The Other Side of Suffering

The Other Side of Suffering by John Ramsey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On Christmas night 1996, six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was violently murdered in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado, home while the rest of her family slept upstairs in their beds. Her father, John Ramsey, was placed under an umbrella of suspicion as being her killer. Her mother, Patsy Ramsey, who was battling ovarian cancer at the time, was publicly placed under that same umbrella. The Other Side of Suffering is John Ramsey’s story of the tremendous suffering and heartache he has endured in his life. But this is not just the story of a singular horrific event, and it is not the story you’ve heard over and over from the news media. It is, in a story never before told, John Ramsey’s personal journey of suffering, courage, and faith.

Extremely well written and filled with emotion, this book contains many sad and incredible stories told to illustrate John Ramsey’s journey through suffering and faith. Although I initially approached reading this book with skepticism, I soon found myself reading through tear-filled blurry eyes. By the time I had finished reading, I had openly wept several times throughout the book.

This book was written as an encouragement to those who might otherwise abandon their faith in God in times of crisis and tragedy. The author elucidates the fact that life is not always fair, life is not always easy, but God is always good.

People ask me how long it takes to get over the loss of a child. My response is, you never get over it. ~John Ramsey

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Is It Just Me? or Is Everyone a Little Nuts!

Is It Just Me? or Is Everyone a Little Nuts! by Judi Coltman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I almost didn’t finish reading this book, but every few chapters I’d get a small morsel of entertainment and so I just kept on reading. I think the entire purpose of the book was simply that the author wanted to be able to say she “wrote” a book. That is one reason to read it too, so you can say you “read” a book. I couldn’t recommend it, but if you start reading this book, eventually you’ll be finished with it, or not.

It only took me 48 years to make the leap from the present tense of “writing a book” to the past tense of “wrote.” That could not have happened without every single person who told me to do it. And really, sometimes, you have to create your own reality because others can suggest it but they arenʼt going to do it for you.

Begin at your own risk.

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Trigger Point

Trigger Point by Matthew Glass
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The year is 2018. The US government had never wanted to have foreign governments invested so heavily in private enterprise within the United States, but the last decade had seen profits from the world’s leading oil producers and manufacturer-exporters flow into US financial markets at an unprecedented rate. If the United States does not change its approach, it is doomed to conflict. Once the tensions and stresses build up, anything can act as a trigger. Anything can take you to the Trigger Point.

When a financial crisis escalates into an international incident, the author, Matthew Glass, will lead you on a high intensity plot with planning meetings on Wall Street to planning sessions at the White House: from the boardroom to the situation room. Will the US find a way out of this crisis? Will the US government, as we know it today, still exist in 2019?

At the risk of sounding cliché, I must say this book was easy to pick up and hard to put down. While reading, I often thought of this novel as a candidate for a great movie script. I found myself pulling for the good guys, occasionally rooting out loud, and hoping that rectitude would finally prevail.

The circumstances and events of this book are extremely plausible, true to life, and it seems as if something like this could actually play out someday. With the book being set in the future, its content was a bit unsettling for me at times, to the point of creating a genuine fear in me that the eventualities portrayed in this novel could one day become reality.

This story taught me that the US needs to learn cooperation. It is a valuable lesson. The problems we face in this world must be faced together, not alone.

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The Cracked Plumber

The Cracked Plumber by Christopher Joe Dever, Sr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A tongue in cheek (but totally true) memoir by storied plumber Chris Dever. Chris will take you along on his many escapades under sinks, through houses, and into the trenches. He’ll even tell you how he met his wife, and all with prose so entertaining you won’t want to put this book down.

Filled with cash saving advice and plumbing tips, you will want to keep this book handy just in case your plumbing ever backs up…, and it will. You are sure to enjoy all the “Brilliant Customer Comments,” and entertaining “Historical Plumbing” facts, as well as those “Famous Plumbing Quotes” by everyone from Albert Einstein to Alfred Hitchcock.

Great cartoon sketches throughout and cutaway drawings that actually show you what’s inside plumbing stuff. This edition is the perfect addition to any bookshelf, magazine rack, or coffee table. With its many exciting short stories about everything from co-eds to bank robberies, this book is perfect for those times when your plumbing backs up and you need some good reading material while everything gets worked out. The Cracked Plumber will help you to get your mind off of your hardship, and have you laughing out-loud in no time.

Please know that ALL of the stories are true! No embellishment or fish stories are included in this book…, just know that there isn’t enough PVC glue to get me high enough to make them up. In fact, some of the stories have been toned down for the women and children.

If you ever had a plumbing problem, or know someone who did, you’ll want to get this book.

You can purchase your copy of The Cracked Plumber online here. You won’t regret it.

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Dispatches from Bitter America

Dispatches from Bitter America by Todd Starnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With a little tongue in cheek, a little bite your tongue, a little imagination, a little agitation, a little make believe, and a little “you can’t make this stuff up,” author Todd Starnes leaves no sacred cows off the table (metaphorically speaking of course).

This book will take you from sentimental to nonsensical, from Christmas to Kwanzaa, from barbeque to Barack Obama, from the food police to the thought police, from DC to the flyover-states, from the schoolhouse to the House of God, with a few stops in between.

A country that knows how to smoke a pork butt is a country worth defending. Friends, our nation is as diverse as the meat it smokes. In the North they smoke hams. In the South we smoke pork. In Texas they smoke beef. In California they smoke pot. Barbecue is not just food; it’s a state of mind.

Todd Starnes says he’s a “gun-toting, chicken-eating son of a Baptist,” but according to the President of the United States, he’s just a bitter American.

If you’re politically left of center, you need to read this book. If you’re to the right, you just gotta read this, seriously folks.

Bitter Americans? Hardly.
Blessed Americans? Absolutely.

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What a Year? What a Week!

What a crazy way to end the year…

With all the plumbing problems I have had lately, I was not too happy Tuesday night when my wife meekly broke the news to me that water was coming up the shower drain. You have to be kidding me! Water is supposed to go down the drain, not up the drain. I immediately went to work on the problem, but I could not reach the clog from the cleanout in the alley, and there was too much ice on the roof for an attempt through the vent pipe. I would just have to unplug my main sewer line the old-fashioned way, with flesh eating acid. If plungers, snakes, and sewer rods could not do it, then maybe hazardous chemicals would eat their way through the clog. After two days, several gallons of sulfuric acid, and 6 ½ pounds of sodium hydroxide, we could once again wash dishes, do laundry, shower, and flush.

It would have been a happy ending, if only that were the end of the story… but it’s not.

With the sewer water flowing in the right direction again, it was time to catch up on the dishes. Too bad the dishwasher decided to quit working. Thursday, while on my lunch hour, I took the dishwasher apart and discovered that the control panel had gone out. Shortly thereafter, I discover that the Maytag repairman doesn’t work on Maytags anymore. I located a new panel in Indiana, and had it overnighted. The new control panel arrived at noon on Friday, and I install it during my lunch hour. The dishwasher is fixed, and I’m feeling really good about that.

It would have been a happy ending, if only that were the end of the story… but it’s not.

Now the clothes dryer is taking forever to dry clothes; it’s not heating the air. I cannot deal with this anymore… but Saturday morning I’m up before the crack of noon, and I tear into the dryer. Of course, I have to run to the hardware store to buy a new continuity tester because like all continuity testers, they have always been ruined by battery corrosion before you have a chance to use them for the second time. I quickly determine that one of the temperature sensors has gone out, so I run to the local home for abused and abandoned clothes dryers to find a replacement part. Rex Winters looked in his truck, then in his coat pockets, and then we went out back and found a similar sensor on an old abandoned dryer. He only charged me $10 instead of the $12 he usually charges. So, I think I may have saved $2, I think. Anyway, my clothes dryer dries with heat again.

Okay, now it’s the end of the story, and a happy ending… and a Happy New Year!!

A Father’s Love

A Father’s Love by Lorhainne Eckhart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fourteen-year-old David Lattimer is coming of age, and the family tradition of hunting the Christmas Goose has now been passed down to him. When David sets out with Rose, his ten-year-old sister, he will need more than just his grandfather’s shotgun, he will need every bit of strength and wisdom that he has.

This delightful short story is sure to captivate the young reader’s imagination. A terrific first book for starting a reluctant reader onto a path of reading and enjoying books. Don’t pass up this opportunity.

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Dark Revelations

Dark Revelations by Anthony E. Zuiker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Steve Dark would never have thought that his career hunting Level 26 killers and his role as a father could coexist. Indeed, it had taken Dark a long time to know he could do both. But now there is something worse than a Level 26 killer out there, Labyrinth is out there, and Steve Dark’s next job might be the most important job a father ever had.

Dark Revelations will have you racing through a suspenseful maze of twists and turns, told in the first-person narrative by both Dark and Labyrinth. Every twist foretold with a riddle and a clue, every turn with a deadline. Every deadline counted down with lethal anticipation, until the very last second. Faster and faster, deeper and deeper, into the maze, until the final turn, until Labyrinth’s final gift to the world.

Only a team of the very best can hope to stop Labyrinth. It will take a team with brains, brawn, beauty, and unlimited resources – weapons, money, computers, and access. And this team will need a man-hunter, the best of the best, someone with experience catching Level 26 killers – someone like Steve Dark.

But even with Steve Dark on the team, will they be able to stop Labyrinth before it is too late, or is it already too late?

Dark Revelations will be released on December 29, 2011.

Better not hesitate, or you’ll never find your way out of the labyrinth.

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A Case of Lone Star

A Case of Lone Star by Kinky Friedman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Written in the Kinky Friedman vernacular, this book is a hilarious read, a colorful journey. Fun, splendid, you really ought to read it.

The Lone Star Café itself was practically an institution in New York, sometimes bordering on a mental institution. There was enough Irving Berlin’s White Christmas around on any given night to decorate a large nativity scene.

The setting for this murder mystery who-done-it is, well, the Lone Star. And private investigator Kinky is never at a loss for words, hard-boiled quips, or kinky-isms.

It was Thanksgiving in New York, and about the only thing I was thankful for was that I didn’t live in New Jersey.

I liked him so I always gave him a little extra rope. Figured he’d either hang himself or start up a rope factory.

‘I’m pretty busy,’ I said. Actually, I had enough spare time to macramé my nose hairs, but it’s never a good idea to let people in New York think you’re not busy.

‘Money may buy me a fine dog,’ I said with some dignity, ‘but only love can make it wag its tail.’

When he’s not solving a murder mystery you might find him “doing a little horizontal mambo” with Uptown Judy or Downtown Judy. The eccentric Kinky enjoys making coffee, lighting cigars, and talking to his trusty cat, Cat.

I put on my hat and coat, grabbed a few cigars for the road, and told the cat she was in charge while I was gone.

I sat up in bed and looked first at the cat and then at the clock. The cat yawned. The clock said nine-thirty.

“Zany!” that’s the word I was looking for. A great read. I really enjoyed it.

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Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

If you are from my generation, the David Bowie song “Changes” may come to mind when you think of ch-ch-changes. Those from a younger generation may be more familiar with the version of the song as performed in Shrek 2.

Of course, there have been countless songs written about the subject of change over the years. I went to youtube.com and typed in the word “changes” and came up with many different songs under several different genres.

And why not? Life is full of changes. Big changes, small changes. I’ve made a “big” change myself recently. Did you notice?

I changed the look and design of my blog page this week. Do you like it? Let me know what you think.

Back to the subject of music. Here’s a fun song about change:

Ohhh change is gonna do me good