August 11 – “Bulletproof”

Well, that was quite the ho-hum day.  No work at all on 40 Steps.  A few pickup trucks drove by and slowed down, but no workers leapt from their confines and swarmed over the property like ants.  I kind of missed them.

On our part, however, we were inspired by the lack of work to get in some work of our own.  The fact that it didn’t rain suddenly made it yard work day.  Not anything landscape-significant or anything.  Just mow the grass, run the weedeater, and clean out some flowerbeds.  Of course after a week of rain that process was somewhat easier said than done.  The grass was high.  Our no-longer-new lawn mower acquitted itself admirably, though.  That part went well.  The weedeater, however …  Oh, I completed the task well enough.  But as I was finishing up, I began to smell the tell-tale odor that marks the demise of yet another Black and Decker electric weedeater.  They usually last about one season.  I guess this one just felt a bit overworked.  Maybe I should go for a gas one next time.  I have to say that the work and the heat really ate my lunch this time.  I had to stop and cool down at one point.  And afterwards my neck and back were killing me the rest of the afternoon.  Chris even sent me to take a nap before home group.  We’re both pretty sore this morning.  Her comment was, “We have to do some kind of regular exercise beyond just walking, even if it’s just stretching.”  I love that woman.

I made the follow-up call to check on the chair that was damaged in shipment.  They are going to send us a replacement back part.  All we have to do is unscrew the old and slap on the new, and voila, we have a new chair.  And we also received the replacement screws that were missing in the original shipment.  While I had the lady on the line, I asked if the chairs had been treated in any way with any kind of scotchgard.  She said they had received a light treatment at the factory, but that it was certainly not “bulletproof.  If you want them to be bulletproof, you need to go over to WalMart and pick up some cans of whatever product they have and give the chairs a spraying.  That should make them bulletproof.  And then redo that every six months or so, because the people who sit in the chairs will eventually rub off the bulletproof-ness.”  Hmm.  I haven’t ever sat in a bulletproof chair before.  Think I’ll head to Home Depot today. 

1 Peter 2:19 says, “For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.”

Father, thank you for the professional treatment we received with the chair people.  And on a lighter note, I’m pleased that I got to finish the weedeating before the thing burned up.  Thanks for that.  Amen.