testament prophets have gone toe-to-toe with hundreds of prophets of Baal in a contest of “my God is bigger than your god” (and won decisively, by the way), been swallowed alive by a great fish (and sustained inside it for days) before deciding to comply with the directive to preach repentance to a huge and hostile city/state, strode, uninvited, into the chambers of a king (that alone, earning them an instant death penalty) then proceeding to tell the King what God has ordered the King to do. The list goes on.

The most striking example of this in the New Testament is the Apostle Paul. He sets out on three missionary journeys, traveling all around the Mediterranean rim, telling the inhabitants of Jesus and the salvation He offers. To the Jewish leaders, this was an unpopular message and they tried several time to kill Paul. They chased him out of cities, they even charged him with sedition before the Roman governor in hopes of having Paul put to death. Continue reading “For the Good of the Gospel”

The Window

Originally written February 20, 2016, this article has been lounging around in a folder while I gathered the courage to publish it. I guess it’s time.

Imagine a room: it’s a comfortable room with big windows that allow in light. But because the windows are tinted to keep out the summer heat, opening the windows makes the room brighter. And the fresh air invigorates the room with the scent of flowers and pine trees.

About three weeks ago a window opened up in my being and allowed the full sunshine and scented air to come in, and I became exceptionally happy. Not that I’m grumpy, but now I was feeling an extra something that caused me to be humming or whistling a lot: which annoyed the dogs but gave me a brighter outlook on everything.

Three days into this improved outlook I was fixing breakfast and preparing the little cups for our daily pills. I picked up a bottle that I’ve picked up every morning for over 20 years, and as I reached to unscrew the cap, the Holy Spirit within me said, “You don’t need that; put it away.” Continue reading “The Window”