Monday, February 19, 2007

Saturday Marbles.

Post 145 - - - - - Monday, 19 th February, 2007.

G'day Everyone ~~ I hope the week has started well for you, or is about to. It has
been hot again today, but not quite as bad as yesterday. I have been very busy decluttering and reorganising things in my home. This is not entirely by choice.

The reason being I have misplaced a safety link pendant that I wear in case I need help or fall etc. Usually I wear it night and day, but because it has been so hot, I took it off in bed and put it on my bedside table. But where it went from there I do not know. I have never needed to push the buzzer in the several years I have had it, but on the 24th of each month I have to test it - by pushing the buzzer and then the Base company contact me. So I am hoping I locate it in the next few days. Meanwhile the tidying up will be a great thing. Guess if I stop looking, it will turn up !!

Tonight I have a very nice story sent to me by our friend Sue from Susie-s space
I hope you enjoy it. Thank you Sue, it's a good story -called "Saturday's Marbles."

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude
that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe the unbounded joy of not having to
be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it :

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older
sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind;
he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-
ever he was talking with, something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued
and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you
well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital," he continued.
"let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's
when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average,
folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number
of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was 55 years old to think about all this in any detail," he went on,
"and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays."
"I got to thinking that if I lived to 75, I only had about a thousand of them left to
enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up
having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things
in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your
priorities straight.


"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife
out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container.
I figure that if I make it to next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time.
And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the radio. This is a 75 year old man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT. good morning !!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking
you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together
with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we are out? I need to buy some marbles."

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only a few will leave
footprints on your heart.
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Some new definitions - - - -

TRAFFIC LIGHT -- apparatus that automatically turns red when your car approaches,

DIVORCE -- postgraduate in School of Love.

PIONEER -- early American who was lucky enough to find his way out of the woods.

PEOPLE -- some make things happen, some watch things happen, and the majority
has no idea what's happened.

SWIMMING POOL -- a mob of people with water in it.

SELF-CONTROL -- the ability to eat only one peanut.

SALESMAN -- man with ability to convince wife she'd look fat in mink.


CANNIBAL -- person who likes to see other people stewed.

EGOCENTRIC -- a person who believes he is everything you know you are.

FOREIGN FILM -- any movie shown in Texas that isn't a western.

OPTIMIST -- girl who regards a bulge as a curve.

MAGAZINE -- bunch of printed pages that tell you what's coming next issue.

COLLEGE -- The four year period when parents are permitted access to the phone.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS - Police station, fire department, and places that deliver.

OPERA -- When a guy gets stabbed in the back and instead of bleeding, he sings.

BUFFET -- A French word that means, "Get up and get it yourself."

BABY -SITTER -- A teenager who must behave like an adult so that the adults who
are out can behave like teenagers.

TATTOO -- Permanent proof of temporary insanity.
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Write it Down.
An 80 year old couple were having problems remembering things, so they decided
to go to their doctor to get checked out to make sure nothing was wrong with them
When they arrived at the doctors, they explained to the doctor the problems they
were having with their memory.

After checking the couple out, the doctor told them they were physically okay but
might want to start writing things down and make notes to help them remember
things. They thanked the doctor and left.

Later that night while watching TV, the old man got up from his chair and his wife
asks, "Where are you going?" He replies, "To the kitchen."
She asks , "Will you get me a bowl of icecream ?" He replies, "Sure."

She then asks him, "Don't you think you should write it down, so you'll remember?"
He says, "No, I can remember that."
She then says, "Well I would also like some strawberres on top. You had better write
that down, 'cause I know you'll forget that."
He says, "I can remember that, you want a bowl of icecream with strawberries.'

She replies, "Well I would also like some whip cream on top. I know you will forget that so you had better write it down." Irritation in his voice, he says, "I can remember that." He then fumes into the kitchen.

After about twenty minutes he returns from the kitchen and hands her a plate of bacon and eggs.

She stares at the plate for a moment and then says, " You forgot my toast."
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A 60 year old man went to the doctor for a check -up. The doctor told him, "You're
in terrific shape. There's nothing wrong wit you. Why, you might live forever; you have the body of a 35 year old. By the way, how old was your father wen he died?"

The 60 year old responded, " Did I say he was dead ?"
The doctor was surprised and asked, "How old is he and is he very active ?"

The 60 yr old responded, "Well he is 82 and he still goes skiing three times a season and surfing 3 times a week during the summer."
The doctor couldn't believe it. So he asked, "Well, how old was your grandfather
when he died ?"

The 60 yr old responded again, "Did I say he was dead ?"
The doctor was astonished. He said, "You mean to tell me you are 60 yrs old and
both your father and grandfather are alive? Is your grandfather very active ?"

The 60 yr old said, " He goes skiing at least once a season and surfing once a week
during the summer. Not only that," said the patient, "my grandfather is 106 years
old and next week he is getting married again."

The doctor said, "At 106 years, why on earth would your grandfather want to get
married?"

His patient looked up at the doctor and said, "Did I say he wanted to ?"
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Bye now folks, getting late, so off to bed. Have a wonderful week one and all.
Take care of yourselves and each other. Cheerio, Merle.

Post 145 - - - - - Monday, 19 th February, 2007.
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11 comments:

Raggedy said...

G'day Merle,
I hope you find your pendant. I have noticed that things turn up right after you finally give up and purchase a new thing to replace the lost thing. I will go to put the new thing away and lo and behold there is the old thing.
It is funny how that works. Of course it only leads to more clutter. Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! There is that thing I have been searching for!
I told someone about the marble thing in a comment and I could not remember where I had heard it before. This marble story was the closest I remember to the original that I can't find. The one I lost is boy asking his father about his marbles. He did the same thing. He counted his Saturday's with marbles. It is a great story.
lol at the definitions and jokes.
I feel like I am sounding redundant but I enjoyed your post very much. Thank You.
Cheers!
Take care and stay cool,
Hugs and Love from your friend,
Raggedy

Susie said...

Hi Merle,
Sorry you've misplaced your lifeline pendant (that's what we call them)
We used to have those for Mom and my aunt..
Glad you enjoyed the marble story. I found it very touching..
((hugs))

Vickie said...

Ms. Merle I hope you find your pendent--losing that one would put many in a very big panic. Glad to see you are dealing with it as you are.

This post brought tears to my eyes and then the laughter came as I read more. You always know what will touch me and reach me when I most need it.

Thank you for all you share but most of all for being you. Hope you have a nice week.

TJ said...

Hey sweet Merle!!
I guess a little fairy made off with you buzzer...hmmm...I hope you find it soon!!
I loved the Marble story!!!
:-D

Kerri said...

Hello Merle,
Oh dear, I'm hope you find that lifeline pendant. Isn't it frustrating when things disappear like that?
I've had fun catching up on your posts.
I especially liked the "forgot the toast" joke :)
I love the marbles one too. Thanks for sharing.
Stay as cool as you can. Perhaps we could send you over some snow! xoxo

Val said...

Hope it's cooler up your way now. Yesterday and today we've had hazy skies in Melbourne - very still and humid - most unlike Melbourne!

Have you found your pendant yet? We sometimes get a call from the medical people when MIL forgets to ring in to check with them. She's usually galivanting around Victoria and was having too good a time and forgot!

JunieRose2005 said...

Merle,

I loved the marble story...It sure makes you stop and think about things!

I hope you find your buzzer. It's bound to turn up!


June

mreddie said...

The three rooms the Spice lets me have control over - my study, the garage and my shop - all need the decluttering you spoke of, no telling what I would find if I did. Hope you find your pendant soon. I liked the definitions. ec

Donna~K said...

I hope you find your pendant. I loved the story. The doctor visit jokes were funny.

audrey` said...

Dearest Merle

Thank you so much for your prayers and love.
My daughter and I are coping very well.
Our Lord is very good all the time.

I hope you'll find your pendant very soon.
Take care, my friend.

(((HUGS))) and much love =)

Jeanette said...

Dear Merle, Oh I do hope you have found your pendant and I hope you never have to push that buzzer.
I did enjoy the Saturday Marbles
story,good jokes and quotes.
Take care try staying cool (((HUGS))), Janxxx