Ups and Downs

“Sometimes ups outnumber the downs” (name the movie- hint: comes from the lyrics of a song in a Disney movie…. Still don’t know? Perhaps this will help “Coming sire… coming” said by a drunk snake) Did you get it? Okay enough of that… As I was thinking of things I could write about I noticed that some were good and some were sad, but don’t you worry, the good won! Coming home last night I saw a car that was pretty mangled. The car went through the guard rail and ended up in the ditch on the other side of the freeway. In addition, the guard rail went through the car - seriously, the metal guard rail looked as though someone rolled down the windows and placed it in the back seat of the car. I don’t think there is any possible way someone could have survived that. It made me sad. It also made me very grateful for everyone’s prayers and the protection I continue to receive while I am on the roads here.

A group wanted to take up a collection for a gal who found herself in a bit of a predicament. She cleans bathrooms and makes little money doing it. Even still she makes enough here that she is able to send a little back home to help support her young children. We learned that in order to stay here she has to pay approximately $1,400.00 to renew her visa or she will be forced to go home. Well, $1,400.00 is almost a year’s salary for her and there is no way she can pay it. If she goes home she has no job so she is in quite a difficult position. It is sad to think how many others are in this same situation. My thought is this, I am happy to help if she takes the money and goes home so at least she could be with her kids. After all, what kind of a life is it for your kids or for you if you are both scraping by anyway? You would be better off scrapping by and at least being together. Besides I would imagine that $1,400.00 would probably be enough for 3 people to live okay for a year back in India. I don’t want to support the company which is putting people in a position nothing short of slavery. It is all too common here. It makes me sad. I am very grateful that I am a citizen of a country that has laws against slavery and has something called minimum wage. I played in a volleyball tournament yesterday. Yeah, I don’t think “play” is even the right term… more like our names were on the rooster for a v-ball tourney last night. I think we lost in less than 10 minutes… it was pretty pathetic! It made me sad because I wanted to play and I know we are better than that. A teammate summed it up perfectly by saying, “We failed to turn potential into performance!” A co-worker went on vacation back to the States and he returned to work on Friday. He brought me back some raisinets! He brought me 5 bags of delicious raisinets to be exact. I was so happy! I sold my stock on Friday… exactly one month from when I bought it. An $800 return is not bad for a month (could have been $1,000 profit had I sold two days after buying, but hey I still came out on top!) It is quite fun and I can see how playing the stock market can be addicting. It made me happy that my first attempt, as I ventured into the world of stocks, was a success! I started my new woodworking project this week. I am building the flag display case that Mom (and Jared) designed. I am using mahogany wood which will look awesome when it is finished. It is fun to learn the tricks of the trade and to see a project start to take shape. Today marks 5 years exactly of me working for Uncle Sam. I’ve learned a lot over the past 5 years and hopefully have become a better person as I’ve faced the many challenges given to me. I appreciate the trust my bosses have in me and I hope I haven’t fallen short of their expectations. I’ve had the pleasure of working with some amazing people over the past five years, so for that I am truly grateful. I have been richly blessed with wonderful opportunities to grow and learn due to this job. My goal is to continue to learn and strive to meet the challenges ahead for another 5, 10, or 20 years! Well, that is all for this week’s rendition of Julie’s corner. I hope the “ups” have outnumbered the “downs” for you this week. If not, the good news is it is the beginning of a new week, so here is hoping it’s a good one! Love you all!