Friday, September 30, 2011

Sauvons les tous

Misty Hollow Carving
Ce blog est parrainé par "Misty Hollow Carving". Vous êtes invités à visiter creux Misty et voir tous mes sculptures.

Mon site Web est un comme un Galerie - s'il vous plaît baisse pour une promenadeà travers.

Pour m'aider à promouvoir mon site Web s'il vous plaît copiez cette adresse URL ete-mail à quelqu'un d'aujourd'hui http://www.murraylincoln.com/
* * * * * * * *


Today’s Blog Post
Sauvons les tous
So my Facebook message from my friend stated the following…quote…
“Y a les seins normaux ( . )( . ) ; les siliconés ( + )( + ) ; les parfaits (o)(o) ; ceux qui ont froid (^)(^) ; et ceux qui ont de l'âge \./\./ ... Sans oublier les gros seins (o Y o) et les tout petits (.)(.) ; puis les asymétriques (•)(.) et aussi les orphelins - (.) !! On les aime tous :p ! Postez ça sur votre mur et dites "Whoa" ┌П┐(◉_◉)┌П┐ au cancer du sein! Sauvons les tous...”

Of course it is French.. and most of my friends cannot speak or read French.

Yet the topic is about Breast Cancer. There is nothing funny about it.

Yet my friend has caught my attention in a wonderful way, in a way that I can relate to.

In our community of Peterborough, men and women join together to take part in our annual Dragon Boat Races. They have fun. These men and women have joined a cause that affects all… every woman and man alive. They raise a lot of money.

Either a family member will have cancer… or perhaps the person themselves will have this dreadful disease. It doesn’t stop with women… but men will get Breast Cancer as well. The disease that has robbed women of an important part of their lives does the same to men. It is devastating to say the least!

Having watched many men and women in many walks of life deal with this issue has been very hard.

Sometimes the Breast Cancer has been defeated or rid from the body. And then at times I have watched another cancer come back, often related in some way to the original Breast Cancer, and take the life of a mom and grandmother.

That part is the hardest for me as Minister. I should have the power being connected to God himself… but rather I find myself very human and very incapable to do anything but stand by the bed when they die.. our suffer treatments of all sorts.

But one thing I can do is give something. I can drop my $5, $10 or whatever I can afford to help someone somewhere.

I thank my friend today for her humorous prodding to an important subject.

BTW… should you be caught not understanding the French – or whatever language… just go to http://translate.google.ca/, copy the text above and then hit translate.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

National Geographic and the Teenage Brain

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
National Geographic and the Teenage Brain

Usually the National Geographic magazine deals with earthy stuff… you know mountains, volcanoes, earth quakes… or maybe the lost birds of a South American country. I have read this amazing magazine for many years and have so enjoyed the informative and authoritative style. Everything that has been presented has been well researched.

Further still, they have dealt with subject matters that others may not. Like who would ever tackle the Mass Grave in Peru? Or perhaps the Maya Royal tombs that have been found? Who really cares out there in our big and fast moving world? NGM does!

It may be the generation that we now live in that produces the kinds of articles that touch our core.

This week they have done this again. They have reached in and opened my eyes again. But it is not about snakes, bird or lost bears… it is all about Teenagers in our world – and how we need to understand them.

In a way this is very much like all the material they have covered to date… when they have dealt with mystery of the planet we live on.

There is nothing more mysterious than the Teenage Mind and the way that it makes the Teenage Body and Being operate inside the Family.

I am watching this closely as a Grandparent. As I write this three of my grandsons are coming of age. Coming from two families they are alike and yet different. But without a doubt they are teenagers.

In years past I have served as a Youth Specialist working with Teenagers of all kinds, shapes and sizes from many different ethnic backgrounds and societal norms. I was an “expert” at listening to them and working with them. I was able to do amazing things with them that their parents could not.

But having said all that I can honestly say that I did not understand how they could do some of the stupidest things possible on the face of the earth.

Now I am a Grandparent of six upcoming teenagers. Over the next 3 to 9 years! The signs that their parents are already suffering from tendencies to extreme stress from a teenager living within their homes… is definitely there!

One of my daughters flat out states that she could easily ship her son to faraway places and be completely at ease having taken that step. Her son is on the edge of driving her insane! There is way too much teenage boy living within her home.

And yet that same teenage son is as good as gold when he is with grandma and grandpa. Confusing? Completely!

That same teenage son is a model of manners and ability to show kindness to his teenage friend’s parents. Yet at home he acts like a complete Jackass!

This same teenage son was once a cuddly baby that his mom and dad showed off to their early world… And they will one day sit at wedding reception in absolute adoration of this handsome Groom who just married the beautiful Bride – their new daughter-in-law! But they will not really remember the fact that his teenage years were a nightmare of living!!!

The fact that this living, breathing, eating, sometimes laughing and other times acting out is a complete Jackass… and knows more and better than anyone else in the family including his highly trained parents… is lost with time.

How could I say that about my wonderful grandkids?

I used to be an idiot teenager too! I was worse than any of my 6 grandkids will ever hope to be. Beside my complete attitude as a Jackass Number 1 – they look like angels!

There the confession is out. My daughters can relax a little and understand deeply that they have done nothing wrong. Their children are next to perfect. But it is their Father’s fault that their sons act this way – completely – 100% !!!!
In the most recent edition of the National Geographic Magazine, David Dobbs writes a brilliant article about the Teenage Brain. YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO READ THIS ONE!!!! I cannot tell you how good it is to help people understand the Jackass that they live with!

It will help grandparents see more clearly that your son or daughter really is telling the truth about your “not so amazing grandchild”!

The Teenage Brain is less understood than the Volcanoes of Indonesia… and less comprehendible then the Small Fly that buzzes around the carcass of a million year old Mastodon in Siberia on a warm summer day.

As I write this I commend my daughters and their husbands for the great job they have done so far. And I say you are not crazy… or about to go crazy. You have and are going to survive!

But I also apologize deeply. I am the one that caused it all. These growing Jackasses are just like me!

And in one small way… it might help to see what I have done over 67 years of living… rather than what I did from 13 to 19.

Oh God… the thought just crossed my mind… these 6 grandkids will produce a possible 12 to 36 more living, breathing, eating, sometimes laughing and other times acting out complete Jackasses! And they will cause their once upon-a-time Jackass parents – the same headaches all over again.

Oh boy – I need a really strong coffee now to stop my hands from shaking!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 

Resource
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/teenage-brains/dobbs-text

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Phonecallitis

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
Phonecallitis

When the phone rang this morning at 5:12 AM I jumped out of bed to take the call. It was Filiberto calling me from Orem, Utah. Naturally I thought the worst at that time of the morning. Had something terrible happened? Maybe there had been in a car accident or something! Oh no… it is dark outside and I can’t find a piece of paper to write down the info that I will need to call him back again!

My heart was racing by the time I had the telephone receiver in my hand and pushed the “Talk” button.

Worse yet there was a dead silence on the other end… then a long pause and the line was disconnected. Filiberto was gone. Gasp! He may be in very great difficulty and was calling from a very dangerous place. Maybe he was under attack from gangster/mob types?

Now I know that Filiberto is only 38 years old and that he also frequents Orem, UT, Provo, UT, Albuquerque, NM.

Within minutes I did find out that Filiberto’s relatives might be available. I could contact them. There is Aramfili Ledezma Ledezma, Daniela De Ledezma, Filiberto M Ledezma, Keli Dyan Ledezma, Magdalena Mara Ledezma.

It’s not that I don’t care about Filiberto S Ledezma. But his 3:12 AM was my 5:12 AM – I was still asleep and he was roaring around Orem.

I could find out if Filiberto has a criminal record as well – for only $39.95

Wait a cotton pickin minute! It is 5:30 AM and I don’t know Filiberto or any one else by any name in Orem, Utah!

What the dickens is 801-426-5342 calling me for at that time of the day???!!??

I have good mind to call him back and give him a piece of my mind – about 7:12 AM our time to get the dude out of bed at his 5:12 AM!

I am sorry if I sound a little crotchety today. I am suffering from Phone-call-itis. The election is not far away and the newest thing that I am getting is the people that are canvassing and doing polls on behalf of Newspapers, National Polling services – etc. Everyone wants me to vote – or know how I will vote – before I vote.

Wait a minute… If they call my number… and ask me questions like they are… they will know that my name is Murray Lincoln, that I am 67 years old and what the possible names of my relatives are… just the way that I know about Filiberto!

I used the 411 service on the Internet and it referred me to www.peoplesmart.com .

It is now 6:27 AM. I am wide awake and suffering deeply from the Phone Call – or at least the phone ringing so early.

Is Big Brother watching me?

I am going back to bed!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 

Friday, September 23, 2011

The Movie “Higher Ground” – I can’t wait

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
The Movie “Higher Ground” – I can’t wait

The following comments came in the Globe and Mail Newspaper's web review of the new movie "Higher Ground"
Darren X2
4:36 AM on September 23, 2011
“A "crisis of faith" is just a religious person's long-suppressed common sense rising up to point out the fact which would be completely obvious and readily apparent if it weren't for childhood religious indoctrination.”

Cut The Crap
12:41 AM on September 23, 2011
"the typical portrayal of Christian fundamentalists tends to err at the extremes"


Fundamentalism IS an extreme. Shheeezzz. Don't pretend to enlighten the reader .


Furthermore, ... Why am I not surprised that the movie portrays: a dull dreary conventional hubby (male, obviously), an equally dull male preacher/therapist, a dull Christian fundamentalist "patriarchal" back-drop, .... with a female hero and her female muse.


Is there any other formula today? Am I supposed to accept this as inventive?”

maesol hortikultur
3:02 AM on September 23, 2011
“I despite it when movie reviewers give away the entire story arc in their reviews. That's not a true review, just a way to fill the paper and ruin it for the readers.”

preheated KD

2:11 AM on September 23, 2011
“There's only one god. Accept Jesus and your life will be blessed.


Enough with this liberal media bias and antichristian sediment.”

(Please note: spelling and grammar mistakes are not mine - ML)

The above are comments that have been posted below a Globe and Mail Newspaper review of a new movie entitled “Higher Ground”.

One Synopsis reads – quote…
“Pregnant, married, and awkward at eighteen years old, Carolyn Briggs grows more and more interested in Jesus, eventually giving herself over to a radical New Testament church. Amidst her community of self-described "Jesus Freaks," Carolyn's daily life consists of hours of Bible study, alternative family practices and bracing for the oncoming Rapture. It's only when her marriage begins to unravel that Carolyn dares to question the religious dogma she has embraced for her entire adult life.” End quote

Another one line description states… “she has faith but she also has serious doubts..”

Now after watching the trailer that shows snap shots of the movie to perk my interest… I am wondering how this will go down in the Churches that I know… and know only too well.

It appears to be much like the people that I know in the churches that I have worked with as a Minister. The story line I could have written… way too much like real life!

But if I had written the story line I might well have been in court with a law suit against me.

Believe me in real life I have witnessed my fair share of “nut case Christianity”. And in these cases there has always been a strange twist to what the person has chosen to do. But does this movie tell a “nut case” story… or is it real?

We were taught in our Christian life to not talk about people that have struggles, are a little off, or that have sinned in different ways. We might whisper about it to each other – but never talk out loud.

But now a movie comes along and exposes the facts of a woman’s life showing her struggles and her own personal battle.

Now my “good Christian friends” will condemn it as Hollywood’s attack on our faith again.
I am not so sure about that. It is pretty real. And whoever was involved in researching this one has talked to some people in the know.

Maybe one of ministerial friends that couldn’t make much money on the Minister’s Role has been moonlighting and telling what he or she sees – all too often.

The movie appears to be coming out soon in many areas of the USA. But there is no word about it coming to Canada – from what I can find.

If the Religious Right has their way I am guessing that it will not show here for a while, until the reviews from the USA are showing some signs of applause – or whatever.

The question is, “Is it possible for real life (the kind the movie apparently shows) to be exciting enough to be a hit?”

I would love to see how the church attendance in our city, a specifically at our Pentecostal Churches, increases or decreases after the showing.

I can’t wait for this one.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Resource
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/higher-ground-she-has-faith-but-she-also-has-serious-doubts/article2176209/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/higher-ground-the-official-trailer/article2176031/?from=2176209
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1562568/

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Responding to the Classroom Shuffle

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
Responding to the Classroom Shuffle

What a difference three generations make.

This fall as my grandkids headed back to school again, they are off to new adventures and a life full of opportunities. It is so exciting to see it happen.

This week my cousin Sharon and I have been reminiscing over the old days. She told me how she started in a small one room school in a small town in western Canada.

That brought my memories of the two room school that we attended on the east side of Regina. It was kind of out in the boonies too… not quite country but almost.

For the most part people my age started with the kids we grew up with and then continued on through the years… until we possibly married someone from the small school we started in.

What a difference we had in our lives compared to the ones the kids face today.

There is something called the “Shuffle” that can take place at any time of the year in present day school. Most often it appears to come right at the beginning of the school year when students are just starting to settle in to their school situation.

This past few days in the Globe and Mail Newspaper a story of Campbell Carlisle caught my attention. Campbell started his new school in another community that he was bussed to… then had to leave that school for another when the shuffle took place.

The teacher that he just met and was starting to bond to… was moved… the students were shuffled around. Apparently it was all because of the attendance levels… or something.

I can only imagine the struggle young Campbell had when he was required to walk into a new class where there were new students that he had not met. There were already bounds among the students in that class and he was the outsider.

As an adult I find that a little hard… but as a Kindergarten student I can only imagine what it was like for this poor young fellow.

It has to happen because teachers are needed somewhere else… and likely because they didn’t really know how many kids would be attending the school.. or either local school.

With the family of today being highly mobile and sometimes moving many times during a child’s lifetime at home… the school can’t tell what will happen. That is true even one or two months ahead of school opening.

In Peterborough they are about to close one high school… because of attendance and enrolment. There was a time of turmoil when the decision was being made. The decision is now complete from what I have heard. These older kids will now feel what their young siblings are going through.

It is about budgets and the proper business practice of running a school… not about the relationship in education.

I am so thankful that I attended the small schools that I did. I am thankful for teachers that stuck it out with guys like me.

Memories… and reality.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Resource
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/back-to-school/classroom-shuffles-are-tough-on-kids-and-teachers/article2167779/

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Sharing the Memories and the Loss with someone special

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
Sharing the Memories and the Loss with someone special
On Saturday my wife and I met Sharon Davis at the airport. It was the start of two week journey back in time for the three of us. What a time we have had so far.

Sharon is my age. We are cousins with many memories from long ago.

She is a Pastors daughter – or as we say in our Ministry Lingo – a PK – Pastor’s Kid. In that role there are many expectations for sure. I didn’t live in that way but rather had two daughters that I am sure remember what it was like to “suffer” being perfect.

Last summer we planned this time together. That was 2010.

 In April 2010, Sharon and her husband Ron were in a horrific accident in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both were hospitalized in serious condition. Sharon was sure she was going to die and in her condition, I think the medical staff thought might happen as well.

Ron was stabilized and was improving. Both he and Sharon were in different parts of the Hospital. Getting into a wheel chair was almost impossible for Sharon. Her injuries were extensive.

One morning early Ron passed away in his hospital room. Sharon never saw him.

It has been a long, long time of healing.

This week it has been wonderful for Alida and Sharon along with me to laugh and remember many old stories together. And it has been wonderful listening to an amazing woman and her recovery process over these months. I have listened and been deeply moved.

We are doing the tourist thing now… each day filled with fun and new things to see. It has been pure joy to share with my very special cousin.

Gotta run… today Sharon is about to have her first Tatting lessons at the Peterborough Square – in front of the Crop Circles Store.

BTW – you are welcome to join us. Tatting shuttles are ready. Yarn is easily wound for your first try. Join us?

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The Confused Senior

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
My friends Marion and Terry this e mail to me to let me understand better what I go through. Bless their hearts.  (I can honestly say "Author Unknown" - But I could have written this one a 1000 times! over)

The Confused Senior
It could happen to any of us...
This is so funny; I hope you enjoy it.

$5.37! That's what the kid behind the counter at Taco Bell said to me. I dug into my pocket and pulled out some lint and two dimes and something that used to be a Jolly Rancher. Having already handed the kid a five-spot, I started to head back out to the truck to grab some change when the kid with the Elmo hairdo said the hardest thing anyone has ever said to me. He said, "It's OK. I'll just give you the senior citizen discount."


I turned to see who he was talking to and then heard the sound of change hitting the counter in front of me. "Only $4.68" he said cheerfully.


I stood there stupefied. I am 56, not even 60 yet? A mere child! Senior citizen?


I took my burrito and walked out to the truck wondering what was wrong with Elmo. Was he blind? As I sat in the truck, my blood began to boil. Old? Me?


I'll show him, I thought. I opened the door and headed back inside. I strode to the counter, and there he was waiting with a smile.


Before I could say a word, he held up something and jingled it in front of me, like I could be that easily distracted!
What am I now? A toddler?


"Dude! Can't get too far without your car keys, eh?" I stared with utter disdain at the keys. I began to rationalize in my mind.


"Leaving keys behind hardly makes a man elderly! It could happen to anyone!"


I turned and headed back to the truck. I slipped the key into the ignition, but it wouldn't turn. What now? I checked my keys and tried another. Still nothing.


That's when I noticed the purple beads hanging from my rear view mirror. I had no purple beads hanging from my rear view mirror.


Then, a few other objects came into focus. The car seat in the back seat. Happy Meal toys spread all over the floorboard. A partially eaten dough nut on the dashboard.


Faster than you can say ginkgo biloba, I flew out of the alien vehicle.


Moments later I was speeding out of the parking lot, relieved to finally be leaving this nightmarish stop in my life.


That is when I felt it, deep in the bowels of my stomach: hunger! My stomach growled and churned, and I reached to grab my burrito, only it was nowhere to be found.


I swung the truck around, gathered my courage, and strode back into the restaurant one final time. There Elmo stood,
draped in youth and black nail polish. All I could think was, "What is the world coming to?"


All I could say was, "Did I leave my food and drink in here"? At this point I was ready to ask a Boy Scout to help me back to my vehicle, and then go straight home and apply for Social Security benefits.


Elmo had no clue. I walked back out to the truck, and suddenly a young lad came up and tugged on my jeans to get my attention. He was holding up a drink and a bag. His mother explained, "I think you left this in my truck by mistake."


I took the food and drink from the little boy and sheepishly apologized.


She offered these kind words: "It's OK. My grandfather does stuff like this all the time."


All of this is to explain how I got a ticket doing 85 in a 40. Yes, I was racing some punk kid in a Toyota Prius. And no, I told the officer, I'm not too old to be driving this fast.


As I walked in the front door, my wife met me halfway down the hall. I handed her a bag of cold food and a $300 speeding ticket. I promptly sat in my rocking chair and covered up my legs with a blankey.


The good news was I had successfully found my way home.


Pass this on to the other old fogies on your list.


Notice the larger type? That's for those of us who have trouble reading.


P.S. Save the earth...... It's the only planet with chocolate!!!!!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
The Confused Senior
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Monday, September 19, 2011

Happy Birthday Alida Lincoln – From all your Family with Love

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
Happy Birthday Alida Lincoln – From all your Family with Love
Karen Alida Jones was born on September 26, 1946.

On September 9, 1967 she became Karen Alida Lincoln when she married me. Wahoo!

On September 18, 2011 we celebrated her BIG Birthday. On this occasion, one week before the official day, all her grandkids and her kids joined together to celebrate over some amazing Chinese Food. What a party it was.

Many of her relatives and many, many friends couldn’t be there yesterday… so I offer my Blog Posting to my wonderful wife Alida. Happy Birthday Alida – you are the LOVE of MY LIFE… and today you are really 25 all over again!

BTW – some photos of the grandkids may appear to be repeats. They are full of it… and when they get together they just have way to much fun. SO here are all the photos.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

The Photo Gallery for you to enjoy









After Grandma Alida Lincoln opened her cards - everyone else received a gift from her...



 Thomas, Michael, Clifford, Grandma Alida Lincoln, Christopher Jonathan and Emma


 Juneau                                                        Lina





 Bill and Anda Rourke
 Dana and Bruce Lindsay
 Mrs. Jung and her son Pastor Seung Jung ("Bob")

Friday, September 16, 2011

Meet Anthony Weinczok our Certified Arborist and Forrester - ACE Tree Care

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post

Meet Anthony Weinczok our Certified Arborist and Forrester - ACE Tree Care
One July 15 I reported that the Pruning of our huge tree was stopped by a Mourning Dove (http://murraylincoln.blogspot.com/2011/07/power-of-dove.html )

Yesterday we got the work done on the tree. Mrs. Dove is now living happily in our backyard with her babies and we were able to get the tree done.

Let me introduce Anthony Weinczok to you. He is a Certified Arborist and Forrester. Here is his Business Card for ACE Tree Care.
If you ever need a great man to work on your trees, Anthony is the best person I can recommend to you. Young, strong, personable, and knowledgeable – are just a few words that I can use to begin his introduction. Really we can’t say enough about him. Any future work I need he will be the person that I will try to get!

While Anthony began his work to trim back our tree, I brought out my camera and began shooting the odd shot to record the work that we accomplished.

Remember that our tree is about 65 feet high. Taking off some of the branches meant that Anthony had to climb about 45 feet or more up swaying branches of this old tree… carefully rigging and planning each step up higher and higher.

I want to say a big thank you to a very professional Arborist. Thanks Anthony – you did a great job.

I will let the photos tell the rest of the story.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 


Before and After












 Anthony's - 90 Year Old Supervisor - My Mom - Marion Nell Lincoln - watched the whole process








Thursday, September 15, 2011

Help – My New Computer is typing out French Characters – It is Demon Possessed!

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post


Help – My New Computer is typing out French Characters – It is Demon Possessed!
New Computer – New Problems! Grrrr!

Every changeover I have had in the past years always brings new problems. This is especially true when working with my Computers. Maybe I can’t make a rule out of it – but it sure seems that way.

Computer Geeks are forming new companies that make it possible to be mobile. They come to your home when you your machine gets stuck… or I should say you get stuck. On site they will work with you to help you make the machine do what it should.

In actual fact the machine is often working well. There is no problem at all. Many times it is the operator… ME.

Well my new machine had developed a very odd problem. For a while, because I am a retired Minister, I figured that the Computer is or was “Demon Possessed”!!!

Suddenly for no apparent reason the keyboard stopped doing what it should – or at least what I wanted it to do. It began to not allow me to put Quotation Marks around something I was writing… that some one had said. The Question Mark disappeared and I couldn’t find it at all. Each time I typed the Quotation Mark or Question Mark the odd characters used in writing French would come up. The Quotation Mark would become - `. A small accent for egrave!

The Question Mark would become – É. “It was very frustrating to say the least”. Then all kinds of letters would start acting weird.

This happened at times in the middle of what I was writing. In fact it happened right in the middle of sentence. The Quotation Mark was there one minute and then not the next. And nothing I would do could bring it back.

If I rebooted the machine it seemed to go away – only to return in the middle of the next paragraph.

I was not just a little frustrated!!!!!

I hate to admit this – it was me that caused the problem!!! Mobile Computer Geeks would love guys like me. They travel all the way out to where you live to tell you that you are doing something stupid. Then they can charge you $$$$$.

New Computer = New Keyboard. Tada! And sloppy typing lets you hit the Control (CTRL) along with the Shift Key doing a toggle out to the new way to type new characters. Pressing the combination of “CRTL + Shift” again – maybe two times even, would set the computer back to the Normal Mode that I know well.

A simple new keyboard layout with the ability to help you write new words in other languages was all the problem! Hokey Mokey!

Not Demon Possessed at all. Just plain old dumb computer operator and a sloppy typist on a new keyboard!

^;%$#*;^$#^)*;^%$#@!$ and ÉÉÉÉéééééé;`;,ékAU ????????~~!!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

If you use it, it may well stop working for you

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post


If you use it, it may well stop working for you
Hokey Mokey! I think I will die later today. I thought when I woke up this AM that I was dead… but the pain in my body confirmed that I was still alive.

Why?

Well yesterday I tried to act like a 20 year old again. Dumb thing to do for sure!

My wife and I picked up two yards of “clearstone” – a white/gray coloured stone. We first went to a Garden Centre with a half ton truck and had them load one yard of material. Oh boy! It weighed about one ton.

We unloaded that one shovel at a time and with the borrowed wheel barrow it was all taken to our back yard – one load at a time. Alida pushed it off the truck and I wheeled the stuff down the side of the garage, around the corner, across the lawn to the far back side.

Then we brought home a second full load. That made about 4000 pounds in total.

Today my muscles are screaming, “You IDIOT! We are all 67 years old! We are not 20 years old the way we used to be. S-I-X-T-Y S-E-V-E-N! Today you will do what we want to do – N-O-T-H-I-N-G!!!”

I heard them early and now will obey.

(One the side… The “clearstone” is to prepare a proper pad for our new garden shed… my Anniversary Gift for wife.)

Some one said the famous quote, “You use it, or you lose it!”

No one told me that if you use it, it may well stop working for you, seize up, dry up, fall off, or maybe have to be replaced! This is specially true when you are older! And today I honestly admit that I am older.

Now some how I don’t believe the age thing. I am as young as I feel. That is what someone told me. But whoa! I feel very old today – because of yesterday… but really I feel good. I am crazy!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Days, Weeks, Months and now Ten Years after 9-11

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
The Days, Weeks, Months and now Ten Years after 9-11
On September 11, 2001 I was sitting in my Doctor’s Office. He had just given me my last shot in preparation for my trip to Irian Jaya, on the eastern end of Indonesia. I was to be in this country for one month starting at the end of September until October 2011.

My cell phone rang. It was my daughter Anda. She was at home and had been watching the TV. The News Show was showing the fire coming from one of the Twin Towers in the New York City. As she called me she was frightened and needed to talk to her dad. Just at that moment the second plane went into the next tower.

Seeing at that moment only what Anda saw… I was confused. I talked to my Doctor further about my trip to the largest Islamic country in the world… and what I thought we might be doing.

That Tuesday morning we then watched over and over again the horror of what was happening live in New York. The Twin Towers both collapsed. Thousands died in the Towers and on the ground below. They collapsed over and over again… after the airplane flew through the building over and over again!

Just after lunch that day the Royal Gardens (a Senior’s Home) activities director called me to ask if I would come to conduct a Chapel Service for them. The Seniors that live in the residence had been watching TV since the first impact and many were in total shock… as the world was about to end… and they needed to pray.

That afternoon Staff and Residence joined me to say a prayer for the tragic events that had taken place.

Toward the end of the month I was standing in Irian Jaya still with the shock of what had happened in New York still in my mind. Frightened by the possible air traffic problems that could still happen and that might leave me stranded in the south eastern country a million miles from my home.

It was then that the full impact of what had taken place on 9-11 hit me. No one in Indonesia knew what had happened on that terrible day. Their News Media was not allowed to report it in their country.

As I walked through one market a man was doing some wood burning art work. I also do wood burning and was interested in what he did and wanted to watch.

He looked at me in broken English said, “Osama is Number One!”

He was the first one to let me know that he respected Osama bin Laden for what he had accomplished with the killing of so many hated Americans and Canadians.

He offered me a Key Fob with bin Laden’s image on it… for about 25 Cents. I bought three.

That was a long time ago… ten fateful years of living in fear because of hatred for the Western World by a relatively small group of terrorists.

Since that time a War on Iraq and its hidden weapons of mass destruction was declared, an invasion took place with many, many people dieing… one of which was Saddam Hussein. He eventually was found hiding in a hole and then hanged. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found… and I doubt that there ever were weapons of this kind.

Meanwhile Osama bin Laden remained Number One and in a completely different country hiding.

The USA and the rest of us invaded Afghanistan looking for this bin Laden guy. They never found him there… but rather in Pakistan… May 2, 2011. They shot him to death and then buried his body at sea.

Since 9-11 nothing has been the same again. Although bin Laden is dead… I think he still won his war. Our world has never been the same again after his Master Minding the attacks of 9-11.

We have all spent Billions and lost many loved ones as a result of what bin Laden planned that day. Our lives will never return to a normal pre 9-11 time – when we trusted everyone… everywhere.

I doubt that we will ever trust again… all because Osama bin Laden is Number One… and some people believed in him.

I seriously wonder how George Bush sleeps well at night. Knowing that more than 100,000 died in Iraq with that invasion and a scattered hunt for weapons that never existed. I wonder also how any US Leadership sleep with what has been done in Afghanistan. Many, many more have been slaughtered and many of our guys have fallen… for what?

They executed Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity. Wikipedia sources stated … quote… “On 5 November 2006, he was convicted of charges related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites and was sentenced to death by hanging. The execution of Saddam Hussein was carried out on 30 December 2006.” But they will never touch one of our leaders for allowing thousands upon thousands to be killed… in the name of FREEDOM!

Ten years later I can see how the Mid Eastern People might think that some of the leaders in the West have committed crimes against humanity as well.

I am Canadian and I am into passivism. I hate killing.

I am thankful that our Government has pulled our troops out of Afghanistan. Losing so many of our guys and gals doesn’t make sense to build schools and make sure that girls can study. (Now people will hate me for being against girls and their education!)

But that wasn’t what the war or invasion was about. We were sucked into that one – BIG TIME. They wanted to kill Osama bin Laden… and they did finally. But the cost to do so have been more than any of us can afford.

After listening to all the reports, watching all the videos of the Twin Towers going down, seeing the events of yesterday in New York… I am in a post News Media attack recovery mode.

I was dealing with 9-11 in my own way and moving on. Now the Media stuff of yesterday has left me groaning again.

I only feel that way about the Second World War and maybe the First… on November 11th each year. Now I am reeling with this new News Media circus of yesterday.

Now stopping to think… if 9-11 attack had taken place and no cameras had caught it… no News Media had broadcast it… no frenzy had been created… would our World Leaders done what they did? Would so many people have died in the years following?

Today I am in a 9-11 Funk. If they stop reporting it, running it over and over again… maybe I will recover. Maybe?

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 
Please take a look at and read these Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Saddam_Hussein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qddt-_zu4D0