TRYING TO AVOID GLOOM AND

TRYING TO AVOID GLOOM AND DOOM

It seems that everywhere I turn, I am seeing or hearing stories and predictions of gloom and doom. Yesterday's newspaper pronounced that we are definitely going to experience a 9.0 earthquake off the Oregon coast and accompanying tidal wave. The blurbs running across the bottom of the screen on CNN uniformly tell of tremendous losses by almost every corporation that they mention. It's gotten so that I almost don't want to even look at the newspaper or watch CNN, if that is a way to avoid these gloomy pieces of news.

I learned from my bookkeeper and nephew, Nick, yesterday that the cost of gas and propane is hitting us hard at my business. We aren't without resources at the present time, particularly my personal ones, so I am confident we will get through this rough patch. We also have our relatively-new salesman, David, who is taking his work very seriously and who Nick feels is a great asset to the business. So I have faith that the economic woes I hear people bemoaning may be gotten through, if we take one step at a time and are careful with our money.

There's not much I can do in regards to the coastal earthquake and tsunami prediction, except pray that it doesn't happen for a long time, if at all. And hope I'm not out at the coast when one hits.

Speaking of my coastal trips, I certainly enjoyed my last one and I often make reservations for the next trip (this one to be in October) after I get back from the most recent one, but I am holding off somewhat due to gas prices. Perhaps I should think positive on this, too, and make reservations anyway as they can most likely be canceled if it doesn't look like a good time to make the trip as that time in October gets near. At the moment, I'm not sure where I would like to stay. Maybe planning that out and making reservations would be a good positive pastime at some point this weekend. (I'm leaning toward "The Landing" in Newport, which is a condo with rental rooms where I have stayed before, or else "Overleaf Lodge" in Yachats, another nice place I've stayed in the past.)

I do plan to stock up a bit more on canned food at Costco next week, just as a precaution. It won't hurt to have extra soups and tuna on hand; besides, the Postal Service canned food drive is coming up May 10th and I want to have fresh canned food to donate.

I also pray quite a bit, for our country and the world, when I think about the predictions of doom that I am hearing. I hope other people are, too. I believe there is a lot of power in prayer, especially when a good many folks are doing so.

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Amazon was faster that I expected yesterday, in delivering the books and the car vac I had ordered with my gift certificate from J.D. and Kris. I should have no excuse for not having a clean car now. LOL!

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The first Ziggy above is funny, but at the same time it kind of boggles the mind. LOL! Thanks again, Lynne, for sending those along!