June 4 – “A close one …”

Started the day early.  I had to meet the Bug Guy at church for our three-month spray for roaches and the like.  I don’t think anybody has seen any live beasts yet.  We did see an array of dead ones, though.  Things are working.  I think we are pretty well set for re-opening the retreat center to groups who have reserved it for the summer.  They have to set their own distancing guidelines and the like, though. 

While there I called Comcast about the church’s phone service.  Any incoming call was going directly to voice mail.  On site, there was no dial tone to attempt calls out, and the phone never rang.  Obviously I had to call on my cell phone.  The computer ran the first check.  It remotely restarted the modem.  No change.  After that it connected me with a human being.  Finally.  She was really nice and quite helpful.  As it turned out I had to go upstairs to the retreat center office to check the phone modem there.  Seems we have two modems for wifi because of difficulty connecting.  And upstairs we also have two telephone modems.  All appeared well with them.  Then she wanted me to check if there was a dial tone.  No phone in that office.  I had to run downstairs.  I grabbed the one in the kitchen, but halfway up the stairs I realized this was a remote unit and not a base unit.  There would be no way to plug the phone cord in.  So I ran back down the stairs to get the base unit.  And then back up the stairs to try to connect it.  I say “try” because I discovered the electrical outlets in the office don’t all work.  That will get checked out ASAP.  I did find one that worked to get electricity to the base, and following directions I then plugged the phone cord into the back of the modem.  And nothing.  In a nutshell it confirmed that we need to buy some new phones.  The problem was with our equipment, not the service.  WalMart. Here we come.  Hope they still sell land line phones …

On the way home I stopped for gas.  Gotta keep the tank full with a storm in the Gulf.  As I was exiting the parking lot at Randall’s, I noticed a movement in the rear view mirror.  A tall, very thin man had stepped into the street right behind me and was stumbling drunkenly in front of traffic.  The two cars behind me slammed on their breaks, narrowly avoiding a collision.  The guy casually completed his travel across the street, oblivious to the consternation of the drivers.  That was a close one …

We had a FaceTime call from three-year-old Ezra.  He does that periodically.  This time he had a bit of news.  His Mom got a new phone.  They completed the swing set in their back yard.  They went to “Jack Books Park” to play.  Oh, and he knew how to spell his name.  That one took some prompting from Mom, but he finally got it out.  Sort of.  His take came out with a hearty laugh like this: “E – Three – R –A!”  Come on, you gotta admit that is a pretty funny way to spell your name.  And think of how next year will sound: “E – Four – R – A” …

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Father, thank you for our little FaceTimer.  Watch over him as he grows and adds numbers to his name.  Amen.