Exit Interview a la stu
Exiting the month of July, my birth and marriage month, I subjected myself to this Men's Journal interview, since I bought my first copy at Publix grocery store only after reading this catchy subtitle: A Man's Guide to Meat, How to kill it, cure it, cook it, and devour it. Wow.


Stu, ninetyandnine's House Calls blogger, ex-fireman and now, ER nurse

What adventure most changed your life?
One Sunday morning I was driving across town to find a church I had found in the phone book, but passing by another church, I felt compelled to turn around and go there instead. I've been there ever since. The first sermon I heard: The Gifts of the Spirit. I was home.

How do you make your favorite drink?
Boil a few cups of water, drop in one Luzianne tea bag and one decaf tea bag, steep at least 10 minutes, add 2 x 2/3 cups (not full) of white sugar and water to make one gallon total, stir, serve over ice.

What's the strangest place you've ever woken up?
I woke up in the backseat of a firetruck, during the flood of '94, when we made one call after another responding to flooding and people trapped in homes, all night long until shift change at 7 the next morning. I slept while waiting for power crews to show up.

What's the best cure for a hangover?
Now, I get hangovers from working nightshift, and also noise hangovers from church. I drink mega glasses of H2O, and take 2 ibuprofen, for starters.

What's your biggest vice?
Caffeine, in the form of java.

What was your first car?
A metallic blue Olds Custom Cruiser, Mom's old car, and I kept that sucker vacuumed out daily, waxed it obsessively, and found out what top-end speed was for that car. After driving it a full year at high school, dad bought me a new one.

What song do you have to hear once a week?
Right now it's Newsboys Something Beautiful with that funky disco beat. I think I hear it once every time I crank up my car. I can make the windows rattle with the bass on that one.

Do you have a scar that tells a story?
I have a small cut on my wrist from when I was overhauling the hottest fire ever, and I was throwing insulation out the window and my wrist went down on a tiny piece of jagged glass.

What's your favorite place on earth?
My den, sitting next to my sweetie, talking about our day and watching the latest DVD, with a view of a half-mile-by-mile greenbelt out the picture window.

What's the best advice you ever received?
The trust you build in your spouse is by the consistency of good decisions you make (El Pastore).

-interview by sdk.

It's Friday, It's the Weekend, It's My Sister Visiting

Stu finishes off nearly 8 days in a row at ye olde ER nightshift once again, only to catch a few winks before Sis shows up on a drive-by visit via Mississippi, Clinton, that is. Actually, she'll be with us 'til the morning, just in time for us to run over to church and finish set up for our puppet Sunday morning special summer presentation. We had approximately 2.5 weeks to prepare, which includes taking all, and I mean ALL our equipment out of storage. The theme? WE'RE BACK!

Stu's RN
Preceptor Loses
Pet Pig to
Deputy's Bullet
I was, alack, shocked upon discovering that my RN Preceptor Jeff's pet black Vietnamese pig was shot and killed by a Bibb County Deputy. The pig escaped the electric fence and moseyed over to a neighbor's garden, and well, read all about it here. Visitation hours are tonight at the residence. The family requests instead of flowers please bring a pack of buns, chips, tea, and dessert.*






*For the Bar-B-Que, of course!

Macaroni Girl Update
If you happened to peruse House Calls yesterday you were blasted with a great pic of a Hoover girl of Wife Swap fame pigging out on mac-and-cheese, which is, by the way, my favorite, too. I prefer the cheap box kind, with that irresistible orange-yellow color.

But as for the news, if you read the comments, is that Macaroni Girl received the Holy Spirit while at National Jr Bible Quizzing! I am in awe of the Hoover family and their willingness to expose their home life to the world, with fantastic results. I believe they are reaping the blessings of this sacrifice and continuing to pay it forward as well.

From the stu file, my 2 boys were eating Oreo Blizzards while driving home on two different Sunday nights after church, and began to cry, and with a little encouragement from the Mom, began to pray and before long...received the same as Macaroni Girl. God does indeed work in mysterious ways.

*EXCLUSIVE!*
Wife Swap Comments in ER Breakroom

I, stu, was going for a cup of java in la breakroom in the ER when what did my wondering eyes did appear but ABC's Wife Swap and conversation and jeers. The first zinger was Sis Kristen's statement about every woman's purpose on earth being to serve her husband. Discussion. Exhuberant statements about women and careers. I spoke out at last and stated that her basis was the Bible and everything she was saying was scriptural.

Hmmm, well okay, the crowd says, but couldn't come to grips with the husband part. I let that one sink in for a moment and only gave them a look, them being 3 women employees, and immediately one of them stated to me that they could see where I was coming from. In other words, if I mentioned scriptural basis, I would be right.

Then the conversation veered off to one of the more wordy women who told about a man in her church who never made a plate of food for himself and didn't know how...had his wife do it for him. But that never went anywhere, and talk came back to the woman as server.

I stated that if a woman doesn't raise her children, then someone else must do the job, either relatives or daycare of some sort. Hit home, and I assured them that no woman would choose job over kids and that sort of ended the whole thing. Back to work everybody.

My impression: good job Sis Kristin and don't know if Bro Hoover ever donned the gay apparel suggested by Mrs Meeks. It definitely would have been tough getting down the chimney with his "additions."

Those poor Meeks kids needed a soap-and-watering...on the inside. Hoover girls held firm to their position on what it means to be a lady, and I'm also glad the little one decided not to eat her booger on national television. And no, Mrs Meeks, those Hoover kids are not indoctrinated, but are enabled and allowed to learn about and discover for themselves exactly what a relationship with God is all about.

Great Job to ALL the Hoovers!

I WANT YOU!

Ninetyandnine Editor Issues Provocative Proclamation!
Click here to read for yourself the personal statement and challenge of of our own ninetyandnine.com editor regarding the writing void evident in our ranks as Apostolics. Are we content with pumping out the same old notes via House Organ, and are we succeeding in the mission of reaching others by filling all our publications with defensive stances on doctrine? I thought about this for a moment, and estimated I spend the following amount of time per subject during conversation with non-apostolic folk:

Relating some aspect of my testimony: 50%

Persuading them to relinquish bad habits: 20%

Challenging them to think on a God plane: 20%

Assuring them I will personally pray for their need:10%

Arguing doctrine with them: 0%


And so, I am challenged by Mr. Curry to take my persuasive conversation and thoughts and put them to paper. I was not only challenged by his article but also shamed by my lack of time developing my writing (but blog photos instead), and my inconsistencies in the craft.

I agree it is high time to end the era of prairie romances and wake up to the 21st Century and our current state of affairs and problems. Who will rise to this challenge? Where is our talent hiding in apostolic ranks? When will you and I present our literature to an ever-reading World?

You said it, Mr. Curry: it is time.

Back In the U.S.,
Back in the U.S. E.R.
I returned to the infamous ER, in every sense of the word and was assigned to my least favorite area, Level I, or Critical. One patient was transferred from another hospital, diagnosis: self-inflicted GSW to the temple. Sad, and that no one really knew why.

But it was great seeing all my night-shift buds, of whom some actually realized I was gone for a while. Sweet. And it lets me know people are watching, so I better tow the line, walk straight, carry a big stick, er, maybe not that last one.

So I'm an RN again, wearing my navy-blue scrubs, hot as in temperature, and not a mountain tourist any longer. At least til our next trip. In the meantime, I will unleash my healing talents upon the unsuspecting populace of Macon, Georgia.

Don't Stand Out at YC!
Please read this about Project 22:39, a gathering unrelated to the Democrat Convention that will be held at YC in Charlotte NC COMING SOON! To register, follow this link so you won't have to stand in line once you get to YC. Christie Ponjican, the organizer and in her words that may lead me to believe she might be a paramedic, "We hope to shock the City of Charlotte." My only wish is that they deliver the initial shock at 200 joules.

Back to the Flatlands

We, the wife and I, passed from Heaven to, well, Macon Monday after being at a potential height of 5800 feet above sea level. I say potential because we didn't make the hike that goes that high, but did go the loop around the Joyce Kilmer trail and saw some huge 400 year-old trees. We also found a secluded spot—via canoe—to swim in on the lake there, but, since we don't see sunlight much, acquired a nasty burn, mine worse than hers.

We stayed in a mountain lodge near Robbinsville, N.C. and I recommend it to any of you couples out there in Coupleland (married) to venture forth and try as we did. Our cabin had a spectacular view of mountains, hot tub on the deck (private) all meals included, room service, steamshower, whirlpool, XM radio (dialed to jazz) and...wait, there's more! But you'll have to try it for yourself, though I will say: watch out for the frogs.

Stumergency!
So, back in Macon, with a stumergency Monday night involving intense sunburn pain, Prednisone, and Benadryl, in that order. Thanks be to God and the wife who salved, prayed and healed said sunburn. That lesson went deep, and hopefully I'll remember to use sunscreen as the less inflicted wife did.
Pass the Harleys, Please
One unexpected aspect of the mountains: Harley Davidsons. Yea and Lo, we did not forsee the droves of HD's throttling about the curves and roads of our fair mountains, which did continue, forsooth, post-weekend into Monday. While caretakers of the Joyce Kilmer (Joyce was a guy) used only a crosscut saw, man-powered, to reduce noise and pollution on the trail for felling defunct trees, the exhaust and noise from HD's dominated the park and our Heavenly Stay. But only for a few moments did they tempt to spoil an otherwise pleasant and refreshing trip to Santeelah Lake.

Climb Every Mountain,
ford every stream, follow every rainbow...'til you get to North Carolina. That's my travel plans, plain and simple, to celebrate birthday and anniversary, but not necessarily in that order. What summer is complete without a trip to the cool mountains after the searing heat of summer? Macon is especially humid, so this will be a needed break. Excellent blogging over at Month in My Life and Collide-a-scope! Remember, you read it here first! Have a great summer and weekend!

Avast, Ahoy, and All That Stuff

I'm reading The Republic of Pirates now, bought it with my Father's Day B&N gift card in hardback, which I rarely do. SO far, the book is everything historical, nautical, and piratical that I hoped for. Check it out today, read it free at your local bookstore whilst swilling potent java, or wait until it shows up on library shelves or at a reduced price on Amazon. But do Tally Ho and read it.

Sushi Fest Planned
in Land Down Under
After authorities captured this giant squid, which is the question, there was announced a Sushi Fest 2007 immediately following, including a breaking news item whereby CNN announced that it was the size of a bus, which was definitely not the answer. But then, that was CNN.

And This World's
Largest Frozen Dinner
Found in Siberia was this mammoth, which will be bid on tomorrow by Swanson, Birdseye, and Marie Callender, the winner of which will promptly put this find into approximately 22,150 pot pies.

Kudzu Artist Dies

The comic, not the plant taking over Georgia one tree at a time. On the lighter side, Mr. and Mrs. stu celebrate 21 today. Trip to N.C. to follow this weekend.

Ben Franklin in Atlanta!
Read about a Ben Franklin exhibit at Atlanta History Center July 4th through October. So, if you live near or fly into Hotlanta, give it a look. I plan to go this fall, but first the anniversary trip to the mountains with my blushing bride...this weekend!

Federer Wins Fifth
In case you hadn't heard, m'man beat Nadal for a fifth Wimbledon title. Now, if only I could get the match to load from the Wimbledon site, but I get the same error message stating that my file won't work since it's an .wmv. And yes, I do have WMP version 10. Any tips?

Two New Blogs at ninetyandnine.com!

I was just over at Word and Notes, the 2 brand spankin' new blogs at ninetyandnine, and I must say, I'm impressed. I will definitely need to be awake more than I am right now to enjoy them, as I worked again last night with only one day off from last week. A patient pulled up to the front of the ER last night with acute lead poisoning: GSW, or gun shot wound. This one didn't make it, and the trauma doc gave all a lesson while cracking the patient's chest, which means the chest is opened rapidly and internal cardiac massage is performed. It is a last ditch effort with poor results most of the time. So go read the two amazing new blogs and tell me what you think...all nine of you!

You, too, can experience the 7 *NEW* Wonders

By cellphone and text message vote, the amazing new Seven Wonders of the World® have been selected for 2007. The previous seven wonders, such as the Louvre in Paris, will be demolished by wrecking ball. Next year, I plan to urge all my friends to vote so that Bill's Bar-b-que in Ila, Georgia will be selected as one of the Seven Wonders®.

Happy 4th O' July and God Bless America!
My Home Sweet Home

For Lee Ann
I stumbled across a non-copyrighted item last night at work and figured I would dedicate it to the one-and-only Lee Ann of educational fame. It's more uses for duct tape than I can shake a stick at. So here's a few for you...
* Replace those missing letters on the church marquee.
* Make a pair of waterproof underwear for fishing (fly fishing?)
* Alternative to hair waxing - OW!
* Use to stop that 12:00 blinking on your VCR once and for all
* Hang a strip for a fly trap

Enjoy, and Happy 4th O' July!

Stu's Amazing Weekend
First, I didn't have to work, believe it or not (Though I am working every night this week:5 nights. Which gave me the opportunity to hear both of Brother Tim Carter's messages that were, simply put, amazing. The traveling evangelist, bound to a motorized wheelchair after a MVC 25 years ago, tours our fair United States with his wife, delivering powerful and intensely delivered messages upon our fair Apostolica. And, because of his incredible messages, we had church.

Most Incredible Teeth Award Goes To...
Congrats to Chauntay for stu's Most Incredible Teeth Award! After a grueling read about her trip to the dentist (thanks for the fear factor update), she must be recognized for great teeth as evidenced by all her Month In The Life blog photos last month. Just stay away from those Red Hots! My downfall was a frozen Reisen!

Move Your Rat Duff!

For all of us melancholy souls teetering on the edge of depression, here is the ANSWER! In other words get up and get with it!