The Interview? Weather, the museum

I had my “interview” with Amazon this morning. It was more like being run through a cattle chute than an interview, but it was an impressive process to watch. I was seated with about thirty candidates and when our turn came we were lined up and processed through a quick registration of sorts to allow us to get logged into the hiring program Amazon uses. Once we got those papers we were seated at a computer and put through three or four batteries of questions that were all personality evaluations of one sort or another. If those three or four queries were completed to the satisfaction of the programming each candidate was either sent to the next section or told to have a great day and processed out.

If the assessments allowed you to move forward you were offered a job at that time (via a note on the screen) and moved to the next part of the process; getting an employee number assigned, a badge ID photo taken and seated at yet another computer to fill out a 1099 form - for tax accounting purposes. Each of us had to make a shift selection from four possible schedules all of which included at least one weekend day. I chose Tuesday through Saturday 7:30 to 5:30. Then we were lined up once more and taken to a training room and shown a video about the fulfillment center while we held a cotton swab in our mouths for ten minutes. That swab was then packaged and sent off for drug testing. The results of which we will know in one to two weeks. At that time successful candidates will be scheduled for an orientation and formally offered a position. The whole process took about two hours.

The pay was not outstanding but the company seems to have a focus on accommodating those who are willing to adapt and become productive. They have a great compensation plan outside of the base pay and some of the best immediate benefits I have ever seen offered. Should that be the only option I have when they call I will go to work for them. I am not sure how the finances will work out if that is all the income I am able to generate, but we will manage. In my career I have done some pretty disgusting jobs for less money - and no benefits.

That took all my morning. By the time I got back to the farm the clouds were gathering pretty heavily and even though Mama had assured me there was only a small chance of rain it rained anyway. That started a little bit after I got home and continued for a couple hours on and off until we had gotten about an inch total before it cleared off. I am not sure just where else it rained because it was dry at Victoria’s house when we went there to take care of the chickens and Decatur never got a drop. I know that because when I called Mama she must have thought I did not know what I was talking about when I said it was raining. Fortunately, I had plenty of verifiable proof.

Tomorrow we will go to the small Creation Museum nearby. It will be an all day affair with services to follow that evening that will finalize our conference. It has been fun so far.

Conference, interview, what’s new

Right now we are in a conference at our church. It is a little different than most because it really is a conference, not a revival or a set of evangelistic services; a conference. Our speaker is from the Creation Science Museum and he is taking us through time from the beginning to the end, Genesis to Revelation. It is quite interesting as he matches up science (including complex chemical equations), archeology and ancient writings across several cultures with scripture. The real benefit to Mama, Victoria and I is that much of what we are hearing is a repeat of some of the material we have covered in FBI (Faith Bible Institute).

It is fascinating to see the thread of the gospel woven through the entire Bible. Beginning with the “seed of the woman”  who will “bruise” the head of the serpent. Genesis Chapter 3. Book after book references the coming of the Messiah and yet so few were prepared when that day arrived. It took the religious leaders of that time only three years of Jesus earthly ministry to figure out how to turn the world against Him and kill Him. That only started what turned the world right side up in the next generation and has shaped the events of world history since that time - and will continue to do so, all the way to the end. It is great to hear it recounted again.

I have my rescheduled interview with Amazon tomorrow morning. I have no idea what to expect but I hope for a good outcome overall. At the very least, it will eliminate another avenue for providing an income should I come away without an offer. The unfortunate truth is that I have to be very careful what commitment I make because it could affect all the commitments I have already promised to keep. I used to say, “I remember a time when life was easier.” Now, I am not sure if that statement was ever true. 

Permanently distracted. That’s how I am starting to feel. I realize it is a temporary state but it is disconcerting to say the least. I have to rely on what has worked well in past practice. Never let circumstances alone determine your actions. God has never made a mistake in my life and I do not want to start a chain of them myself that will have to be corrected at a higher cost than just waiting on a clear direction. I am meeting with my financial advisor Thursday to formulate an 18 month plan to evaluate whether or not we can keep the farm long term. It will be good to have his advice and guidance. 

RU may be disbanding after two years up and running since my friend, the man who headed it up, has resigned all his ministries at the church. There is no one available in the short term to take it over. That too, is an occasion we will have to let play out according to the will of God. The ministry was withering in the last six months and it could be time to regroup, evaluate the purpose and see if it is something we need to pick back up in the future. Too many times we do what we have always done simply because someone who loved it started doing it and we don’t know why we are doing it or how we could stop doing it. It is not always a bad thing to stop, prove the value in what we are doing and move to recommit to it or drop it. It is often healthy.

Chase and Makaila were here Saturday. They could only stay a few hours but it was good to spend the time with them; always is. They will be on a cruise when the Nate, Cori and the kids  are here; actually leaving the same day the kids arrive - Saturday. And Brittany will be here some time Thursday. She has not finalized her plans yet that I have been told.

It is not looking like I will get much internet work done either this week or next. Oh, well.

Sick, Mama, the house

I missed my appointment with Amazon this morning because I was very sick. I finally got a good shot of the bug Mama, Victoria and Jake had fought last week into this week and was up most of the night at the toilet. On the positive side, Amazon is very gracious about rescheduling the interviews so I will set one up for Monday or Wednesday next week. They even put this message in their correspondences, “We know life happens. If you need to reschedule your interview please use the enclosed link to contact us and make the new appointment.” My larger concern is the people I had contact with at church last night. I had no idea I was going to spend the night as I did so I can only pray that no one was affected or infected by me.

I’m feeling better now. Some strength is coming back but I still struggle just getting around the house. I move from the bed to the couch to the recliner to the bed. Mostly I stay still in the bed waiting on those moments when my bowels or stomach activate the panic system. That I can do pretty quickly. At one point, late last night, I was getting up from the couch with just such a rude awakening and had to stumble to the bathroom with one sandal on. I could not get the other one on quickly enough and there was no waiting; I barely made that appointment. Such events have continued throughout the day. Hopefully, tonight will be better.

When I was taking to Maggie earlier about my second bout with this bug, Dr. Mama inserted into the conversation that she thinks the last bout was only nerves and that only this latest sickness is in the true virus. Dr. Daddy does not concur with said diagnosis since she had vomiting, diarrhea and a fever while at the same time I had vomiting, diarrhea and a fever; just to a lesser extent. It really makes no difference, but it will be something to tease about over the next few days. What I do know is that it is an interesting rapid weight loss program. Not one I would casually recommend.

The children at the school really enjoy having Mama there. Every day she is getting notes from one of them for the help she is giving with spelling, Bible memorization and other little chores. Her happy personality and her exuberant love for children is easy to discern. It has always been easy for a child to latch onto her for love and support. This is no different - even thought she still gets weirded out by any question related to math.

She and Victoria are making biscuits and gravy for dinner tonight; not something I will eat for several more days. Victoria seems to have recovered sufficiently to carry on in her happy mode. It is pleasant to overhear the conversation as they work together in the kitchen.

With some of the kids and grandkids coming to visit next week Mama is stressing over the condition of the house.I cannot get too alarmed at that. I keep telling her that if the cleaning she is fretting over was not worth doing over the last month as we lived here day to day why should we stress about getting all of it done in  one week? But is has always been that way.  At one point years ago I suggested we have someone over every week so we would keep up with all the requisite house chores.

The suggestion did not go over well then either.

Mama’s new routine, old parts, interview tomorrow

Mama is enjoying her days at the school. I have gotten to check on her for the past two days since I have either needed to be in town or needed to take her something she has forgotten. Today she forgot her purse and her phone. She remembered her lunch, her morning snack, her Bible she will leave there for their Bible Study time and her FBI book so she can study in her off hours, but I had to bring the rest. She has made fun of me for years because I had made it a habit to collect all the things I would need to take to work with me in one place the evening before. That was so that I did not have to remember everything in the morning as I quietly left for work. Now all that actually makes sense to her.

I do know that the school kids really enjoy having her there. Our associate pastor is not the overly expressive sort so the kids are fixated on getting Mama’s attention when they are doing something they want feedback on - which is very often. It is not a strenuous job and I am welcome to have lunch with her whenever I would like. Plus, I think the school kids are among those who will be going to the Creation Museum in Glenrose, TX next week with the speaker who will be taking us through the Bible in his presentations starting Sunday morning. I also plan on going since we will be given a special guided tour by the museum curator, a good friend of our speaker.

After Mama left this morning I took over her feeding chores and then worked with the tractor moving some rocks onto the goats little hill so it would have less open spots of dirt. There is still more to do but I did not want to risk my back by overdoing rearranging large stones. Then I hooked up the little brush hog we bought about five years ago. It is well used - translate that “old but still workable”. 

Since I sold the large brush hog I have reverted to the smaller one which is more maneuverable in the trees. And the tractor seems to handle it better. The hookup took me almost an hour because the PTO shaft was rusted in place. I had to use a large hammer and a lot of oil and grease to get it to move forward enough to get it mated to the tractor. Once I did, it worked very well. I only mowed for about an hour since I also have a lot of items to take care of through my day - all of which were interrupted to get Mama’s purse and phone to her. A delightful interruption.

Once Mama gets back we will go to the dairy for feed and milk. I would do it by myself but it takes two to operate the silo from which we get our feed. We are about out so it has to be done today or tomorrow and tomorrow has a strong chance of rain in the forecast. One of the blessing of having the truck back is that we do not have to set the bags of feed in the back of the Sequoia. Mama really dislikes the dusty smell on the drive home.

I have an interview with Amazon in Ft Worth tomorrow morning, 10 a.m. Their literature and instructions say that there will be a job offer made on the spot if they are interested. I am prepared for that, but still have to be careful what type of job I take and will avoid one that keeps me from fulfilling my obligations at church. Nights is one of the better options for me if days are not available, but that will prove a hardship on Mama. It is times like these that I miss my old day job.

Victoria is home today still recovering from the same bug Mama and Jake had. I guess I got a much more mild form of the illness. No complaints there.

Mama’s first day, in service, patience and persistence

Mama started working at the church school today. It is a new thing for her. I do not think she has had a job outside of the home since Cori was being potty trained. The Lord has always blessed me with a good income to provide for her and the children - at least, until recently. So for the both of us this adds a new dimension to our lives; one we have not seen in almost thirty years. it will be fun to see how it plays out.

Now, you have to realize that the amount she is earning is not much but it will help buy our groceries and the fuel for her transportation to and from the church on a daily basis. It is being done out of love, not of absolute necessity or selfishness to have anything of her own. It is a sacrifice on her part; giving up her daily routine here on the farm while I struggle to either find work or make my online business work. I appreciate it. God is not done with us yet but He is certainly bringing us into new territory.

I had to go ahead and spend the money to get two new batteries for the truck today. A diesel requires two batteries versus the one needed for most cars. That is all it lacked to get it fully operational but it was painful to do when added to the money already spent to repair it. I jumped it off yesterday and left it running for several hours in case the batteries could be charged, but it would not crank this morning; hence, the need for the new batteries. It just did not make sense to leave it idle waiting on $200 worth of batteries. I must confess that it is good to have it back on the road. It will alleviate our overuse of the Sequoia for towing the trailer to pick up what is needed. Although, it was good to have that option for the month the truck was gone.

It will probable make it’s first long trip next week when Brittany comes to visit. She has talked about going to see Dad when she comes. and I need to make another trip down.  He will thoroughly enjoy her visit. It will be a help to have her there to assist with some of the things that still need to be done to the house Mom and Dad lived in assist is prepared for sale. And the truck will be needed to haul some of the shop items I need to bring back with me.Those items have been waiting on the truck to be available to get them moved out of Martha’s way.

I continue to work at my online business as I put in applications to every reasonable sounding job. So far I am averaging one to two per day but going onto the last quarter of the year can either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the hiring company’s view. 

I am praying we are close to a long term solution but if not we will find a way through.

My prison time, sick time, home again

Thursday afternoon Pastor Horton and I headed out from the church parking lot to go to prison in Bonham, TX. On  the way we stopped at his son’s house to visited with the grand children and met up with the man in charge of the prison revival. We got to the prison at about 6 pm, met one additional worker there and set up for a service - about 35 inmates showed up and three got saved that night. That in itself was a pretty good experience.

The next day we got to the prison at 10 a.m. and met up with a larger group. There were eight total; doubling our group. When we finally got cleared to go into the prison area we split into two groups to visit in the “dorms.” There were four dorms set in a square with a secure area outfitted with a guard station in the center of the building. All this was behind two locked doors from the outside. Each dorm was individually locked and there was very little privacy in any of them. Windows on the inside towards the guard station  wall looked directly into the toilets and showers.

Bunks lined the outer walls in each dorm with a capacity to sleep about 60 inmate per dorm.There were tables with attached seating in the center and benches to sit on to watch TV toward the front of the dorm  facing the bathroom. When we entered we just found someone willing to let us talk to then and sat there until they were talked out or we had effectively presented the gospel to whoever was in hearing range. Then we moved on. Large fans kept air moving in each dorm, which was nice because it was fairly hot but it also made conversation difficult.

I got to present the gospel seven or eight times but only had one pray with me in the dorms. I had a lot of good conversations with the ones I got to talk to and there was no particular hurry in any of the conversations; neither of us was going anywhere since we were all locked in together. Where we saw the most saved was at the service that night where about twenty of the 87 in attendance got saved. That was a wonderful response to the gospel but with only eight workers we had to take three or more per person to help with the final decisions and prayers. I had three pray with me and had plenty of time to counsel them, give them assurance verses and tell them where to begin in their Bible study. It was a great experience.

I got home Friday night a little after 10 pm. Jake was packed to leave in the morning and all seemed well until about 2 a.m. when Mama and Jake both started getting very sick. His mom was called about 6 a.m. Saturday morning to give her the bad news and she immediately called to reschedule the flight - which proved to be very easy since the airlines were cancelling flights through the mid-Atlantic states because of the hurricane. It took all day Sunday for Mama and Jake to recover - and me too. I got a lighter touch of what the two of them had and spent Sunday in bed.

His flight home was scheduled for about noon local time today and the airline allowed Mama, Victoria and I to go with him to the gate. We were about an hour early for his flight so we had a good time saying our long goodbyes until finally he walked through the gate to board the plane. Until that time he did not let us out of his sight. He was one of the last ten or so to board and as soon as he did we headed home; by a rather circuitous route.

We stopped at a large grocery store and shopped a bit. We went to Chipotle for lunch - Victoria’ s treat -  then headed the rest of the way to Chico. By the time we got home, put up the groceries and tended to the animals we got confirmation that Jake was headed to his house with his mom and dad. It was a good visit. He is still planning on coming back on Christmas day.

We’ll see.

The good and bad, going to prison, lingering questions

It was great to get the truck back. We have missed it terribly here at the farm. It is one of those things that you cannot fully appreciate until you have to find workarounds without it. But as good as it is to have it back it still needs repairs. Not big ones, just two new batteries. It would not start for me this morning. Roger, our mechanic had warned me that this was coming, but I had hoped it would be a few weeks before it was necessary - not! It will sit for a few more days but hopefully not weeks before I can get the batteries bought and installed.

I will be meeting the pastor this afternoon to travel to him to a local prison. We will be there this evening and all day tomorrow doing soul winning and preaching. We will be meeting some missionaries who do this full time and possibly other pastors and laymen at the prison. I am a little nervous about the venue, but it is not very often that you get to preach to a truly captive audience. I am more worried about saying the wrong thing than I am about not being able to say the right thing. Mama and I got some extensive soul winning training when we were at Central Baptist in Amarillo, so I feel fairly confident there. I will adapt pretty quickly but hopefully I will be teamed up with someone more experienced. We shall see.

There were supposed to be more going from our church but I am not sure what happened to limit the number to just the pastor and me. I will use the opportunity to talk with the pastor about the decisions Mama and I will have to be prepared to make in the next several months should I not find a job and not get any income from my online “business”. I will do my best to hold everything as is through the first of the year but am not sure haw far we can go beyond that.

I will be back late Friday night so I will be able to help Mama get Jake to the airport Saturday morning. He is not looking forward to going home. It will be peaceful again when he is not here but it has been a good interruption to our mundane routine to have him with us. He and Mama are both expecting to have him back here for Christmas. That would be good in case we have to sell the farm after the first of the year.

Everything on the farm continues to grow and prosper in a really amazing way. The goats are growing and in October we should have little ones from the older nanny. The calves are growing very well and later this month we will get our six cows and heifers back onto our property, wean the heifers and wait on the mamas to deliver next April or May. Mama and I are planning to sell the wild cow and her little heifer calf as soon as we are able, but that will not be soon enough to help financially.

Luke, Grace and Joseph are her with us today. Jake is enjoying all the extra activity one last time. Fortunately, school starts soon after he gets home so his hours alone will be limited.