Gun Show, the little van, Chase’s interview

Grandpa and I went to the gun show in Amarillo this weekend. I had not expected to make it because I was one of six men who were serving the ladies of the church at a mother-daughter banquet on Saturday afternoon. We were not due to finish up until after 3 p.m. and the gun show was only open until 5 p.m. So I was pleasantly surprised when we got out about 1:45 p.m.


I swung by and got Grandpa and we drove downtown to the Civic Center to find the gun show; it is not very hard to find things in Amarillo so it did not take much looking. It was only five dollars admission as opposed to everything we went to in New Jersey being twenty dollars admission. I thought it was almost as big as other such activities we have been to – except for one in Houston years ago.

With Grandpa’s help I found exactly the shotgun I was looking for so I bought it while he looked around. The man who sold it to me was a soon-to-retire Texas Ranger, who is also an ordained Methodist minister. It took a while to get the paperwork done so we had a pleasant conversation as he worked through the red tape. Meanwhile Grandpa found several other items of interest but we left with only the one purchase. The ranger did spark my interest in a pistol, but Mama’s big purse purchase is next on the agenda.

Grandpa had been looking over the little van because for several days I have been smelling antifreeze every time I drove it. He was worried it may be a serious issue but as it turned out it was a loose drain valve on the radiator he had just installed. Thankfully it was a simple fix. He discovered a small leak in the oil pan that we will fix when we change the oil later this week. That little van has been a good vehicle. I hope we get to keep it running for several more years.

I am afraid the vehicle we get to replace it will have to be equipped with a DVD player or Mama will pull her hair our as she tries to do all of her running around with a car full of little ones – and her car is always full of little ones. Not having that would also be very disappointing to our grandchildren.

Chase goes for his third interview today at Chick-fil-A. We are all very hopeful. It would be an answer to prayer on all out parts and a confirmation from the Lord for Chase’s obedience in trying to keep his Sunday’s free. Mama and I were trying to coach him to be a little to be more expressive toward his interviewer during this interview.

They do not know Chase and the very slight variation in both tone and facial expression between thrilled and bored. The children’s song, “If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it!” is difficult to apply to Chase. I wanted to coach him on diction also but thought I would wear out my welcome quickly there. I had stopped at a Chick-fil-A in Midland, TX on the way home and I had to ask the poor girl at the counter three times to repeat her question to me.

I finally interpreted the question as “What kind of sauce would you like with that?” but it was several syllables shy of that. She did not mind repeating herself several times so I guess she was used to it. I hope some day she sees a common denominator in those exchanges.

So, please pray for Chase. He needs the social interaction. I just hope his accent translates well here.