March 14th, PI day

I don't know how long this will be because I don't know where to begin or what I am going to write today.  Much of the weather here has been cold and windy and sometimes rainy too.  In fact, last night we had, what the weather service called a Bomb Cyclone.  It knocked out TV and phone service all over the area.  The night before we lost our electricity for almost two hours.  Our furnace has an electrical start, so it got pretty chilly in here until the power came back on.
As some of you know, we have been using DirecTV  for our TV satellite service for over 12 years.  We never saw the need to upgrade to the HD service they offered as we were satisfied with the SD (standard) service we had.  Recently, as some of you may also have found out, they are converting all of their customers to HD, and we got an email saying the upgraded equipment would not cost us anything (but of course the service itself would cost more) and they would be happy to send someone out to set up the new receiver.  We would still have had a problem because the actual dish we have, called the King Quest cannot receive the HD signal, so we would have had to buy an additional part from King or from Camping World to receive the new HD signal through the new receiver.  Long story short, they gave us a LOT of grief about changing the address for our service to our Arrey, NM address, and then they turned off our service coming from Los Angeles, and couldn't turn it back on for here.  I also discovered that if I went ahead with the new set-up, my monthly charge would increase AND I would be charged an additional $13.99 for the STARZ package, which we didn't even want, AND we would be locked into the new contract for 24 months.  We discussed it and decided we didn't want all of that forced on us, so I called them back and told the I would like to close out my account, and terminate all service from DirecTV.  They weren't happy about it, and the lady even asked if there was ANYTHING AT ALL that she could offer to get us to stay.  We said no because we have become more and more dissatisfied with their service, and it is time for us to end our service with them.

As I noted above, today is PI day (3.14*****), and we have been going to PIE Town on this day with Pastor Ric and his lovely wife Mary for the last few years.  However, we had no choice but to pass on it today.  Yesterday Jim was working on something outside and came in to get something he needed.  When he tried to go outside, he was unable to open the RV door!  Again, I will shorten the story and say that he tried very hard, but could NOT open the door, OR remove the lockset.  This same thing has happened three times in the past, but there is only ONE kind of lock for THIS door, and unless we spend a ton of money to get a new door, which would be a special order, and take time to even find one, if possible we have to keep replacing the lockset.  Rick O'Neill came down from Elephant Butte with what he thought would work, but it was much smaller and could not be used.  He DID get the door open, but he is going to have to order the lockset we need.  He said we can lock the door with the dead bolt, but I'm afraid that if that also breaks, he might not be able to get it open again.  

My dear brother Tony sent me this picture, and the caption says it all.  I needed that chuckle today.  I can't remember if I posted this picture of Millie peeking out from the living room curtains.

 I hope you can enlarge this and read what I wrote to a lady named Jenn who writes this column in the Thousand Trails "Trail Blazer".  I was quite surprised to see that she had shared what I had written, and a little proud too.  Our pets are truly part of our family and they bring us joy in so many ways.  I don't remember who wrote it, but I once read a quote that said "I hope I can be even half as good as my dog thinks I am".   I will never understand how anyone can be unkind, or as too often is the case, downright cruel to animals.  Pets give us such unconditional love and adoration.  They truly make many of us into better people than we were before they became part of our lives.  It's no wonder the word DOG is GOD spelled backwards, showing us a mirror image of God's love for us.

Pastor Dudley Bristow's wonderful wife Karen introduced me to an author I have come to love.  Her name is Jan Karon.  She writes delightful books about a fictional character by the name of Father Tim and his sofa-sized dog Barnabas and the town of Mitford.  I couldn't find them locally or on walmart.com, so Tony has ordered me several from Amazon.  These books are a total delight! I am enjoying them so much I don't want them to end.  I have limited my reading time to make them last longer.  These books are filled with interesting characters, and do NOT contain any nastiness like violence or dirty language.  I must say that I heartily recommend them to anyone who is seeking delightful entertainment.  

I guess I will close for now and wish everyone a good evening and the most blessed of days ahead.  Remember to enjoy each day and be grateful for all you have, knowing there are many less fortunate than you are.  Savor each day since none of us know how many more we will have.  Know that God loves you and wants you to be happy.  Love generously, forgive graciously, and look for the good in others.