socks

I like markets like that Bumpy. Open-air, "Farmers' Markets". Food looks like food, or at least like the pictures I've seen of it. I enjoy fresh produce. That kind of thing isn't "shopping" to my mind. It's more like "visiting". I visit the food, and the people who grew it and take some home with me. Do you go to them, exRa? Gilroy is about 3 hours south of us - "Garlic Capitol of the World". They definitely do have the garlic, and so do we. I keep lots of it around. Always good. I'll be grilling some fish tonight, with a rub I make. Should be tasty. I like fish and seafood. Raw clams and oysters - no. But pretty much everything else. The fish fillets came in vacuum packs, my wife buys them. I can see the fish inside, so I know what's going on, for the most part. It's fish, part of one anyway. Fresh stuff is always good too. While I deeply appreciate canning technology I've found....it pays to be careful. You don't know what happened to whatever it is on the way into the can. I've found it wasn't good, in some cases. Like Canned Peaches. You definitely have to be careful with Canned Peaches, there should only be peaches in the can when opened. The same would go for String Beans, and Pineapples. Crowded is okay, good actually. But the picture on the label has to match the stuff inside.

waysider - the childhood was as Chatling says, dee-lightful! But then, there were only a couple "stores" to get "groceries" at. Lucky's was what we had, I think - no kidding, that was the name of it. Lucky's. An odd name for a store where you buy food. Maybe that was it. The idea that picking up a dozen eggs and a carton of milk could involve luck may have planted itself in the ol' subconscious. Or associated itself with all of those old Cagney mobster flicks. Maybe it WAS owned by a local mob boss named Lucky and a front for illegal activities. It was always extremely clean I do remember that. Very clean. Thanks pond. Glad I'm not the only one. You said it all: shopping is complex and can be quite depressing. It seems to bring out the best and the worst in people. I hope to have some grandkids someday and take them. I'll be able to teach them the Ways of the Grocery, and hopefully save them some grief down the line.That's what we should do for the next generation, make their lives a little better. Give them Grade AAA Tips like - "park for leaving, not entering" so they know to park close to the exit doors and don't have to push a cart full of bags down 5 rows in the Parking Speedway when they're done...."NEVER buy one of a 2-for-one sale item or the actual register price will triple"....cans of peaches - avoid any brand with a picture of a fish on it....stuff like that they'll be able to use. Abigail: This week we will feast on smoked turkey breast, smoked pork roast, and a stewed roast beef that comes straight from heaven. We will eat barley and beans, rice and lentils, couscous and flax seeds. We will add parsnips and turnips, fresh snow peas and corn on the cob. Canetelope, peaches, plums. Raspberry shortcake especially for Sushi. Wow. And it will seem like magic to the Uninitiated, as if manna from the sky falls everyday onto the table. :) Polar Bear, I wish I did. Now that I've got this under my belt, the total time invested in such adventures will go down, hopefully. I can see a day when I'll just..."go", and just do it. No planning, just me and my Bank Card, wind in my hair. All 7 of them. Goerge, I can see you understand. Drain Shlop I have no problem with. Soaped up Tinker Toys, been there done that. Hair - kind of scarey if it's mine, but overall if I can find a tool for it I can fix it well enough to qualify for a licensed repair man or contractor to take over when I'm "finished'. But the Food Shopping is a land I won't go into without backup and a guide. Until now. coolchef - WalMart's are one of the reasons I think I have such a problem with these kinds of operations. I like - I think I like the idea of Wal Mart, but I don't even know why. They're basically dangerous places, for me. Plus, they sell so much stuff. Fish food. Milk. Cologne. Gum. Ciggies. Shoes. Hair gel. Cat food. Lawn chairs. Wrenches. Sets of wrenches. Cases for the wrenches. Transmission fluid. Bikes. Balloons. Ammonia. That can't be right, can it?

Hello. Today, my wife is returning from a work trip, an excursion that's lasted 5 days. Prior to leaving, she shopped for groceries and left the fridge stocked, if not full. Normally this would have been more than enough "food" to last but our son's home for a few months while he gets squared away with work. The Boy graduated college in May and we're glad to have him home, it's nice. And he eats a fair amount, which is fine. Both he and the Girl were here for dinner one night too. So, by last night we were seeing bright light and white inside the fridge, and I started thinking one of us was going to have to go shopping for some food. Or, the Mom could do it when she got back but that seemed like a burden I didn't want hanging there first thing upon her return. So, I went shopping today. Which isn't a biggie by most standards but I really don't like to grocery shop. I've posted a couple times before about it. It's hard to explain but I really don't like the whole bizzare business of grocery shopping. It's too weird, the pricing, quantities, brands, not to mention the "stores" and the way they're set up. I've had some minor successes but nothing I'd recommend or do the same way again. I have found a gas station off the freeway, up a ways, that has a store in it that actually carries a lot of stuff, that's not too bad. It's more than the usual beer and smokes, kind of a mini-market. There aren't 10 different kinds of soup or 5 brands of cheese. If they have it there's one brand and it's cheap. It's not too bad, they leave you alone and don't mess with you. Get it, pay for it, and get out. It's fairly predictable. But I knew that wasn't going to do it, so I determined upon leaving to drive by the local Pacific Market that's opened up near us and check the parking lot. If it looked empty, I'd give it a shot. My destiny was clear when I saw that there weren't that many cars in the lot. So I pulled up and went in. For some reason, I felt good about it. I had no list, and hadn't done any of the preparations I usually would have if considering an encounter like this, but still I felt confident. Good. I was doing the right thing, and it felt good. Somewhere between the produce section and the Bread aisle, I - it's hard to describe. I started going down the aisles and looking at stuff, stuff I didn't even plan on buying, and nothing happened. Someone actually said "excuse me" as they went around my cart with theirs (I had a cart!!) and there was no collision, no cursing, no exchange of phone numbers or insurance information. I didn't encounter any store "clerks" other than one trusted soul who's been at this place for years, when it was the "Roger Wilco" store previously, and who's been of assistance in some difficult situations. So... By the time I was at the register I realized It was over. My stuff was rung up, bagged and paid for before I knew it. I got everything I'd gone for, plus some other cool stuff - ice cream! And some very nice Hamburger buns. Plus other stuff. When I got home we unpacked and put everything away and that was that. I'm not sure what happened to make it go so well, but I do think that - well, either way it went well. So I thought I'd share. :)

Worth noting, amongst the many notable notes! If I looked at the different forces at play in the Way's growth through the 70's and 80's I think that hits on a lot of what was going on. Youth + lack of experience + fast growth = ? "At the top" the VPster is building the Way Inc. to be a bustling, self sustaining enterprise, bible-teaching-in-a-box - repeatable, scalable, profitable. Leave aside for a moment an evaluation of the product from a doctrinal standpoint and look at PFAL and the Way Tree as a means of accomplishing two things - 1.) to teach people "God's Word" to help them and 2.) provide a means for those interested in participating to get the teaching and form a fellowship, a church of sorts, around it. Together, anywhere. Plug in people who are interested and give them the means to faciliate those two things through some training, some assistance, some face-to-face involvement with others of like mind and interest. What's wrong with that picture? Not much, on face value. Now plug in an 18 year old who takes PFAL, attends their local fellowship, and within 3 years at the tender age of 21 or 22, is "running" a large Way operation in a state. A "limb" coordinator, or managing a program. That person probably has a lot of enthusiasm, energy, and desire. What qualifies them to take on such a responsibility? Well, "Jesus was barely 30 - look at what He did"...."Mary was a teenager - look at her!" Very true, but they didn't start businesses, sell products, pay taxes, sign contracts, or attempt to build bueaucracies. They lived out their own life's purposes, so to speak. Did some things, didn't do others. When asked to settle a squabble over a family's division of an inheritance, Jesus was said to have told the man who came to Him "Who made me a judge over you?" By any other words, He might have said "Go talk to them, or someone who deals in such things. I'm not your accountant or therapist. It's none of my business." So, what was the business of the Way? If it was to do 1 and 2 of the above, the concept of self-governing, financing and propogating left the door wide open for personal development and growth. In theory, there should have never been, could never have been, most of the things we saw happen over the years, finally culminating with a President and Founder so sick and self-absorbed he felt none of the people he'd taught and worked with over the years could even be trusted or understand. If people involved over the years were primarily trying to do "good" (within a reasonable range and allowing for variances) it's easy to see how extreme avarice, greed, personal agendas, and the like wouldn't be looked for and even overlooked in those who were "leading". If you're assuming everyone's bumbling along and doing the best they can you may not interpret a lot of the weirdness correctly. It really only took about what - 15 years? - for the whole thing to become a MLM mess. By that time the 18 year old is 33, and most if not all of their personal and professional experience has been in the Way, if they've gone in the Way Corps and become a full-time participant. They may still be poking along doing what they do with good intent for better or worse, and meanwhile the Way's grown up around them to be a hard-core sales machine, with a half-azzed training program churning out more confused but well meaning particpants, thrown into the grinder to sink or swim. In that kind of environment, anything could happen. That's difficult to shield from.

<-----> 6. Account got Locked Out - after 1000 uses of the words "prevail" in a single post the host server initiates the NDPAR procedures - "Normal Defense Procedures Against Redundancy" and won't allow it's use again for 1 year.

Top 10 Reasons Dartinmale can't post on GS: 10: Still working on an appropriate Login name - "Buzzkill" already taken. 9: Bali clients keep needing clean towels - no time, no time!

First Church of the Left Foot

3. Had new laptop but couldn't figure out where to put it.

Well, glad for that Chas. :) Few months ago I got together with an old friend I'd played with in Cookin' Mama back then. It was his band, started when a blues band we'd had (where we'd met) broke up and he went off and started a 3-piece band, ala "Cream". Tommy was a heck of a guitar player, with boundless energy and a great guy. Hasn't changed a bit although he's become a heck of an organist over the years, backed up Greg Allman, done well by his music. We talked over a lot of old times and memories. In '71, CM travelled cross country to play and visit the Way fellowships during the summer, with the ROA the middle stop. Went to Kansas with Donnie Fugit and Dove and all of the gang there. Indianapolis with John Lynn, Good Seed had just started up. After the ROA went to New York and played several times there, and did a concert with PDSTRO at Alley Pond Park, a night we both still remembered vividly. Great summer, and good times. We were pretty busy in the SF Bay Area and the club and concert venues here and that trip was the first look at the rest of the country for most of us. We'd all played a lot over the years growing up, that trip was a real education at what the rest of the country looked like. We talked about our music. I had discovered some old tapes, a KSAN radio show we'd done, some Avalon "Family Dog" concert stuff and some different things taped off the boards of other bands, one with Steve Abella from Alameda who I'd played with off and on for a few years. Turns out Tommy had a lot of our old stuff too, a studio 4-track we'd made at Mills College in Oakland, and part of a tape he thought was from our one stab at the Fillmore, which went well. In the middle of that summer tour after the ROA, we got together with VPW to talk about music and the general plans of the Way. Ted F was involved of course at that time and there'd been a gathering of the "tribes' so to speak at New Knoxville's School gym that summer to talk about what everyone was doing. Our intention at the time was to continue on a career path with CM, and we were definitely interested in what we were doing with "the Word" in our musc. We were finding that audiences didn't much care what you sang about if they liked the musc. We had a lot of emphasis on the music, arrangements, etc. VPW was difficult on the lyric content - felt they were too "vague". To some extent that wasn't intentional but we weren't trying to spell every little thing out, thinking it was fine to leave some room for the listener to fill in and enjoy. He wanted to change the lyrics around, make them "better". We thought his advice was good for new stuff, worth trying out and seeing what we could do. No one wanted to change existing lyrics, they were done deals, and the songs needed to stay as they were. We weren't hammering people with bible messages in every song, some did some didnt and some of it wasn't "Word" based either. Plus, as far as "outreach" went, quite a few people were responding to the songs as they were, it wasn't exactly like we'd just rolled off the bus. We were young but were working regularly. The "Way" gigs weren't anything like they later became when we'd do something then, they were basically public concerts where everyone would come in. So we had some ideas ourselves. So that was that. He wasn't happy with where it ended up and we went on our way, heading to New York. Great summer. I've thought back on the couple times we played with PD, between our music and arrangement and PD's vocal sound, we made some noise. Things occured very naturally then in California. CM, being musicians, had our own "fellowship", amongst ourselves. One night we got together at a local house, two floors where we knew the people, my wife to be lived upstairs with a couple friends. We had our "fellowship", about 10 or so of us. Next week, did it again and a load of people showed up. We messed around, played, did whatever. Within a few weeks 100's - literally - were showing up, wandering around, driving by, hanging around in the backyard. It wasn't engineered, other little groups were gathering out on the street while we'd be doing whatever it was we did inside. Lots of people "took PFAL" as a result of that, and hopefully got something good from that exposure, but there certainly wasn't anyone beating on people to do this or that. No one would have come at that time if we'd been like that. Lots of people got involved and made it their own. It's pointless to try and re-do the past. That was then, this is now. Times change and so do we as people. But the lessons learned over a lifetime, all that we do, make us who we are. There's no denying what I've tried, done, failures, successes. Likewise with who I am as a "Christian" and a musician. Some things I'd do differently, some never again! So like everyone, I persist! As does The Way Nash. I'd have to assume that what they're producing reflects their collective goals and intentions, and their "heart". Will those songs be remembered fondly in 20, 30 years? The performances treasured? Any light shed be drawn upon? Just exactly what ARE they doing?

9...Was told to get a "Mac", but gave it away - the pickles were okay but onions - no onions allowed!!! 8...Couldn't find the right Lighthouse clipart to go with email signature.

Top 10 reasons why Martindale stopped using a computer: 10...can't figure out why everytime it tilts, the screen goes blank. Wrote letter to Etch-a-Sketch complaining they make really crummy laptops!

My too cents: VPW was always the man he was going to be, growing over time for better or worse. We all were. In 1967 he got PFAL on film and audio tape, as a means to extend the capabilities of his class. He was in growth mode, looking to market it across the country, wherever he could. In 1968 he visited California and met Jim, Steve and others in that group. He taught from PFAL and offered it as a tool for their own ministries, but under his coordination and as an extension of the Way Inc. They went back to "the Farm" and decided this was it. Enter "The Way West". It was The Way...West. An extension of the Way Nash, led by Jim and Steve in San Francisco and north in Marin County. The East Bay was largely the fruit of Howie Yeremian Jr. and grew quickly that first couple years. Steve moved to New York and The Way East formed. Under Jim Doop, the Way West was a loose mix of what a lot of people were doing, Jim never ran it like a company with himself as CEO or whatever. He wasn't that kind of man and that was never his Path. Jim and Robin Wahl, Jim and Judy and Steve and Sandy were the first people I remember meeting back then. Having met Jim in '67 through Howie I got the distinct impression from him that he Knew Something I Didn't. Howie was the same way. Steve Heefner, AKA "Steve O'Shay" was a succesful radio DJ and personality in San Francisco, and he had That Look, the same thing. I would say, carefully and with respect for those with us and those gone, that I can't think of a time that any of these 3 men or their wives every promised me or my wife anything they couldn't deliver, nothing more or less than the simple truth that if I wanted to Know Jesus Christ too, I was welcome. It was really that simple. Whatever happened next, happened. It had the sense of "be ready", but with little pressure. Jim and Steve weren't men to entertain fools and were masters at blowing off lesser influences by just being who they were. I won't start on the Sto-reez, but there were lots of them, more than enough that if you were keeping score you'd have to admit that at the least something unusual was going on that equaled more than the count. Knowing where that was coming from was what first got my attention, in a big way. Over many years in the Way and doing many things myself I never grew beyond that in a way. It seemed that while VPW was certainly interested in seeing growth of Way ministry as a vehicle for PFAL and class teaching, that never produced anything unless "it" was happening, "it" being the lives and hearts of people that felt their own personal place and sense of purpose. Within each person's life was where the fruit was produced, the "amazing" things occurred, the happiness, love, sense of fulfillment, all of that happened. From out of that came the music too. Good or bad, it blew forth.

Wuddever I ask in prayer, believing... Matthew 6:5-6: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men....when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret...." Prayer - private, personal. How I pray and what I go to God with is between us. If I choose to share it, fine. If not, it's nobody's business. When people feel compelled to separate "believing" from their prayer life I think it gets disconnected from the relationship where it most belongs, between a person and God. What a person goes to God with, in private, in prayer, is up to them. A person's hopes, expecatations, lifes endeavors - these should be things for constructive participation, celebration! Hassling each other is hmmm, what's the word? Crap.

Proving that all can make benefit to have the dancing movements in ways to celebrate, and not just for Annual Sweeping of the Woods Festival, but all the time, as seen here on TV viewer where even unbeliever can have merriment in ways to make to not deserve!

Never went on LEAD. Went to TFI, it's precursor. My wife and I together, we hitch hiked. I wouldn't recommend hitch hiking to anyone today, other than an emergency. I think it was ill advised at that time too, after doing it. TFI itself had some good things about it but there were qualities that ran through the whole training class that weakened it IMO. Overall most people liked it, supported it, because most people liked John S-----ville, who I liked too. And he had some good people working with him I thought. But they were - looking for the words here - "shot loose", kinda loosely packed as a unit. Things happened that no one was immediately aware of, and response wasn't effective as a result. Focus - that's the word, the focus wasn't clear. And in fact, it was being evaluated when we went. What was the benefit of such a program? The focus emphasized team development, through individual training, is how I would describe it. But the progress of the whole group determined how well a person could get trained and develop. In other words, it was like a "climb" - if you had to stop, the group stopped, but it moved fairly quickly to having to force individuals to push on regardless of their capacity. To fall behind, drop back or behind wasn't evaluated properly, IMO. Some people would need more time and simply wouldn't get it, they had to push on in whatever the exercise was. Which might sound typical of these kinds of "extreme" personal development programs, but I don't think it works very well, short or long term. I did fine overall and felt I got some good things out of it but the cost on all levels didn't warrant the benefits, IMO. While I did have some experience I value even today, I could have gotten it other ways and been better trained in the process. This came to a head after completion of the program, when we turned in written evaluations. I still have my journal, believe it or not. There's quite a few comments in it about wonderful things the TFI employees did, and good experiences, but overall I didn't feel the program warranted sending everyone off packing for two weeks to California from Ohio. I wasn't the only one who felt that way. The VPster didn't seem sold on it either, but they tried it a couple more times. In the two weeks or so, I got in great physical shape, but I was young too, mid - 20's. I learned some climbing techniqiues, hiking stuff, how to build a fire from scratch, etc. etc. I was able to determine my fear of heights more clearly. I've always had a right/left thing going and to this day can feel like I'm on the "wrong" side of a room going in, or a couch when I sit down and will get up and switch. Things in a room can seem mis-placed in their positions. I may feel like I have to be on the left of something or someone, occasionally the right. There's a physical reason for it, and I came to realize it more clearly in the climbs and and worked on how to handle it. I lost track of what LEAD was all about, other than what was said in the meetings and print stuff the Way put out, but it apparently somebody felt it was a good idea, enough to keep it going. And once it got going, I doubt VPW responded well to criticism of it and the various coordinators may have kept it from him and filtered their feedback to reflect their own agenda. So it took on a life of it's own. ?

Whatever the vegetable of choice, it applies!

Su-wheet!

I know several people who have had the surgery, swear by it. I talked to my optometrist last year about it, and he recommended it to people who had need like yours Hills, as well as people who participate in sports, outdoor activities, stuff. Plus, the freedom factor is huge - having worn spec's since I was a kid, I would enjoy that I think. One interesting part of the conversation was age - he brought up that at any age, if your lifestyle warrants it, go for it. If you're younger, you'll get years of benefit regardless. If you're older though, and don't really have the activities or interests that would make it desirable, it's more of a convenience thing. He spoke highly of the convenience factor and it being worth it if it's something you can do afford regardless, but he kind of balanced the cost versus need part of it that way, which was good I thought. I'd like to have it done, still looking at it, the money, and timing. One thing I do now is wear safety glasses over mine, found a pair that goes over them nicely. It protects them from a lot of the scratches and stuff that seems to happen.

Yah, he's good with the violin effect. He swells it really nicely, a bit differently than most. It serves the notes, rather than serving as an effect. Nice playing.

Diah-rea cha-cha-cha. Diah-rea cha-cha-cha. They're breakin' the law. I'm tellin' ya, they need to start issuing licenses for dancing in Ohio. This is that which was written - "eye hath not seen nor ear hath heard"...and shouldn't. Ever. The strange truth is, they are doing that outandabout. They really are. And they're diggin' it. You can tell. They're thinking "hey, we're really doing it now. Check THIS out". Is it legal in Shelby County to marry relatives closer than a cousin? Just curious. This is clearly the result of some bizarre couplings. Not to be mean, but really. Hide your kids. Stay indoors after 9. Travel in pairs and carry a cell phone. Really.

I learned lots of big things in PFAL. When I was a kid and took it for the first time, the fact that VPW was clearly from another planet (Ohio) than mine (California) made it interesting. He had the slicked back hair, the skinny little preacher frame. He looked like the preachers my Mom had talked about that she'd seen growing up in Illinois. So that part of it had a certain charm at the time. All that struttin' and hootin' was a kick. Literally, it was funny to me and lots of other people too. Not in a bad way, it was just funny. I remember back in 1970, going to the Youth Advance that year at the Way Nash, and playing with a group at the SNS. We were there for a few week, and in those services, it was - to use a phrase from PFAL - "hottern' a firecracker!" There was lots of Ohio-like people there and the crowd was off the hook, as they say. VP's be smackin' his bible and his hair would get messed up "that's it baby! Don't tell me the bible's full of error!! It's God's WORD!!!" (smack smack smack). It was a lot of fun, with moments that were kinda over the top, in a good way. It was like he'd said in PFAL - if you get excited at sports event and love the bible, what's wrong with getting a little excited over it? He was. He was dealing. . The two most interzesting parts for moi were, the segments on the new birth and the sonship rights, specifically that the quality of life a Christian was meant to live progressed from and out of who they were as children of God. It didn't make sense right off because for me the idea of developing that understanding strictly from the bible was a fairly new one. I had been raised Roman Catholic where doctrine wasn't solely based on a single source like the bible but rather was a blend of evolved ideas and beliefs. So that grabbed me. Despite the fact that I took VPW as the sole authority for biblical interpretation for awhile, the idea of learning the bible and the spirit of God opening it up to me was from PFAL, too. The "he that has ears to hear" from the bible rang out pretty loudly to me at the time.

Talk about me? That'd be a short discussion! I dunno, have to give that some thought. Thanks for the suggestion, friend! waysider, I remember Ken Mc and Dean E talked about Keaggy a lot. What was he like? I saw some of the early performances on Youtube, and I remember hearing the Glass Harp album way back when. He was definitely a great guitarist, and still is.

talkshoe? Hmmm...are shoes talking now???? I wouldn't be surprised. Dunno, I would, but what would we talk about? satori's videos deserve some company - here's some cool sound from a very cool guitarist - Phil Keaggy.... A very nice piece - "Shades of Green"

It's a voit-ual storehouse of information, Chatty! I'm sure we all share a lot of the same knowledge. On the nutty nuts, we've hit on that topic before, seems like. I find the headstock nut to be an often neglected but essential part of the guitar's tone and sound. The slot has to be well fitted to the string gauge that goes in it, and that takes time, tools and experience. Once done, you have made a committment to the gauges you're going to use. And depending on the style of playing they'll wear a lot or a little. All the slot needs to do is hold the string firmly in place and at the correct angle. If a person stretches strings a lot the string will move some in that slot, and it needs to be able to set solidly in place. If the width and depth isn't correct it can "catch" and not return to it's original spot. Plus tuning the string moves it up and down the slot, causing some wear over time. Best thing to do is keep them clean, loosening and removing the string and brushing out the slot carefully with a brush. Bone or composite material nuts will hold up better than plastic if you're playing a lot. I replaced a graphite nut on a Fernandes Dragonfly I have, and had bone put on it. It made a difference with the new slots filed. My Tele came with a bone nut. I do like the sound a little better. Overall though I don't spend that much time messing with them. I like the intonation to be as close as I can get it, and keep the strings fresh. Wikipedia has a nice page covering the guitar - and nuts, specifically HERE

Interesting insight another spot! Yes, an arugument could be made for that, a strong one. "He's-a more on", probably from an early Italian usaage? not sure.