7/30/2026. Stupid Is...as Stupid Does

           My car  I got off my wife a year and a half ago. Her grandson was using it. It had damage on trunk and front bumper and hood. I fixed the head lamp and rear tail light as well as the exhaust pipe brackets. I fixed other things under the hood as parts failed. The car had 200,000 mi on it. I decided to keep it because the motor and transmission were ok I believed. The engine light was always on. Took it to Advance Auto. It was the purge valve. I thought that was in the motor. This is where I made a big mistake. I should've looked it up on my phone first. Didn't do that. Went to the service station and he put one in for 250 dollars. The light went out but came back on the next day. Take it back, this time he said it's the gas cap. Can't use an after market gas cap. So I go to Hyundai and get the last cap they have for 25 dollars. The light still stays on. Go back to the service station, they didn't have an answer. I was going to have to leave it. But my life sped up and I had to put it on hold. Plus I didn't trust them as much. Couldn't get it registered in my name because it had to pass emissions first. So I drove it with a bad plate. Got caught tree times. One ticket. The other cops let me slide. Each cop snuck up on me. After that I kept an eye out constantly and didn't get stopped.

          Every once in awhile, I would try to talk to service stations about my problem. It would be 200 dollars just  for a diagnosis. No way I was paying that. So  I would say to them, what if I put 1000 dollars into it and it still failed. They say well it would cost even more money. So none of the service stations would give me a price. In my mind I was not going to give up til I had my plate. And I was not going to put a lot of money into it as well. I looked into getting it inspected in a county that didn't have the emission requirement. Spent a couple months fiddling around with that. Couldn't make it work. Back to square one. I had more time to try and find a better mechanic. Finally found a guy. I let him inspect it. He says it's the purge valve. And the alternator is putting out too much voltage. Fails on those two things. He fixed the engine light by swapping out the led bulb with another bulb that was working another light function that I didn't need. Back to the alternator, I had my first mechanic put in a new alternator 10 months ago. There is a warranty. I found out what auto parts store he used. I call them up. They don't have the part. Two days to have it transfered from another store. Give him my mechanic's name.  Make the appointment with the mechanic. On way there I stop and buy oil for car at Dollar General. 5.59 per quart, cheaper than the auto parts store. Like 3.00. per quart. Go to auto parts store for filter. At a Jiffy lube It would be 80 dollars.. ten years ago for my pickup it was $25.00 to have someone change the oil. So I get to the mechanics, he's an hr and a half late. Have him change the oil as well as swap out the alternator. Hour later he's done. Cost me $125. The alternator is free but I had to repay the labor cost. So I got the oil changed in that cost. So I had a new purge valve and a new alternator put in and they both failed. Unbelievable!

           Now I'm good with the alternator, he shows me on meter I'm under 15 volts. Wish I knew this earlier. But now you know to make sure to see for yourself that your under 15 volts with your new alternator. I look in the phone about the purge valve. My new mechanic would charge a little over a hundred. I see in the Internet where that valve is, not in the motor but behind it. I look at discount auto parts on the web.  I get one shipped out for 29 dollars. OEM part is what you want. I checked at Advance Auto, they wanted 75 dollars. I use online part sellers as well as the auto part stores. Like for the alternator it is going to be an auto parts store. I put the purge valve in myself and it takes 30 minutes. That first service guy charged me 250f dollars. Got ripped off and it didn't work anyways.

          Back to my new mechanic for the ,2 tests on the car. I saw yesterday that the check engine light was on again. I told the mechanic. He went out to check on car and said light was out. Great I say. Half hour later the car passes. Man I was so happy. I high fived the mechanic. Finally got my plates. A week later that damn check engine light comes on again and has stayed on. Doesn't matter now though. So I was thinking that DS had a hand in getting me through the emission test. The more I think on it the more I believe it. My plates are good for 2 years before it has to get inspected again. Thank-you DS. This was a struggle. I just focused on getting this done and not having to pay a whole lot of money for. Same no matter what is going on in your life. FOCUS on your desired outcome and take action. I was going to get it done no matter how long it was going to take. Now, my car has 208,000 miles on it. Here's a tip as your car gets older get oil changed every 3,000 mi.

7/27/2026 Update

          I waited a week to resume with the dumbbell. This time I do 20 lifts with each arm, 25 pounder. Then I do  lift over head to a count of 30 each arm. That's one rep. Then do again for the second rep. So far so good. For you you do the weight that is comfortable to you even if it's a 2 pounder wt. So a couple months ago I was thinking to going to 30 pounder in October. Now that is put off. I still do dips into an open doorway for my back by holding on to the door frame and leaning into the open door way.

           Yesterday marked one month since I started my diet. I don't have a scale yet. Will get one soon. So I lost my love handles. Happy about that. My guess I lost close to 20 lbs. I will soon give an update on what I eat to make this diet work. So, I've been on diets in the past. Eventually they fail. But it is I that failed. These failures make you stronger. You are not the same as you were. You're a wee bit smarter. Those little smarts are like ladder rungs up to get where you want to be. Eventually, one day you will rely on these little footholds to get you over the top. It comes down to, how bad do you really want it. It's like with everything else. How bad do you want a new car or how bad do you want God. It's time for me to get over the top this time. And I'm going to get er done. Up until 23 I could eat anything drink beer and not gain weight. Those were great times because I was a foody. Well around 23 things started to change. It started to stick. Not so good. But I continued with my ways. My first diet started because I walked by a mirror in my house and saw how fat I was. I wasn't wearing a shirt. I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I walked back holy cow I'm a cow. Went to the bathroom got on the scale. 260 holy molly. Diet started that night. Next day down to 258.  After months I got down to 240. Then I stayed between 240 & 250 lbs plateaued here a couple decades. Once I got down to 220 but eventually 240 again. It's been many years that I was in the 190s. This year though for sure.

          Finally got the car registered after 18 mos. That will be another blog.

          The last place I was going to move to fell through, so still dealing with this issue as well.

          I am greatful for everything too. Always be greatful. It's good to look back on what we have to be greatful for.

7/23)2026. Nick. Bostick

            Four years ago Nick was driving nighttime in Lafayette IN, after a fight with his girlfriend. He usually delivers pizza. He was driving to clear his head after the fight. 

             Now,  that fight was for a reason. A negative event set the stage for Nick. He's coming down the road and is passing what appears to be a campfire in the front yard of a house. He backs up to get a better looksie. That's not a campfire. The house is on fire. He parks and runs into the house. In the first floor An 18 yr old girl is bringing the girls downstairs. He ushers them out to the yard. The 18 yr old says there is still one more. Back up to the second floor he goes. Pulling closet doors and looking under beds. Nothing, he runs back to the first floor. He puts shirt in front of his face, the smoke is thick. He uses his hands to feel around . Nothing, he's moving faster as the fire ramps it up. Poking and poking and hits pay dirt. The  6 year old girl he grabs but front door is blocked with fire and smoke . He remembers the window when he first went up. He tried to break it, his arm bounces off it. Second time he breaks it. As he is trying to get the girl out her foot and leg gets caught up in the blind cord. Has to set her down to fix it. He grabs her and holds her tight to his left side jumps out and lands on his left side. This is his last remembrance  The cops tell him that he brought the kid to the street and handed her off.  She only had a minor wound. Then he collapsed on the curb. They treated him for hand and arm injuries and burns and smoke inhalation. When he was upstairs at first he thought he just might not survive this one.

          This happened around this time 4 years ago. He recuperated. Once he got out of the hospital. And he also got the Carnegie Medal of Honor. Excellent actions Nick,! Kudos, a genuine hero. 

           So, it starts off as a negative event with his fight with his gal. He's stewing and driving. And he his right where DS wants him to be. Nick does the rest.  When Nick is downstairs talking to the 18 yr old about the missing child. He could of asked God where she is. Say something like is she on the first or second floor. The first answer in your head you go with. This probably would of saved him the real bad Injuries. He did good though. No one knows God's plan but we can get a heads up to a part of that plan. It can and does bleed through. With dreams and the waking dream we can privy ourselves into knowing a wee bit, what that plan is. In my opinion it is better with the heads up. Try to stay calm when chaos is about. It is through the calm that DS will reveal to you what the best course of action is. It is harder for DS to come through when the mind is jumbled up. Like looking into a shallow pond with calm waters. You can clearly see the bottom. Drop a 5 pound rock in there and you can't see the bottom anymore. Keep clarity of mind and you will see clearly. Do this in all aspects of your life.

           The father who was not home at the time was talking to a reporter and said the family lost everything except each other. And,  then he said one real good thing though, was we gained another member of the family.

7/21/2026 Exercise Injury

           About 2 days ago I felt a little dime size  ache in the right shoulder. Where the arm intersects the shoulder. In an hour I forgot about it. Now 2 days later in the afternoon, the ache is stronger. I didn't do anything, like lift anything. So I screwed up. Not thinking that dime size ache could get worse. Now,  I will lay off the exercise for a week. So don't do what I did. Which is ignore it. I think it was the 55 pushups I do on the bathroom sink. Should have stuck to 25 pushups instead. So you have to make adjustments with your exercises. 

          I adjusted to 25 lifts with the dumbbell instead of 50 lifts for 1 rep. This I find works better. In 1 sitting I do 25lifts of 25 lb dumbbell on one arm. Then I lift that weight over my head and hold it the for 50 count. Same for the other arm. I do that exercise twice in under 15 minutes.  So take a week off if you feel that dime size ache in your workouts.

7)18/2026 Life on Hold

          Basically it's been on hold for almost 7 months because of one thing after the other. As all this started, I saw the waking dream sign... Chill ,...in big letters on a truck. Well that's what I've been doing. Not that successful as of now. So I've been thinking on this. Time to take the chill off.  Today I'm scrolling the phone and there is an ad in the phone. But first this morning I see a picture on the phone of a cardinal lifting off a branch and the photo catches the bird with wings out stretched. Excellent photo. This registers to me as a soon to be jumping off point for me. Eh maybe. Later in morning in the phone, I see the ad.

            Purple box with words. The calm of everything going to plan.  Another waking dream?  Perhaps.  So my guess here is...relax it's my ( creator ) plan. So he's reminding me to be patient. But I have to admit my patience is wearing real thin.

7/15/2026. Dr Ahmed

           He's an emergency doctor in ithe United Kingdom doing his nightly rounds. He sees a nuse struggling with a bed sheet. The patient has 12 hrs left to live. He holds her hand and he hears her say thank-you,  But in a weak voice. He squeezes her hand and is about to step out of the room. Nope. She grabs his hand with strength. This takes him aback. She says  I have visitors here and they say you're good un. He says oh your family. She says not my family. The visitors that are now in this room are the ones that said it. He's getting creeped out now.  Then he feels the nurse step in the room behind him. He turns to greet her but no one is in the room but him and the patient. The room is dark. Finally he bolts. 

           If I'm in his shoes, I'm going to be asking the visitors some questions. People who are about to move on can become like their 30s again. Total strength & clarity. For a brief period of time, anyway.

7/14/2026 Weight Gain

           Last couple years I was lax with the eating.  So I bloomed up to 242 pounds on a 5' 10 frame ( Xtra large shirt) usually. Now a 1 X shirt would be better. This Sunday will be 3 weeks on the diet. I was on my last notch in the belt. And the belt comes under the belly. So the belt doesn't go over the belly button.  Not good, not good at all. Hence, the diet.

           Around 28 I was in a 7/11 getting lunch. I don't remember the circumstances but I was talking to a stranger and we got to talking about weight gain. He said that when he loosened  his belt one notch he would go on a no white diet. No sugar, bread,salt ice cream or milk. Once his weight came down he'd eat what he wanted I said Wow.  Did I follow his advice. Stupid me did not. Do I regret it yes. But I was a foody, then and now. I could eat whatever I wanted, up until I was 23,  then it started to stick. Back in my late 49s I walked by the hall mirror one day and I say, who is that?  Jumped on scale 260 the heaviest of all time. I've stayed around 240 for decades. Gave it more years  and got down to 215. But I eventually went back to 240. Got to drop 42 pounds to get to 200. I'm starting to get there. 

          I start with breakfast. I swap out 2 things. One day it will be cereal and the next 1 jumbo egg and one cooked piece of bacon. I also take 3 small mini potatoes from a bag from Wallmart. I slice them and put them in pan with bacon strip. Then pepper, hot sauce and ketchup. And One cup of instant de- cafe sleeve with a little bit of real sugar and half & half.

          Lunch.... 2 mini croissants toasted not the ones that say butter found at Wallmart. In that I put a little grape jelly then cream cheese on top of that. When out and about I go to Taco Bell and get the chicken stacker for 2.99. plus I use 7-8 hot sauce packets. Sometimes I buy discount yogurts and use them as snacks.

         Dinner......I fry up turkey or chicken in a tube. Half a palm of meat. Brown them up and add it to instant mash potato or macaroni. With a little bit of cheese from the included packets..  I add stone ground mustard from Wallmart and hot sauce. Also I shake some basil into it. For macaroni I add a little  bit of olive oil or grape oil. It's good. I will add raw carrots and radishes.  Also frozen cauliflower. I will have a salad 3 times a week. And boiled corn for 10 min. One ear. A little salt and a little butter.

          Desert...,....1 Vortman fudge choc chip cookie sugar free. And a pudding cup sugar free. Sometimes I swap a sugar free ice cream sandwich instead of a pudding cup. You have to take them out of the box and stick them in the freezer. After 2 mons of that I think I won't be getting them even though they're sugar free. They don't taste that great.

        I don't have a scale. But my belt is now on the 4th notch in. From 1 to 4 in less than 3 weeks. I see the stomach shrinking. This is where I store it. When I get to 200 I will try for 195. Then stay there. I will need alot of diligence this time around. I will get it done!