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Home Sweet Home

Home Is Where The Heart Is

That’s right, and I’ll be at home for awhile. My kitchen is now my professional workplace. Due to the current real-world conditions I brought my job home with me earlier this week, and it will stay here at home indefinitely. It could be a few weeks. It could be a few months. But I’m determined to continue working here at home in my kitchen to support the mission – whatever that mission may be. (I don’t discuss my job in public other than the fact that I’m a 35-year employee of the United States Air Force.)

Incidentally this is a COVID-19-free blog. I won’t talk about it on here in any way because this is also a political-free blog, and you can’t talk about COVID-19 without getting political.

My goal over these next few weeks (or months) is to – believe it or not – lose a few pounds (by eating less), and get more physically fit by engaging in my favorite exercise – walking. This past Sunday morning at dawn I actually did something for the first time in a little over 3 years. I walked around the entire perimeter of my own neighborhood – 1.37 miles in 23 minutes and 21 seconds. I hope to do more neighborhood walks early in the morning, as long as weather conditions permit.

Well this is my spontaneous Thursday at 3 AM blog post. I have no idea what I plan to write until I actually write it. My Friday, Sunday, and Monday blog posts are programmed. You pretty much know what you’re gonna get from me on those 3 days. Incidentally this upcoming Sunday I’ll present Part 2 of my multi-part sermon titled “Faces & Heels”. Part 2 will pick-up where Part 1 left-off this past Sunday. This is shaping-up to be a 4-part sermon, so it will culminate on Easter Sunday (April 12TH).

Over on my Flickr site I’m posting photos of my January 19TH 2020 visit to the Edison And Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers Florida. I love that place. If I lived over there in that region I’d probably hang out there on a regular basis if not volunteer there and give guided tours. It’s one of the coolest museums that I’ve ever visited – even cooler than the last museum that I volunteered at inside Everglades National Park.

Well this concludes my Thursday blog post. I’ll be back again tomorrow morning for my weekly RETRO. This week I’ll be looking back at Sunday March 25TH 1990. A 19-year-old had the # 1 smash on my chart, and it eventually hit # 1 nationwide on Billboard’s Hot 100. He got help on the song from the hottest band in the world at the time. Find out who he is when I turn the page on a new day.

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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The Hot Water Heater That Lasted Two Lifetimes

Happy Thursday March 19TH 2020 – the first day of Spring here in the U.S.A. Spring starts at 11:49 PM EDT / 8:49 PM PDT tonight. It’s our earliest Vernal Equinox since 1896. You can read all about why that’s the case at one of my favorite web sites – SPACE.COM.

So on to the weird headline for this blog post. This past Sunday morning I noticed something quite peculiar with the water coming out of my shower with the dial set at its usual position. The water was scalding hot !  I simply turned the dial clockwise a bit to allow more cold weather to breakdown the hot weather, and then I didn’t think much of it after that. Later in the day I turned on my kitchen faucet, and the water was scalding hot with the handle set at its usual position. The same was true for both of my bathroom faucets. It was then when I figured it all out.

My longtime hot water heater was dying. It’s common knowledge (apparently) that some hot water heaters gradually lose their effectiveness to produce hot water over an extended period of time. And then there are others that suddenly start to malfunction by near-boiling the water inside the tank just before they completely die. Mine was obviously the latter type. It was going on one final super binge before eventually burning out.

The next morning (Monday) – after a mostly sleepless night and actually dreaming vividly about my dying hot water heater – I took one final quick shower with great care. After that I called my favorite local plumbing company to schedule a service call to remove and replace my old hot water heater – which incidentally was manufactured in 1993 !  It was 27 years old !

A standard 40-gallon electric hot water heater isn’t supposed to last that long. You’re lucky if you get 10 to 15 years out of one. Mine somehow lasted twice that long. It was the hot water heater that was already in-place when I moved in to my current home back in 1995. I estimate that it provided me at least 8,500 hot showers over the past 25 years.

So it’s out with the old – and in with the new.

My favorite local plumbing company came through for me in my time of need, and they were in and out in almost exactly 2 hours. Normal hot water began flowing again within an hour after that. No more worries for awhile in the hot water department of my home.

My weekend of blogging is just getting started. I’ll be back tomorrow (Friday) with an all-new RETRO from March 2000.

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Merry Christmas

merry-christmas-calligraphy-with-baubles_1262-7024

On this Thursday before Christmas (next Wednesday) I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you following me and reading my blog a very Merry Christmas.

My traditional family “Christmas” actually occurred 3 weeks ago today on Thanksgiving Day. For the past dozen years or so my family has enjoyed a hearty home-cooked Breakfast, and then shortly after that we’ve opened all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree. Once they are all opened it’s time to watch the Macy’s Parade, and then football for the rest of the day and into the night – pausing for about an hour to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner at around three in the afternoon.

On the day after Thanksgiving (“Black Friday”) Christmas is done and over for me. Well – sort of. For the first 3 weeks of December I get to observe and celebrate bits and pieces of Christmas here and there by putting up the Christmas tree and decorations in the church sanctuary, listening to Christmas music on the radio, watching Christmas shows on television, writing and sending out Christmas cards to friends from afar, and enjoying several Christmas luncheons with friends and coworkers.

We all celebrate Christmas in our own unique and traditional ways. May you spend this season with your loved ones. Make and share good memories that will last a lifetime. Honor each other. Love one another.

And may we remember why we celebrate Christmas.

And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21 NLT)

The LORD saves.

All rights reserved (c) 2019 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Weekend Kickoff Mini-Thoughts

Let’s try this again – a rapid-fire session of thoughts on my mind right this minute:

  • It’s been awhile since I last did this.
  • In fact it’s been 5 weeks.
  • I enjoy writing these spontaneous off-the-top-of-my-head “Mini-Thoughts”.
  • Let’s get started, as I look at my wall calendar.
  • Can you believe that November is nearly half-over ?
  • Thanksgiving Day (here in the U.S.A.) is 2 weeks from today !
  • This will be my final Thursday blog post of November.
  • I’m going offline again next week, so no new blog posts.
  • I’m going on a 12-day hiatus from blogging and social media.
  • After this weekend’s full slate of posts I won’t post again until December.
  • That’s December 01ST when I return with “Sunday Scripture”.
  • This has been a big year for attending shows and concerts.
  • My 9TH concert of 2019 was this past Sunday night.
  • I enjoyed Casting Crowns, Hillsong Worship, and Elevation Worship.
  • I wrote a nice review of it this past Monday here on the blog.
  • My 10TH concert is coming up on December 22ND.
  • I’m seeing comedian Jim Gaffigan LIVE in concert in West Palm Beach.
  • 10 shows and concerts in a single year makes it one of my biggest years ever.
  • 33 years ago tonight I was at the Oxford (England) Apollo at a concert.
  • I saw Ultravox back when they were big in England.
  • I still have my original tee-shirt that I bought at the concert !

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  • That tee-shirt doesn’t fit me anymore.
  • I weigh over 40 pounds more now than I did back then when I was 19.
  • Ultravox scored with a minor Top 40 hit at the time – “Same Old Story”.
  • I always thought that the song underperformed.
  • It didn’t get much airplay on national radio, and that stunted its growth.
  • I think it’s one of the greatest songs of my life.
  • I still love it 33 years later.
  • Its style of music wasn’t particularly popular in the U.K. in 1986.
  • Check out lead singer Midge Ure practically inventing the “selfie stick”:

  • I don’t think I’ve ever featured a music video as a “Mini-Thought” before.
  • That was Midge Ure at 33 – half his age than he is now.
  • I had a wonderful 2-year stay in the U.K.
  • This weekend marks 32 years since I left and moved back home stateside.
  • I haven’t been back since, but sometime I’ll make it back.
  • Well the Arctic Blast has avoided South Florida so far.
  • Our lowest temperature recorded so far is a mere 67°F.
  • But much cooler air should invade us this weekend.
  • We could actually drop into the upper-50s by Sunday morning !
  • The natives will be breaking out their flannels, coats, and hats.
  • We may not reach 80°F all weekend !
  • Incidentally I live in Homestead Florida.
  • This is the home of the NASCAR Championship !
  • The Homestead-Miami Speedway is just 3 miles from my home.
  • I’ll actually be able to hear the echo of the cars racing this weekend.
  • You can watch all of the action LIVE on NBC-TV this Sunday at 2 PM.
  • Well that’s gonna do it for this edition of my “Mini-Thoughts”.
  • I’ll be back again tomorrow for my regular Friday feature. #RETRO

All rights reserved (c) 2019 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries