Dale's Place

Almost a year later...

2008-10-05T21:50:00.004-05:00

Wow... can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted. Obviously a lot of things have changed since then... We finished the church and moved in. Kingdom Automation Technologies (my company) automated the building which you can see at http://www.kingdomautomation.com/. If you go to the pictures section you can see some of the stuff we did including some shots of the halls and sanctuary.

Then this past August, I received a job offer from a company called Tacle Seating USA. After several phone interviews and a visit, I was offered the job and took it. Now I am living in Murfreesboro Tennessee while my family is still at home trying to sell our house. I really hope that happens soon as I miss being with them and seeing them everyday. It's very hard being away from your family and everyone you know for so long.

Things are going good down here with the new job. It was a little rough at first - new jobs always are - but things are starting to smooth out now and I'm really begining to like it.

Well It's getting late so I'm going to go to bed. G'night blog world!

Building project

2007-11-06T23:20:00.000-05:00

This is the second post tonight...

As I told you in the previous post, we've been building a new church building. The siding was kind of my project, and I'll tell you, the guys really stepped up and we did a wonderful job on it! Here are some shots of the building in various stages. We have probably 99% of the siding done now, but I broke my little finger on my left hand last saturday so I don't know how much more I'll be helping for a little while.

Just in case you wondered... hitting your little pinky with a hammer with enough force to drive the siding nail underneath it all the way into the wood, does in fact shatter the bone inside... believe me... Anyway, here are some pics. These were a little earlier this summer.. i'll update with more recent ones soon!

Me on the ladder hanging siding

The long side of the building

Me wondering how I'm going to get on that roof...

Hmmm.... maybe a ladder...

The back of the building... Those scaffolding sections are 4 foot each... that's 16 feet in the air and then climb up on the roof for the top part!!!!

This whole project has been great. The guys have really bonded and we've all really enjoyed the "guy time" together. It's funny how you can work beside a guy a couple of times and really get to know him, but if you were to just see him in church every week, you barely get past the hello's. Anyway, pray that we get this wrapped up before the New Year!!! It's really been fun!

Back in the saddle again...

2007-11-06T23:12:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been forever since I last posted... life just has been too busy. Between work, family, and building the new church building, i've been way too tired to do much else!!!

Anyway, I'm posting two posts tonight. The first is a song that has been playing on my radio a lot lately. It's really meeting me where I'm at right now. I hope you enjoy... And Nathen... I love you too man! And I miss you guys!

Family - Todd Agnew
Who's my brother in Nashville, Tennessee?
Who's my sister in a village in Malawi?
Who's my lover in Washington, D.C.?
Who's my neighbor? Who's my loved one?
Who's my friend?

We are all family
We are all family
If we're all under one Father, that makes us all brothers
We are all family

Who's my brother in a different kind of church?
Who's my sister struggling with her worth?
Who's my mother, gave me all but birth?
Who's my neighbor? Who's my loved one?
Who's my friend?

You don't have to look like me
For us to be brotherly
You don't have to be like me
For us to be family

You don't have to think like me
For us to speak intimately
You don't have to agree with me
For us to be family

You don't have to live near me
For us to be neighborly
You don't have to dress like me
For us to be family

You don't have to speak like me
For us to love each other you see
You don't have to be like me
For us to be family

If we're all under one Father, that makes us all brothers

AMEN!

Unchanging One

2007-05-25T15:39:00.000-05:00

Some of you have told me that the video below from Todd called unchanging one wasn't working. Sorry, I fixed it now! Enjoy.. He truely is the unchanging one... God bless..

My Next Car

2007-05-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share with all of you! This is to be released in '09. Shagga...we need to fit this in my budget!!!!!!!!!! Justme...I can't wait to see you in the passenger seat!

Here is a link to Autoblog that talks about their testdrive and has another bunch of 50+ pictures! Be sure to check out the inside/dash/engine. Do those seats look comfortable or what?!?!?

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/15/autoblog-drives-the-camaro-convertible-concept/

St Louis

2007-05-11T12:08:00.000-05:00

I know...I know... it has been forever since I posted, but that's just where I've been at...

Anyway, I'm in St Louis this week on business. Things are going great here and God has really blessed me with getting a lot of stuff done that was long over due! Finally the St Louis plant is happy with my department again!!!

It has been about 85 degrees here and beautiful until yesterday afternoon. All of the sudden a huge storm rolled in! Now I'm not just talking about a little rain or anything, I'm talking about rain so hard that you can't see the car in front of you - Lightning so often that it was literally non-stop - Thunder so loud that is was shaking my car as I drove down the road. All I could think was, "Now I know how Noah felt!". The drive that normally would have taken 15 minutes took me 45, we never got any faster than 10mph!!!! The wildest thing was that the rain was coming down so hard that the drains on the highway couldn't keep up. I'm not exaggerating, it was several inches deep on the road!!! At multiple times trucks heading the other direction on the other side of the median were throwing water over the dividing wall and all the way across all three of our lanes!!!!!!! Which of course added to all the rain that was coming down. I've never seen so much water falling from the sky!

One place they were building a new overpass and they had a huge crane sitting beside the road. This thing was probably 5 or 6 stories high, and there were no trees around it. I saw lightning strike that thing twice while I was floating along the highway!! Don't tell me lightning doesn't strike the same place twice!!!

Anyway, I'm really having a great time with God while I'm down here. I've started reading a great new book called "Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow's Success" by John Maxwell. If you have never read any of his books, please do. They are great and he is a God-gifted writer and speaker. This book is 310 pages long and I read the first 120 or so while I waited for my plane and during the flight! The idea of the book is that Today is the only thing you can control so you shouldn't worry about yesterday or tomorrow. His best quote at the beginning of the book is "Yesterday ended at midnight". This is great if you really think about it because if you come to the realization that yesterday is done - you can't change it - you can't fix what you did wrong or do anything any better than you already did it, then life is much easier!!!! Dealing with tomorrow is the same way... it's not here yet... you can plan for it, but you have no control over what it is going to bring or be like. You can try to set yourself up for it to be a certain way, but you can't control how it will end up. God is the only one who can do these things and if we rest in the fact that He is in control of the yesterdays, todays and tomorrows, then we can just enjoy what he has given us - Life, and life more abundantly!!!

Unchanging one...

2007-04-26T10:19:00.000-05:00

Here is another video from Todd Agnew. This is really where I am right now with God. But it does raise some questions for me. God is definately Unchanging, and He loves us no matter what we say or do. But if we look back through His word, we see examples of where he dealt some severe punishment on His people when they were disobedient to what he asked them to do. How does that apply to us today? How can we keep from getting into that place where we think, "I can do whatever I want because God is merciful and forgiving and therefore, I can just walk how I want and basically get away with it". I think that so many people look at God this way, and I want to know how to reach those types of people to know the God that I serve - to fear Him in the reverent way that I do - but yet know Him as the loving Father that I know Him to be. When we come to his throne, God doesn't see you and me approaching, but sees His son coming to him.

This question has really been burning in me lately. Please let me know what you think about this. I value the comments I get on here, and please leave them! Also, don't feel funny about leaving one about this subject based on what others have said. I think all of our opinions are valuable and even if they don't line up with what someone else has commented, that's OK.

Here's the video:

Video

2007-03-23T08:03:00.000-05:00

A little while back I posted about a song that has been really touching me lately - My Jesus by Todd Agnew. I've looked and finally found a video that was very well done and set to the music. Just to clerify, I did not put this together and whoever did it, messed up a few of the words, but you shouldn't need to read them anyway :)

Just so you know, there is a reference in this song to a place called Beale Street. From the best that I can tell, Beale Street is a very bad street in a really low income - not so good neighborhood where Todd is located.

This is my first attempt at this, so we will see what happens!!!! Turn up the volume, watch, and let God speak to you :)

What a pain in the...back!

2007-03-07T20:59:00.000-05:00

Sorry this is so long...

Tuesday morning I got out of bed and was getting ready for work...things were going great! I was up early...felt great...was looking forward to a great day at work! I should have known right then and there that something was up... I bent over to put on my socks when this pain shot straight through the middle of my shoulder blades. It felt just like someone had run me through with a sword from the back. I even felt a sharp pain in the middle of my chest! WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?!? It hurt to move...it hurt to breath...it hurt to do anything...

Here it is now, Wednesday night at 9:10 and I haven't made it to work yet. In fact after a short stint at the hospital for x-rays, a shot of Nubane (wow!) and lots of rest and relaxing, I'm finally starting to feel better. The pain has pretty much gone from a 23 on a scale of 1 to 10 down to about a 4 now. Most of you who are reading this will never ever feel such pain (Can't relate it to childbirth, but I bet it's close). It usually will linger for about 4 or 5 days after the initial instance, and it happens every few years.

When I was 13, I was diagnosed with Scoliosis. For those of you who don't know, scoliosis is a condition which causes your spine to twist and curve. Usually, there is one bend or curve - I was double-blessed - I have two. My spine was 'S' shaped. I was told at 13 that if I didn't take care of this immediately, that my spine would continue to twist and bend until my ribs eventually punctured my heart and lungs. They said I would be lucky to live to be 60. Usually at 13 years old, the age of 60 seems forever and a day away. That day, it was way too close. All through age 14 I wore this wonderful brace. (NO comments about the hair! - Yours looked like this in 1981 too!) It was supposed to keep my back straight so that maybe I wouldn't have to have surgery. I was supposed to wear it 22 hours a day - including to bed. Sorry Mom, if you are reading this, but it somehow ended up on my floor during the night most nights. Needless to say, it didn't do much for my back and I ended up having surgery. On June 23rd (two days after my 15th birthday) I came off of a very strong morphine drip after surgery to this:

This is pretty much where I stayed straight through until July 4th, 1982. Every couple of hours they would come in and flip me from my stomach to my back and then back again a couple of hours later. It was great fun. It's amazing how much your legs forget how to walk after that short period of time. Had to learn to do that again before they would let me go home... According to the Dr., I recovered faster than anyone else had ever been able to from this. He thought it was a miracle how fast I was able to get out of bed and walk. He didn't realize it was the fact that I didn't want to eat any more hospital food!

Once I was able to leave the hospital, I ended up wearing this cast for the next 6 months. Yes, 6 MONTHS. I'm not real sure which of all these processes were the worst...they all pretty much stunk! But the day the Dr. cut it off of me, he said that I could pretty much do anything I wanted except skydive. I really felt after all of that, that someday I might even prove him wrong on that count too!

Anywho... over the last 20 some years there have been some days with pain, but mostly I have felt great. Never really had any problems until about '97 (not exactly sure of the year) when I seemed to be having more and more pain. I went to the Dr. and they took x-rays again. There are literally three metal rods in my back attached to my spine. They are in the shape of an 'H', one on the left, one on the right and a little one across the middle to hold them together. The surgery is called Harrington Rod Surgery and they don't really do it anymore - which is a real comfort :)

When I went to the Dr. in '97 (?), the x-rays showed that the rod on the right was actually screwing its way out the top! This is NOT normal and so far, no one has been able to tell me how this has happened. Both of the rods on the sides are threaded rods like a bolt or screw. The clips are fused into my spine and have a threaded hole in them that the rod goes into. On the bottom of each rod is a little nut that is supposed to keep it attached. If you look really close at the bottom of the x-ray you can see the little nut floating down there. Since '97, nothing more has happened. The rod stopped moving and everything is pretty much sitting in the same place. Once in a while (Like last Tuesday) the top of that rod will catch on something inside and cause a great deal of pain. if you can picture those little spring doorstops that you see behind some doors and how if you flick it it just bounces around *BOIOIOING*.... I think that's kind of what this does when it catches on something. I'm really kind of concerned as to what damage this could be doing to me internally, but the Dr's. don't really seem to be too concerned about it.

My intention for this post was to be informative. There is sooo much more I could write in here about this, and I hope it didn't come across as a whine or pity-party post. Because it's not. I just want those who read it to understand what I am dealing with and to help you pray effectively for me. I believe that this was all God's plan for me from the beginning. I don't believe that He was the cause of the curvature, but I do believe that He made sure it was caught in enough time that I would be able to see all my kids get married and to be able to spend time with my grandkids as well. I also believe that He guided the hands of the surgeon who put this in and that by His grace and mercy I was able to walk afterwords. I also don't think that anyone could argue the fact that His hand was on me when that rod was moving its way up and did not puncture any vital organs. I guess when I look back on this whole thing, I see many attacks on my life, but more so, I see the intervention by my God.

Praise be to Him who sits on the throne for ever and ever! Amen!

My new favorite song - My Jesus by Todd Agnew

2007-02-24T20:08:00.000-05:00

If you notice, Todd Agnew has moved up to the top of "My Favorite Music" list (on the left). I've really been moved by this song lately. I don't really understand why or what God is trying to say to me through it, but all I know is that I keep singing it and listening to it over and over and over and over...you get the picture. Anywho...I've posted the lyrics below. They are pretty rough to those who don't really have a true picture of Jesus... heck, who am I kidding...they are pretty rough to those of us who DO have a true picture of him. Anyone out there reading this who doesn't know MY Jesus, well, this is from His heart I am sure.

Thank you Todd Agnew for being bold enough to write this. You are truly an inspiration to me. Thank you God for giving him the passion, ability and for speaking to ALL of us through him.

Listen to My Jesus, here are the lyrics:

My Jesus by Todd Agnew
Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,
Then why do you look so much like the world?

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sands

Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that You follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He’d prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus
Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I’m tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I’m not sure what that means to be like You Jesus

Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I want to be like My Jesus

Which Positive Quality Are You?

2007-02-19T21:01:00.001-05:00

VG asked me to take this quiz... I knew it would come out as Faith! Is that faith or what?!?!?

Which Positive Quality Are You? Your Result: Faith You are Faith. Faith is the belief in better things, in spite of the cynicism and doubt that swirls around us. Faith gives us strength; it inpsires us to move forward and follow our hearts. "Faith tells us what the senses do not."
Friendship
Courage
Love
Charity
Peace
Which Positive Quality Are You?

WHAT?!??!?! NO WATER??????

2007-02-15T23:37:00.000-05:00

Tuesday when I got home from work, my wife - in her most lovingly way - proceeded to tell me that for some strange reason we didn't have any cold water in our upstairs bathroom. Oh NO! I thought for sure because of the great Ohio weather we are having that my pipes had froze...we had never had that problem before, but it was very cold out and the wind was blowing from an odd direction. In an orderly fashion I began banging on pipes and turning valves and trying all kinds of things, but to no avail. I called my brother (who does home repair for a living) and he said it sounded like frozen pipes to him, I needed to find the section that was froze and thaw it out.

I literally tore apart a linen closet in the bathroom to get to the pipes in question. Hmmm...cold to touch but not freezing by any means. (Insert odd thought here) Should I stick my tongue on it to see if it sticks??? Just kidding... :-) NO, I didn't. But I did break out the handy dandy pipe thawer outer (Hair dryer) and let it run for a couple of hours. (insert 2 hour break here)

Pipes are now nice and toasty! :-) Still no cold water. :-( Hot works great...NOTHING out of the cold though. Strange finding here --> Toilet in said bathroom still works! Toilets use cold water... Why? I dunno...they just do... Anyhow, now I am really perplexed because it has water and the sink/bathtub do not. They all run on the same line from the basement, so how could that be??? Sounds like a good reason not to go to work tomorrow... Call off work and go to bed.

Wednesday - Wake up to mountains of snow! OH MY GOOSHNESS (As my 5 year old says). Call my aforementioned brother and tell him he's not so smart afterall. He gives me the wonderful news that sometimes when old pipes get really cold they will flake on the inside and the corrosion will clog up the pipes. Just clean them out. I tore apart the pipes to find that he was right indeed! My 1/2 inch pipes were so full of junk and corrosion that I couldn't even get a pencil in them! Now what, I wondered... The phone rings and it's a new friend of ours who is an outside sales rep for a local lumber yard - we'll call him KS. He deals with all kinds of this stuff and gets me on the phone (Coincidence?? I think not!!! Thanks God!) Anyway, he confirms what my brother said about the corrosion and says that's the good news. I shudder and ask for the bad...replace the pipes is his answer. DOH! We start making phone calls and because of the forementioned Ohio weather, everyone is closed!!!!!!! ACK! Nothing I can do...wait for tomorrow... KS assures me this is a 1/2 day job... call off work again.... go to bed.

Thursday - Now I like hot showers, but scalding is not my idea of fun. With no cold water, there is nothing to offset the hot and make it comfortable. No shower again today - I like to keep my skin on. KS calls me first thing in the morning and is offering to help me out getting everything I need for the job! What an awesome man of God! He stops by and picks me up we are off to go shoping! First place we go is out of everything I need... That's just great. Second place, also out of everything we need. "A truck is due in this afternoon" the clerk says. Whatever... Third place (and most expensive has everything! Woohoo! Load up on materials and head home. KS has to go to work so I am left to my own devices to get this done.

I'm pretty handy at this kind of stuff, those of you who know me real well also know that I've turned my attic into a fourth bedroom, sided my own house, done lots of electrical work and some plumbing. Out of my favorites, plumbing sits firmly below taking scalding hot showers. I grab my stuff, and go to work. It's about 12:30 and I should be done by 6, right? Right...

I won't bore you with all the fun I had, but I will say a few quick tips/suggestions/thoughts...
1) Replumbing a whole bathroom with a tub, sink and toilet takes longer than 1/2 a day.
2) Replumbing a whole bathroom with a tub, sink and toilet is lots of fun, tear yours up and try it...yourself.
3) PVC pipe is very flexible!!!
4) PVC pipe glue stinks really bad for about an hour, then you can't smell it anymore.
5) You see spots 2 hours after begining to use PVC pipe glue :-)
6) 11 degree weather feels A LOT warmer 4 hours after begining to use PVC pipe glue :-)
7) After 7 hours, PVC pipe glue DOES NOT wash off with soap and water! No matter what the bottle says...
8) Turning the water back on after 10 hours of hard work and finding that water only comes out where it is supposed to is an awesome feeling!

Thank you God for awesome friends, family and the giftings you have given me...

I think I will go take a nice warm shower now......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR WIFEY!

2007-02-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Today is my wifes birthday! I won't give away her age, but I will just say that she is 5 years younger than me! :) Last night while I was out in the garage doing some things, I was thinking that I wanted to post something about this today and God just starting pouring words out to me... I'll try to put them all down, but He is a little quicker downloading than I am typing! lol

1. Encouraging
2. Loving
3. Inspirational
4. Joyful
5. Beautiful
6. Caring
7. Giving
8. Intelligent
9. Fun-loving
10. Funny
11. Sexy(Oh my!)
12. Faithful
13. Peaceful
14. Patient
15. Kind
16. Good
17. Gentle
18. Self-Controlled
19. Trustworthy
20. Playful
21. Fair
22. Sharing
23. Respected
24. Edifying
25. Dependable
26. Cheerful
27. Reassuring
28. Supportive
29. Responsible
30. Sweet
31. Uplifting
32. Focused
33. Nurturing
34. Elegant
35. God-Fearing

AND I AGREE WITH ALL 35 OF THEM!!!!!!!!!

Jeez...that's funny.... I came up with a list of 35...how coincidental is that????? lol

Happy Birthday My Love!!!

Vision

2007-02-08T10:57:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to share a vision that I received from God last night while my wife and I were praying together. It was really cool because we were feeding off of each other as we prayed. She is such an awesome woman of God!

Anyway - the vision:

Somewhere along the line one of us brought up something to the affect of "God cleanse us of all unrightousness". And then she talked about a prophecy that Her and I received a while back from the FMC Intercessors about her and I being vessels of silver. I then got the vision of The Father standing at the sink doing dishes. He was washing two silver vessels while smiling and singing. He looked at me and said, these are you two. Every day the vessels get used just like dishes and by the end of the day they are dirty and need washed so they can be used again the next day. But if we don't come to The Father every day to get cleaned, that junk that is left on us (just like food on a plate) gets hard and dried on. Eventually if left long enough will get nasty and moldy...and nobody wants to touch moldy food let alone a vessel that contains moldy stuff.

I'll leave this to be pondered... :)

What are those flashing lights behind me??

2007-01-31T13:01:00.000-05:00

Can someone help me find my heart? I leaped right out of my chest when I saw this in my rear view mirror! I'm pretty sure its still in my car somewhere...

Yep, you guessed it. I got pulled over this morning on my way to work. :( Now most of you know that I only live about 4 minutes from where I work and I drive the same roads almost every day, in both directions. Now there is one road which is actually right behind my house that there is NO POSTED SPEED LIMIT, at least that I know of, in the stretch where I drive on it. I've lived here for what, something like 8 years now, and I always thought the speed limit was 35 on that stretch. Guess what? It's not. It's 25. And me being the lead foot that I am (always in a hurry) I was doing 38. Of course, I explained to the officer that I really wasn't watching my speed as I was on my cell phone explaining to my boss that I was 2 hours late to work because I had just finished working 18 hours the day (and night) before!! Now, when you work 18 hours in a single day, don't you think it would be ok to be a few hours late to work the next day??? Anyway, after having this great discussion with the officer about how I was on the phone with the boss and that I've lived here for 8 years and always thought it was 35 - even though I was doing 38 - he just smiled at me and said, "Sir, I hope your day gets better, don't let me catch you at 5 o'clock tonight doing 35 down that street." I just smiled back and said, "Thank you Sir...I won't" As he walked away, my first thought was, you won't catch me because I'm going a different way home! lol Just kidding. I am seriously going to look tonight to see if there are posted signs, I really don't think there are any! Besides that, I NEVER get out of work at 5 o'clock anyhow!

Anyway, praise God for Mercy and Grace! No ticket, boss felt sorry for me, I'm having left over steak for lunch, and there was fresh coffee when I got to work... The day is good.

Meet the Minister Who Says He Is Jesus Christ

2007-01-30T08:59:00.000-05:00

I don't usually read garbage stuff like this, but I just couldn't resist this.

Click here to read this great story published in Newsweek Beliefs on MSNBC.com

You have GOT to read this... I am just dumbfounded. The story gets more and more weird the further along!

Someone else posted a comment on the MSNBC site and I copied it but then changed the translation because I like the NLT (thanks Billy!):

Matthew 24:3
3 Later, Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and asked, "When will all this take place? And will there be any sign ahead of time to signal your return and the end of the world?"
4 Jesus told them, "Don't let anyone mislead you.
5 For many will come in my name, saying, `I am the Messiah.' They will lead many astray.
23 "Then if anyone tells you, `Look, here is the Messiah,' or `There he is,' don't pay any attention.
24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones.
25 See, I have warned you.
26 "So if someone tells you, `Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,' don't bother to go and look. Or, `Look, he is hiding here,' don't believe it!
27 For as the lightning lights up the entire sky, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.
28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near."

WHAT A WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

2007-01-17T10:05:00.000-05:00

Ok...it can only get better right? I worked last night until 1:15AM (let see...that's 17 hours!) so of course I got up late for work this morning. (got up at 7:40 - supposed to be there at 8) Then my car is froze over so thick (wonderful Ohio - why do I live here again???) that I can't even scrape the windows without an ice pick. So I carefully pull it into the driveway with the door swung open and my head sticking out, trying not to hit anything. I quickly jump out and run inside to the warmth. After....oh....about 15 minutes the windsheild starts to see signs of defrosting so I decide I could go out and start breaking the ice off and maybe make it to work before 9:00. Hmmm....where is that ice scraper at??? Oh yeah...in the back seat on the floor... Wait a minute...my door is froze shut... ummm....no...the door is locked...(run around to the other side)...this one too...(Pondering on the situation - And remembering that I had very little gas left in the car) Then I remember the spare key! Oh...its on my keyring with all the other keys - locked in the car. Go back in the house...refill the coffee and thaw out hands (Guess where my gloves are??? - Yep...in the car) Run into the garage - get a BIG screwdriver and a stick of wood (Why? I don't know...it was there...) Stop and look at the hammer...think NOT and go back to the car... Pry the window open with the screwdriver, shove the wood in and press the power lock button! Nothing happens. Press it again! Nothing happens. Then I remember that when I turn on the rear defroster, my power locks don't work anymore. (Hey - It's a '92 Grand Am - I'm lucky it has power anything)! Pry my fingers off the cold glass and run back in the house to fill up and thaw out again. One last try... Run out...pry the window...shove in the wood...(pray)...catch the manual lock on the first shot...open the door. (sigh) (Thank God) (Repent for anything I said) Go back into the house. Tell everyone I got it! Say goodbyes - get gloves - scrape widows - head to work. Coasted into the gas station on fumes... Did you know power steering and brakes don't work when the engine stops running? I should have remembered that, but when you are heading at a gas pump at 10mph and can't stop or turn, you forget things... Anyway managed to miss the pump. Got gased up and actually made it to work by 9:15! And what does the boss say when I walk in???

"Rough morning?"

If he only knew....

SNOW!

2007-01-16T08:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry for posting four letter words, but the SNOW has finally appeared! Well...OK...it's pretty much ice at this point, but it did snow for a little while last night and it was enough that I had to brush off my car this morning...

Blah Friday....

2007-01-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

It's Friday and I'm still stuck in Knoxville TN on business... Although the country down here is just beautiful, the weather is great (65 degrees - clear skies - no wind), it's kind of a blah day. I miss my family terribly and cannot wait to get home. At this point it looks like I won't be leaving here until Sat morning and then I have an 8 hour drive ahead of me. At least the drive isn't too bad and there are some great Christian Music stations down here. This trip has been pretty productive and I think we did some things to really help out the plant and provide our customers with some much needed information.

On a more personal note - I want to warn those of you who read this about a company out there called AFNI Collections. Yesterday, my friend that I am staying with - we'll call him Kidd Rock because he looks just like him - received a collections letter from these people. They stated that he had been sent to collections for a phone bill for over $3000 from another state where he used to live. What really started us thinking was that the phone number didn't look familiar, he had never had a phone in his name when he lived there, and supposedly the phone was disconnected for non-payment in 1998!! They are trying to collect this from him for a 9 year old bill!!!! He called the phone number and got an 87 year old lady who says she has had this phone forever and doesn't know anything about the bill or collection issue. When he called AFNI, they were very rude, wouldn't give him any information other than the fact that they had ALL of his personal information on file!! They had his parents name and address, they had his birthdate, his SS#, everything! The rep from AFNI got very snotty with Kidd and even tried to settle the debt over the phone for $1600. Kidd finally hung up on him. Afterwords we got on the internet and looked this place up. There are thousands of complaints posted all over the internet about these guys. They are sending out bogus collection letters and trying collect. The funny thing about all this was that every letter was almost exactly the same. Around $3000 - collection for a phone bill from the same telephone company - same letter - same situation. There were hundreds of posts from the area where I live, so for what ever reason these guys are targeting our area! Please be aware!!

If you receive one of these letters, here is what you should do:
(in my humble opinion - I'm not a lawyer)

1. DO NOT CALL AFNI - they were very sly on the phone and pulled some personal information from Kidd that they wouldn't have had. They also tried very subtle ways to get him to say that this WAS his debt because they were recording the call. Besides that, you should never talk to these kinds of people on the phone. You need documentation, documentation and more documentation. Everything should be in writing and send via registered mail so you have a signature.

2. Write two letters and send them to AFNI. The first letter is called a Letter of Validation. This basically is saying, I don't beleive this debt is mine and before you can proceed with any type of collection, you must send me proof that it is. Also in this letter, kindly ask them to also send proof that they are a ligitimate collection agency (including license number) and all information pertaining to your account. The second letter is a Cease Letter. This letter is basically to tell them that you have sent a Letter of Validation and that they are forbidden to call you or harrass you in any way until they provide ALL of the information that you have requested. Also clearly state that all phone calls from them will be recorded and that if they do try to contact you in any way prior to sending the information, that they are violating several laws and that you will prosecute. End this paragraph with "My legal representative has been notified of this matter." Typically you will never hear from them again.

3. Contact a lawyer and let them know what is happening - preferably in writting. You do not need a consultation (no fees), just simply tell them that if AFNI continues that you would be interested in pursuing this further. All you are doing here is basically getting your foot in the door with the lawyer and keeping yourself honest - you did tell them that you notified your legal rep, right?

4. Sit back and KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT. The wonderful people at AFNI have been known to slap negative information on your credit report after you have done steps 1,2 & 3 above. They won't contact you, they won't let you know, they will just give you negative information on your report. THIS IS ILLEGAL!!!!! They cannot do that without letting you know that they are going to do this! And the nice thing is that they cannot let you know that they are going to do that without sending you the informtion you asked for - why you ask? Because in your Cease letter you told them that they are not allowed to contact you in any way without first providing the informtion you asked for! At this point you need to go back to your lawyer. Many many people have settled with these guys for thousands of dollars without ever going to court. Once your lawyer contacts them, they will back off - since they broke the law - and they will be happy to settle by paying your lawyer fees and giving you a little bit of cash to keep from going to court.

Isn't it amazing that this could even happen!?!?!??!

I've rambled enough... Have a great day!!!!!!

Welcome to my spot!

2007-01-10T15:42:00.000-05:00

Hello and welcome to my spot! Just a quick warning...as a perfectionist, I will probably be changing the looks of the site often so don't be alarmed when it doesn't look like it did yesterday! One of these days I'll get delivered from having to mess with things and finally leave it alone, but until then you will just have to put up with me! :)

I'm not real sure what I am going to blog about, so bear with me as I tend to write the same way that I think...might be a bit scattered!!! :)