Seriously! I was right! And it was admitted!! No, it wasn't an arrow in my cap; but it got fixed. What is this all about? What was I right about?
My battery. The car battery, that is. When I took my car in yesterday morning, 'my guy' wasn't there yet. So I explained to 'Matt' (lol he already knew about my car) the issues I have been having; I had even managed to get a video of the screens changing and showed him. I asked him, "since it was the battery that had 'died', did they check the battery to see if it had a dead cell, or was something else wrong with the battery before they charged it?" Matt assured me that their 'normal' routine would be to check the battery before charging, charge it, and check it again for anything wrong. So then he and I were questioning the ignition since there was a gap of time in connection at times when I pushed the button to start. I left my car and came home.
About 3:30-ish 'my guy, Glen' calls and says my car is ready. And NO CHARGE. So I head down there and when I walk in, Glen and Matt both look at me and Glen says "I don't know what it was...." and Matt butted in.... "You were right - it WAS the battery!!" They continued - the battery had been checked, they had run diagnostics on the car, finally they decided to just replace the battery (still under warranty as I bought it from them in late 2024) and when they did, everything operated just as it should. Comes on immediately; the air conditioner works, the screens stay as they should. And they replaced the cabin filter while it was there (I had paid for it last week). I WAS RIGHT!! Wouldn't one just take out the old battery and put a new one in when the charge is gone from a battery? That would have saved them and me a lot of time - but they were trying to find out what was wrong - and thought the battery was ok. It wasn't. LOL I walked in telling them I was 'doing the happy dance' because my car was fixed, and there was no charge for all the work they had done on it. I can actually relax for with the diagnostics showing nothing wrong, I can be assured that my car is operating just as it should! Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus!! (Hopefully, the saga of my car is over.)
I offered hubby $500 a month 'free and clear' as his own money..... if he would hand over to me all the bills. He immediately said NO. But he did say he would write down how he pays the bills and his passwords and everything for me. I had read something about it recently, and I may have mentioned it in here as well. When the spouse who manages the bills passes away, how have they been paying the bills? Do they come in by email? Do they get mailed? Do they get a text the bill is available? How do they pay the bills? So I approached hubby a few days ago with a request that he would write down all the bills and tell me how does he get them, and how does he pay them. He tried to put me off at first because he thought I was saying he wasn't paying the bills right. I tried to explain to him that when he passes, I don't have a clue how he pays the house payment, the phones, the car; I've seen the HOA bill come in the mail - but how does he pay these? Online? Check? I know he used to drive to the bank to pay the house payment each month. Does he still do that? His car is paid off now so that eliminated a trip. I don't have any information on the bills so asked him for it. He says he will write it down.
I should never have thrown the checkbook at him 17 years ago! But, I was so frustrated with him because he refused to get a job, even a part-time job, to help with the bills. I just threw the checkbook at him and told him to figure it out. I've asked for it back several times since then as he is NOT cost-effective..... he likes not 'having' to ask me if he can order something. I tried to get him to see he would come out ahead with the $500/month for his eating out with his friends and what is left over is his. But, he likes the 'power'. So I just go in the account and see what he is doing on occasion. Of course if I comment on anything, I am 'checking up on him'. Well, yeah....
And you need to think about listing things as well, if you are the bill-payer. Does your spouse know your email and what your password is? Do you receive the bills via email or text? Do you have an online account? These are things that need to be known should you pass away. I know I need to write down the bills I have and how I pay them, for the very same reason. I pay the majority of my bills online, and I don't usually wait for a bill; especially because a couple of them are attached to my bank and I just go in and pay via the bank account. But I need to write down and put in the box I have in a drawer in the bedroom, that hubby or my children can access that information when I do 'go to heaven'. :-) Ok - enough of that talk, - but it's something we all need to think about. Please don't leave your spouse or your children 'up in the air' as to what bills do you have, your passwords, how you pay them, what email do you use, etc. Save them some grief!
I started day one of a call to die this morning. Have you ever thought about how hard it is to 'die to self'? We are so used to doing things OUR way, thinking about OUR needs, OUR wants.... that to lay them down and let someone else's wants or needs come first.... well, for some of us, that is a hard thing to do. Within reason, of course. I know when I let hubby 'get his way' about some things, and let him think that he is making the final decision, he is much happier and much nicer to everyone. But if he feels that I overruled him (which, I admit, I often do) or did something that made him feel 'less' (which, unfortunately, I also do at times), life is hard for awhile. Hmmm I think I will give him my copy of Restore and challenge him to do a daily reading in it. I want to read it again, but I can only read so many books at one time (I still have 3 in the front room I alternate in evenings!). I will have to tell him to NOT mark it up... or if he chooses to, get his own copy. I like to underline in pencil certain things at times.... I think he has been switching to that, but he frequently uses a pen, or a yellow highlighter. I don't like to do that because if I re-read it, the color distracts me and I sorta skim that area, rather than it soaking in. Does that make sense? If it is YOUR book, do what you want to with it. BUT, if it is MY book, keep your underlines and notes OUT of it. Get your own book. Which is why we have 2-4 copies of some books! LOL One of these days I will get these books in alphabetical order so that I can 'release' our extra copies! By the way, I have ordered a few extra copies of a call to die from Thriftbooks that will be arriving probably next week.... if you want a copy, let me know and I'll send to you. Why do I order extra copies from Thriftbooks? A new book is currently $41 on Amazon. Yes, from Thiftbooks it may be marked up. That's what white-out is for. And I've used it on the current book I am using. Sometimes we may get lucky and nothing is marked up. One time I got a book that nearly every page was written over the print... so I notified Thriftbooks, and they found me another copy, plus refunded my money. THAT's why I like Thriftbooks. A little marked up I expect, but not every page where I can't even read it!
The blender we used for our shakes, my salsa, died yesterday. I really think it is because hubby puts so much 'stuff' in his shakes that it finally gave up the motor. Why do I think that? With 8 oz of milk he adds collagen, protein scoop, frozen strawberries, blueberries, banana.... and ice cubes. You can hear the motor grinding to get some of it chopped so that it can do its job. But - it is also 4 years old and we have used it one or more times nearly every day for something, so we did get our money's worth out of it. So - I have ordered a new blender that will be here on Friday. It's just like this one so I now it is good. Luckily I had a small blender that is for shakes only that I haven't given away yet.... so we are currently using it.
I have training with Morgan today at 12:30p. My third one this week - she isn't able to do that often, and I will be out of extra trainings soon. The more I go, the better I feel and the more I move, the better (I hope) I can look! - Right? And I'm getting my eating under better control. Not perfect, but better.
Looks like I've been writing a bunch of nothing this morning, doesn't it?! Let's see if I can get this to a close.....
Matthew 16:24 (NKJV) Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."
Those are pretty harsh words, aren't they? In this scripture we are being asked to do three things, do you see it?
1) deny himself. How do we deny ourselves? One way is by not putting ourselves first, but last. How would you define it?
2) take up his cross. Well, we don't go around carrying crosses nowadays, so what could Jesus mean by this? What does 'take up his cross' mean to you?
3) follow Me. Ohhh this is the best part as far as I'm concerned. Always reminded of Matthew talking to Gaius, the Roman Centurion in The Chosen. "I have only one thing to do today. Follow Him." O that we all would choose to just 'follow Him' who calls us to walk with Him! The easiest and yet the hardest for some of us. Are you going to be a follower, or someone who just hangs on for the benefits of being around Jesus?
Have an amazing day!
Blessings!
