Clydesdales. Drew Carey. Nat. Parks. Propane. Marmite. Electricity.

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"Red dragon, seven horns, 10 crowns, got it.."

"We should sit up and take notice of remarks from a popular American comedian and actor, Drew Carey. At a White House correspondents' dinner on May 5, Mr. Carey directed his comments to the president and vice president and their wives, several military and civilian dignitaries and a host of Hollywood entertainers:

Drew Carey      From: Splash News Online.

"I can't watch the news lately," he said. "It gets too depressing. What I do now is turn the news off, get out my Bible and turn to the book of Revelation. I start just checking things off ... Got it, got it, need it, got it, need it ... Red dragon, seven horns, 10 crowns, got it.

"Yeah, I read the Bible a lot, you know. It's just crazy [the way] we celebrate holidays in the United States. I found out just recently there are so many religious holidays we celebrate here in this country that have nothing to do with the Bible at all. Real famous holidays, like Christmas. Christmas has nothing to do with the Bible.

"The birth of Jesus is in the Bible, but not Christmas. The tree is not in the Bible, you know. Gifts—that's not there either. There's no place where it says, '"Celebrate my birthday," says Jesus.' It's a pagan holiday that the Romans invented that we just do.

But everywhere you go, I'm telling you, I've seen this so many times, you see a nativity scene and there's baby Jesus, the manger, sheep, shepherds, Mary, Joseph and Santa Claus right in the middle. Who's he? Mary's [birthing] coach? Santa Claus has nothing to do with anything."

Drew Carey actually brought up a serious side of Christmas: that history exposes the holiday as nothing more than a pagan observance dressed up in Christian garb.

Several months ago Drew Carey was interviewed on an equally popular television talk show, The View. Mr. Carey surprised the audience when he addressed the value of telling children the truth about Santa Claus.

"I don't think you should tell kids that there is a Santa Claus," he said. "That's the first lie you tell your children." Instead, "tell kids that Santa's a character we made up to celebrate a time of the season." Otherwise "when kids get to be 5 ... they realize their parents have been lying to them their whole life."
Does the question of whether Christmas is biblical or not make any difference? What must Jesus Christ think about the feel-good, commercially driven season that supposedly honors Him?"
More at: http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn43/bornchristmas.htm
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But that is not why I don't celebrate Christmas, it is also because I don't celebrate birthdays.   The only ones mentioned in the Bible were celebrated by pagans. 

"We find the first occurrence in Genesis 40, in the account of the dreams of Pharaoh's butler and baker. After hearing these men's dreams, Joseph tells them that within three days the king will restore the butler to his office but hang the baker (Genesis 40:9-13, 16-19). "On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday" (Genesis 40:20), the king did just as Joseph had predicted. The day ended badly, not only with the death of the baker, but also with Joseph having to languish in prison for another "two full years" (Genesis 40:22—41:1).
The New Testament occurrence appears in both Matthew 14:1-12 and Mark 6:14-29. Herod holds a feast on his birthday and is so pleased by the dancing of his step-daughter that he promises to give her anything she desires. Her mother, Herodias, instructs her to demand the head of John the Baptist, as revenge for his condemnation of her marriage to Herod. Though regretful, Herod orders the execution, feeling bound by his oaths and pressured by his guests (Mark 6:26-27).
One birthday celebration ends with a hanging and a servant of God locked in prison, and the other with the corruption of a young girl and the death of one of God's greatest prophets, the Elijah to come (see Matthew 11:11, 14). The major lesson in each of these events is certainly not about birthdays per se, but we cannot escape the fact that God puts birthday celebrations in an evil light through the details of these stories."
Read more: http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/788/Birthdays.htm#ixzz18wla55jE
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"To the early Christians the idea of celebrating the birthday of a religious figure would have seemed at best peculiar, at worst blasphemous. Being born into this world was nothing to celebrate. What mattered was leaving this world and entering the next in a condition pleasing to God. 
"When early Christians associated a feast day with a specific person, such as a bishop or martyr, it was usually the date of the person's death ... If you wanted to search the New Testament world for peoples who attached significance to birthdays, your search would quickly narrow to pagans. The Romans celebrated the birthdays of the Caesars, and most unchristian Mediterranean religions attached importance to the natal feasts of a pantheon of supernatural figures."
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Also because Jesus was not born on 25th Dec.
Here is more about the time line for that belief:  http://pennys-tuppence.blogspot.com/2009/12/whats-john-baptist-got-to-do-with-it.html
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Dear Friend of the National Parks,

NPCA Board member Bill Walter, and his wife, Judy, have offered to match all online donations made by midnight on 12/31, up to $100,000. Have you taken advantage of this incredible opportunity to double your gift?
There’s still time – please make your year-end tax-deductible contribution of $35 or more to NPCA today.
Your gift can help us achieve an important part of our work – adding new lands to the National Park System. Working across the country, our goal is to create rich mosaics of public lands and historic sites we can preserve, and to celebrate the very best of our nation’s natural, historic, and cultural treasures.
The 12/31 deadline is fast approaching! Please donate now.
P.S. Not only will your gift made by midnight on 12/31 be matched, dollar-for-dollar, but it is also tax-deductible.
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Today:

First off, Jay and I took one of the full horizontal propane tanks that my brother had left here, to the hardware store.  His Lance truck camper had two of them, but he had to buy new tanks when he shipped the rig back to England.  Even if he had emptied them for shipping, no one would give him a certification that they were empty, so he bought new ones.  Horizontal tanks are exempt from the new OPD law.    We had to buy a couple of fittings to make the pigtail fit my regulator.  We installed it, checked for leaks, and everything was OK.  The rack we built for two upright propane tanks worked out great, as the horizontal one fit in there just right.  This will last me for ages, as I only have a propane cooktop, the rest of the house is all electric.

We had to stop at Krogers to buy some cat food and litter, and we always check out the Clearance Items.  Now I have been eying the Marmite in the British food section for years.   http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/marmite.htm   Marmite went from $6 a little jar to over $8.00, so I wouldn't buy it.  Low and behold, as it wasn't selling, (I wonder why), they had reduced it to $1.99 a jar, and it didn't expire until next year. I like it on buttered toast, with or without peanut butter or cheese, and butter beans just don't taste the same without it.   So I bought 4 jars!  I think it is like Vegemite down under.








After we had installed the propane tank, we started on the cargo trailer's breaker box again.  Jay mounted it on the wall, and pulled the wires into it.  He hooked up the wires to the breakers, but we haven't wired up the 30 amp cord yet, so we couldn't try it out.  It will come in at the bottom of the box, and out the cable hatch there.   We will make a trim for the inside of the cable hatch, and build a place for the cable to be stored inside, where it won't interfere with anything else.

It is mounted under one end of where the counter top will be.  We had to do this now, to get all the wires in place, and out of the way, to be able to insulate and install the next piece of paneling.  It will have the 12v. fuse block mounted on it, which will be under the dinette.

I must be popular, and I know it's not because I look skinny!   No cooking for a while!
My granddaughter, Michelle, called me and she is going to take me out to dinner on Boxing Day (26th). 
Then her mother, Becky, stopped by with a beautiful gift basket and to ask me to dinner at her place tomorrow.
Jay's sister is sending me a dinner on Saturday.
Now, I have to go, my son Kevin, is bringing me dinner today.