Dear Fans, Friends, Fiends and Foes,

I finally took a shower…well, okay, I have taken more than one since 2004, but the reason this one is such big news is that it was the first one out of the new water heater.

Tabitha heard a strange noise coming from the mechanical room and had Margaret call me.  I was in the middle of going to the bank and then I was going to buy some groceries.  I got the call and came back right away and sure enough, there was a sound like water being poured into a metal pail or large can.  I turned off the water and the gas to the thing and called some friends for advice.  I know zero about water heaters but I do know any noise in any mechanical object that is not normally present is also not normally good.

Blessing number one, we have two plumbers in the church and one of them was in our old Boy Scout troop and the other worked for a very long time at one of the big name guys in town, so I had people I could trust.  Not that I don’t trust professionals to do their job, but to me it is like when I went to the Place That Has Brakes In Its Name and the girl gave me an estimate, first of close to a thousand dollars and then a “reduced” one of six hundred dollars.  Took it to a mechanic I have worked with before that I trust and it was one hundred thirty-five dollars.  Kind of the same principle applies here and to be fair, I don’t think that everyone is out to rob innocent people needlessly but also to be fair there are a lot of places that instruct people to write their estimates high.

But there are also good and honest people in the world as well.  My friend from the Boy Scout troop went over to Home Depot and bought the water heater and all the necessary parts to install it and that bill alone was four hundred and fifty bucks.  Ouch.  Thankfully, we are working out a plan for the labor, which is lower than others but man.  You take one step forward and two steps back.  Plus today is tax time.  We don’t make a lot of money but we do make just enough that we don’t qualify for many of the credits we used to get so now we owe in instead of getting a refund.  Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh…

What a pain in the bother!  But, I have two separate ways I can look at both of these things.  Either I can see it as blessings or cursings.  Well, if the water heater had gone out in the middle of the night when nobody heard it, a likely possibility, there could have been hundreds of gallons of water everywhere and in a worst-case scenario, even an explosion.  Followed by being forced to call someone I didn’t know who would write an estimate to replace it at a totally ridiculous price along with finding other things that needed to be done on an emergency basis.  So, okay, I think we have one in the “Blessings” column.

Second, even though it seems immensely more logical to me that a whole government and its bureaucracy could find a way to take the proper amount of taxes out of everyone’s check the first time and eliminate paperwork unless you wanted to apply to the government for some credits, which you could do at your leisure, within a specified timeframe, I am thankful that we are, in fact, making more money and the Lord has blessed us.  So, another blessing, in disguise.

I am also thankful for you, all my fans, friends, fiends, foes and family, both old and new.  You guys are a great encouragement to me and the most awesome readership ever.

I hope you have been enjoying the restoration of the archives.  I forgot all of the many things that have happened over the last several years and also look back and see how I have made improvements in my writing and writing style.

Your Humble and Thankful Friend,

Herb