Building Credit

Good Friday

Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover. Wikipedia

Why is it called "good"?

"...according to Fiona MacPherson, senior editor at the Oxford English Dictionary, the adjective traditionally "designates a day on (or sometimes a season in) which religious observance is held". The OED states that "good" in this context refers to "a day or season observed as holy by the church", hence the greeting "good tide" at Christmas or on Shrove Tuesday. In addition to Good Friday, there is also a less well-known Good Wednesday, namely the Wednesday before Easter."

TINY HOUSE CREATION

Three Dogwood Trees

Twenty years ago, give or take, I planted 3 Dogwood trees, one white, one red, and one pink and planted them 3-4 feet apart intentionally, knowing and expecting them to grow together forming an umbrella that developed, more or less, like I had anticipated.  After these trees have bloomed and the blooms fallen off, it is almost impossible to tell where one begins and one ends...

Why would I do something crazy like this?

It was my intention from the getgo to create my interpretation of the religious trinity with each Dogwood tree representing a prong of that trinity:  Father - Son - Holy Ghost.  And, every time I look out my office window at those trees that is exactly what I think.

Stimulus Check Update

A Message From Walter

2020 Election

WELL NOW...    it looks like our 2020 Election will be between Trump and Biden with Sanders still hanging around trying to influence the Democratic Party to move in a more progressive direction which is nothing more than moving closer towards Socialism...

Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

So...  what does that really mean for Americans?

It means that Americans will move closer and closer to COMPLETE EQUALITY, in that they will receive equal pay, equal medical, equal education, equal housing...  with the understanding that for all intents and purposes, equal means FREE.

This equality or FREE stuff will be paid for by the wealthy who essentially give their money to the Federal Government via increased taxes...

HOWEVER:  the Federal Government has historically been inefficient and unproductive in the way they have managed everything within their control.

First...  once this happens, the wealthy will find ways to legally hide their money...

Second...  once businesses are forced to pay higher wages, they will hire less employees...

Third...  once retailers are faced with higher wages, they will increase prices...

Fourth...  once people realize that healthcare is FREE, there will be a high influx of patients, jamming up the healthcare system, creating longer wait times for critical procedures...

Fifth...  we will still have numerous millionaires, such as:  professional athletes, professional musicians and singers, and professional actors and actresses...

Sixth...  Americans will NEVER be EQUAL...  no matter how important it is to Socialists...  equality it impractical and counterproductive and in some cases harmful...  thinking intelligence and IQ can be equalized...

Nighttime in the Valley

The weather man or woman or person told us today that there was going to be rain in our area and SIRI confirmed but it never rained although the humidity remain even after the sun went down and it got dark.

The Valley is peaceful...

The Valley is at ease...

The Valley is silent...

Everyone is at home following the self-quarantine order...

I am in my home office, sharing it with the cats and their bowls of food and if my Siamese knew I was in here, he would be howling for attention...  he would also be clawing me trying to get my attention.

Piper, his name, was not socially conditioned when he was young and does not trust humans as much as other cats; but, for some reason he has bonded with me rather than my wife.

The underside of all four of his paws is completely black with no splotches which we were told is an indication that he is a purebred Siamese cat....  he has a long body and long legs and literally HOWLS whenever he enters the room or in the mornings when he has decided that I have had enough sleep.

Piper is more affectionate than I would have expected but he still does not want to get that close to me after 7 years other than curl up on my lap.  Recently, he has been showing me a lot more recognition and attention.

Muggy & Humid

In the valley of Eastern Tennessee, between the Smokey Mountains on the right and the Cumberland Plateau on the left, I live in peaceful harmony with the environment and the climate as my old body adjusts from a mild winter to an early summer, staying inside to avoid the sun while sitting by the window to watch the rain pound the ground into submission as life as pounded me.  I am no longer the angry young man who wants to prove himself and make the world a better place, especially since that task is pointless and useless because the world must make itself a better place, not me...  in that, 80% of our global population is controlled by 20% of our global population that have accumulated the resources and wealth to manipulate the rest of us into voluntary and involuntary submission, just like the rain does to the land.

We live
We are schooled
We mate
We work
We raise children
We get diseases
We die

It is our cycle of life...  placed upon us by our CREATOR who gives us life and controls us by adjusting events to redirect our lives and the choices we make, especially since the CREATOR knows the outcome of all situations and scenarios until life ends completely for mankind.

REMEMBER...  your first lesson:  YOU DID NOT CONTROL YOUR BIRTH

MY BLOGS

I maintain several blogs on an irregular or daily basis besides this one.

Reflections: White Scorpion ⇒ is a poetry blog that was started in 2009 to publish the poetry that I had written over my lifetime.  Each poem is accompanied by a photo to draw the reader's attention into the poem's meaning.

We Were Just Wondering ⇒  is a blog that my friend Vic Adamus and I started in 2005.  Vic and I posted everyday until his death from colon cancer in 2015 and I continued for another year until I decided that it was a blog for the two of us not just for the one.  It is full of thoughts, ideas, and opinions that might be interesting to read from a reflective standpoint.

My LinkedIn Profile ⇒  https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-hutchins-bb8b8a2/  this is the link but I am not sure if you can actually see my profile unless you join for free...  I have published numerous articles on this forum that might be interesting to read.

My Facebook Profile ⇒ https://www.facebook.com/alan.catale.1   this is the link but just like LinkedIn, I believe you have to join for free.  My original Facebook profile was hacked and now belongs to someone else, so I started a new one under a different identity.

Other blogs that have active link on the top of the first page of this blog...
My Cancer Odyssey
A  Bipolar Scorpion

POWER... WEALTH... INFLUENCE

IN MOST COUNTRIES...  the freedoms that Americans take-for-granted do not exist in other countries...  and for that, we should consider ourselves lucky...  but, therein lies the problem because most Americans make no considerations at all in this regard; instead, they are controlled and ultimately influenced by those who have POWER and/or WEALTH.

• 20% of Americans are wealthy
• 60% of Americans are average
• 20% of Americans are poor

Then we have,
1% of the whole are extremely wealthy
while
1% of the whole are extremely poor

STATISTICALLY, we have a perfect bell-shaped curve...

On the far left-hand side of our diagram are the 1% wealthy whereas the 1% poor are on the far right-hand side.  On either side of the middle "-2 to +2" we will find the 60%.  From the center to the right, wealth gradually increases and to the right, wealth gradually decreases.

From the model, we can also conclude that WEALTH, POWER, INFLUENCE gradually increase from the center out to the left and gradually decrease from the center out to the right.

ALL AMERICANS BELIEVE VERY STRONGLY...  that they have free will and make their own choices...  but, that is simply not true...  If you don't have wealth and power, then your free will and choices are influenced and controlled by those who do have wealth and power.

However...  and, this is your right, you may not believe this to be true, especially since everyone makes choices all the time some of which influence one's life and one's life direction substantially; but, those choices are still influenced indirectly by wealth and power whether you realize it or not.

You drive the speed limit when there is a cop in sight...  that is power
You pay your taxes each year...  that is power
You receive a salary from your employer...  that is wealth and power
You are regulated by medicine...  that is wealth and power
You do what your supervisor tells you to do...  that is power
You obey the lifeguard at the beach...  that is power
You are quiet in Church...  that is power
You make monthly debt payments...  that is wealth and power
You control the choices your children make...  that is power

MAGICAL

It is the serenity of photography that calms the soul, eases the mind, and softens what one sees as one ages and assimilates life...

Computer Modeling

Computer modelling consists of writing a computer program version of a mathematical model for a physical or biological system. Computer simulations that are run according to such programs can produce knowledge out of reach of mathematical analysis or natural experimentation.

For example, computer modeling is used in:

• tracking hurricanes
• population growth
• stock growth
• economic forecasting

Currently, computer modeling is being used to make predictions about COVID-19 progress which is not just impacting the USA but every single country in the world...  thanks to CHINA...

What's On My Mind Today???

Just got back from the University of TN Medical Center - Cancer Bldg. in Knoxville, TN after going through a PET Scan procedure...  Every 90 days, I MUST have a CT scan or a PET scan to determine staging of the cancers.  When cancer is staged, the Oncologist is informed by the Medical Physician interpreting the scans if the cancer has decreased/increased in size and/or spread to other organs in the body and/or started growing in a new location.

Over the 12 years that I have been treated for Lymphoma and the 6 years I have been treated for Melanoma, my cancers have increased, decreased, increased, spread, and maintained their size as new drugs are used to fight the disease.

Last year, my Oncologist discovered through a recent clinical trial at another hospital that when Opdivo and Radiation are used simultaneously that the results are more positive than negative.  When that cocktail of treatment was used on me, dead Melanoma cells were removed from my neck...  so, in my case, it worked perfectly.

Right now, my two cancers (non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma & Melanoma) are being contained...  at least those were the results from my last PET scan...  so, I am anxious to discover what these new results might be.
                                                                                                                       

ALSO, every time I leave home, I am really concerned about my health because of COVID-19 especially since I have NO IMMUNE SYSTEM of which to speak at all.  Today, I wore a face mask as well as disposable gloves.

Please take care of yourself and be careful when you leave the house...

Untitled

WE ARE SHIELDED BY

THE LOOSE FITTING CLOTHES

OF OUR FAILURES AND

YET, WE CONTINUOUSLY

CHANGE OUR DRESS TO

THE SEASONS OF OUR DREAMS...

circa 1977

copyright by Alex Hutchins



This poem was written over 40 years ago more or less when I was a much younger man with much younger thoughts and a much younger imagination...  Over the years, I wrote over 42,000 poems, short like this one, but many longer, and several hundred Haiku as well...  if you would like to read more of these, I started publishing them daily on my blog...  CLICK HERE to go there.

COOKING SALMON and steak...

If you want to learn how to cook a perfect steak every time, CLICK HERE...

Personally, I prefer fish and chicken.

When I had my heart attack back in 2007/2008, my Cardiologist was encouraging me to stay away from red meats because of their negative impact on the heart...  Ever since then, I have tried not to eat red meat, especially steaks.

Additionally, when I had previously eaten steak, I NEVER MUCH liked the fat and meticulously would cut that away from my steak before eating the first bite.  Interestingly, it is the fat that gives steak its flavor and keeps it moist when cooking.

Salmon, Cod, Flounder, Grouper, and Tuna are my favorite fish although I also like crab meat and lobster tails.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I took an ALASKAN CRUISE and on the first night in the dinning room, I asked my waiter if I could have SALMON every night except for the night we were scheduled to have lobster tails...  He arranged that but also arranged for me to have both Salmon and Lobster Tail on that special night.   AND, one of our excursions was a Salmon Bake and I had 5 pieces of Salmon that afternoon for lunch.

There ain't nothing like ALASKAN SALMON...

However, the Salmon that you typically are served in restaurants are "Farmed" Salmon which is not as healthy as "Wild" Salmon.

Bandana Face Mask

Palm Sunday

What is Palm Sunday?

Palm Sunday commemorates the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1–9), when palm branches were placed in his path, before his arrest on Holy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent.

So, this is a religious event...

A religious event for those who believe but not so much for those who do not believe...

What is belief?

Belief is an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.

Simply stated, belief refers to the notion that God exists and that not only did HE create the Universe but that HE created mankind and after HE created mankind HE appeared on earth through the body of Jesus and then allowed HIMSELF to be crucified on a cross to die for the sins of mankind.

The GOD Trinity:  Father...  Son...  Holy Ghost...

These three are one in the same.

The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. Wikipedia

Kinky Stuff

Make The Best Pancakes