GOD first...Heavenly Father, in our haste at times, we are unaware of those around us and do not take time to truly see their needs. Our needs become too important in our minds and we think theirs are only a minor part of their lives. Lord, help us to see more clearly what our neighbors aroundusneedandgrant us patience and understanding with a helping hand as we pray in the name of our dear Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Pray for those who are grieving, ill, suffering, or are in harm's way.
A New Yorker on a plane was boasting to his fellow passengers, 'Up in New York, we can start putting up a fifty-story building this month and have it finished by next month.'
'That's nothin', son,' said a Texan. 'Down in Houston, I see them just layin' the foundations when I go to work in the mornin', and when I come home at night they're already puttin' the tenants out for not payin' the back rent.'
DON'T FORGET SUNDAY BIBLE SCHOOL NEXT WEEK
People keep asking, how was your trip to San Francisco? Well, from Austin to Long Beach then to Oakland, California, it took Southwest Airlines four hours with a layover. Hired an Uber to take us to San Francisco. The driver was Asian, wearing a COVID mask, and hard to understand. The trip took us through Treasure Island, which reminded me of Ben Prause telling me one time that he was stationed there. The traffic was so bad, we (Roberta and I) thought we'd never get there. Our driver took us to 14th Street and said we are here. Roberta argued with him and showed him on her Iphone the message she sent him and told him we wanted to go to 14th Avenue. After arguing with his boss via radio in some strange language, we arrived at our right place 20 minutes later. No extra charge. Cost us only $41.
Being true Texans, we were sorta shocked at the temperature of 59 degrees and didn't bring any warm clothes. Cuzz (cousin) Carol Pohl let us in the secure building, where she had a furnished room for us. We greeted her with Happy Birthday and her daycare person, Moria, took us to the furnished room and cooked a meal for us. Carol told me that she refurnished my room and it is now available to any kin that will come to visit, free.
The next morning, we again visited with Carol. She mentioned a store only four or five blocks away where we could buy something warm to wear. Only 8 minutes away. We walked 15 minutes, couldn't find the store, and turned around and went back to the apartment where Steve, her handy man, gave us some coats to wear. If it gets to 70 degrees, they consider it a heat wave.
When we were ready to go to the California Academy of Science, Carol ordered an Uber Driver who picked us up in front of her building. Carol has Parkinson's and is mostly wheelchair bound, but living on the second floor of her building, she amazed us by getting out ofthewheelchairandtaking her time, holding on to the downstairs railing, went down two flights of stairs and getting back in the wheelchair and into the Uber car. It took us all the way across town to the California Academy of Science museum where she bought us tickets. The first thing we saw as we walked in was a 20 foot long white alligator named Claude. They once had a mate for him but she ate off one of his toes and they sent her back to Florida. We all went down an elevator into the basement floor where all the animals of the sea were swimming with scuba divers cleaning large windows of the aquarium. There was even a glass tunnel where fish swam above us. So many things to see and as we walked from one exhibit to another, we mingled with other people as Moria pushed Carol in her wheelchair. We saw the rain forest and butterfl ies, and even went into a room where we experienced earthquakes. There was so much to see but all the walking (3.5 miles), we only saw just part of what the building had to offer. We knew that Carol was getting tired so we caught a Taxi and went back to our abode. Nobody had to rock us to sleep.
The next morning, Carol's niece and daughter, talked at Carol's room about Tracy's father, Philip Pohl, and Carol's brother, who had top military clearance in designing electronics systems. While he was still living, some of us would ask him what kind of work he was doing. He gave a vague answer and we all thought he was stuck up, but being secretive, he couldn't say anything. Have more respect for him now.
We went to the old army base for lunch. It was a mechanical building and now has lots of cafes and restaurants. That is where we caught a ride in a driverless car. It sure did look strange that it knew where we were and as we waited for it to arrive, we saw this car pull up without a driver. Carol ordered it for us from her room while we ate lunch. Hesitatingly, we got into the car, it then started taking us to our journey, carefully slowing and waiting for some people walking from the restaurant and then took us across town. The steering wheel turned by itself and the car even stopped for a man and dog crossing the street. In the middle of the dash, one could see the traffic at least 100 feet in all directions coming up on the screen including big trucks and buses. The ride was amazing and safer than any Uber or taxi. It took us to the Museum of Arts exact- ly where Cuzz Carol and her caregiver was waiting and wanting to know how we liked our ride for over 30 minutes.
Inside the museum, where her mother's name was originally inscribed on a small plaque, it was now inscribed onto a huge wall with the name of thousands of donors. Because Carol's mother made the original list, Carol and anyone she brings, gets in free.
More, next week.
