Happy Valentine's Day
Published for Friday - February 14, 2025

Written Monday - 02/10/25 07:30 AM
It's February 14 and that's when we celebrate Valentine's Day. So, especially to the ladies, Happy Valentine's Day!
Artificial Intelligence or AI suggests that Valentine's day is a day to celebrate love and affection, especially romantic love. It lists it as being celebrated on February 14th, the date of publication for this post.
Valentine's day originated as a Roman festival called Lupercalia and was held in mid-February. The Catholic Church Christianized the holiday and dedicated it to St. Valentine, a martyr who lived in the 3rd century A.D.
Missed It By That Much
Published for Thursday - February 13, 2025

Written Wednesday - 02/12/25 07:10 AM
Can you imagine being a female and being born one day before or after Valentin's Day?
As I publish it's one day before Valentine's Day. What if today was your birthday? Would it be overshadowed in your own mind by Valentine's Day?
Remember the TV show, 'Get Smart?' Remember that famous line delivered by Maxwell Smart? You know, when he says to his chief, 'Missed it by that much.'
What would it have been like to have your birthday fall on one side or the other of Valentine's Day? You literally missed it by that much!
Imagine how it might be if your Birthday fell on Valentine's Day. Think how nice and easy it would be to be able to say that to friends and family.
Wouldn't that be easier than asking people to remember one day before or after? Maybe not having to deal with that at all is a better thing. .
I always felt bad for those who shared a birthday with something like Christmas. I had a friend whose parents named a day in June. They called it Son's Day. That's when he would get his birthday presents since his real birth date was Christmas Day. What a nice thing to do for their son.
The Trinity
Published for Wednesday - February 12, 2025

Written Tuesday - 02/11/25 04:10 PM
In one fashion or another, the Trinity is most likely a mystery to most of us who depend on it. We take it for granted. But, should we?
We often speak of Jesus and think of God as His Heavenly Father. But if the trinity is the trinity, is that the way we should speak of Jesus and think of God the Father?
And what about the Holy Spirit? Don't we tend to see Him as a wise counselor who provides wisdom and insight to meet our needs? How then should we view him if the Trinity is the Trinity?
The Trinity is a Christian doctrine that states God exists as three divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are formally defined as 'consubstantial' which basically means that they share the same essence.
Essence has multiple definitions. From what I saw, I'm not sure any of them do much for the definition of the Trinity.
For our purposes, Essence is defined as the essential nature of something. People use 'cute' analogies to teach the Trinity such as the idea that a cell phone is one item that does multiple things.
I suspect we owe the Trinity much more than this level of 'cuteness.' After all, doesn't it fill a critical role in the Christian faith?. And doesn't it sit as pivotal to our beliefs?
D.O.G.E.
Published for Tuesday - February 11, 2025

Written Monday - 02/10/25 07:00 PM
Twitter, now known as 'X', is busy keeping the D.O.G.E. theme alive! Here's the latest as posted by Elon Musk and from the D.O.G.E. team:
The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59 Million Dollars last week to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.
Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President's executive order.
The money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high-end hotels for illegals.
A claw-back demand will be made today to recoup those funds.
Based on the information provided in the X posts and related web results, during the Trump administration in 2018, nearly $10 million was transferred from FEMA to ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.)
The reallocation was part of a broader effort to cover an additional $200 Million needed by ice to detain and deport more migrants than initially anticipated.
The funds were taken from FEMA's routine operating expenses. The reallocation highlights a controversial shift in policies where funds intended for disaster preparedness and response were redirected to support immigration enforcement, sparking debate over the appropriate use of federal disaster relief funds.
Weight Management
Published for Monday - February 10, 2025

Written Sunday - 02/09/25 04:35 PM
Okay! Weight is something I feel I have almost given up on. I really don't know the difference between good weight management and the weight of my muscles.
I used to laugh when someone talked about the weight of their muscles when we both knew that it was the eating and not the muscles that were increasing their weight. But now, here I am in the exact same place as those I chuckled at when they made such comments.
My arms are very lean and my legs are very muscular from all of the running. I can see my abs but they're not cut in appearance. So how is it that all of this is working for me and yet the scales say otherwise and have for a while now.
I've battled with the physique of a runner and a bit of the battle involves what I am able to hide from myself. I've had that battle for far too long. I guess the truth is that I just don't want to eat like a body builder. I bumped off about 35 pounds but now I'm back up some 15 pounds or so.
I could be concerned about those 15 pounds I've gained or I could pat myself on the back for the 20 pounds that I have kept off. Perhaps that's the real issue I'm facing.
I sort of understand how Karen Carpenter must have felt in her last days. She could gain and lose weight at will but she never felt very good about herself. Believer me, I'm not going to do what she did, but I need to understand what it is I'm doing versus what it is I want to do and accomplish. I think she didn't have the knowledge to put a plan in place.
I think the real take-away from this post is my eating. I either need to manage it better or stop trying to manage it until I know what it is that I'm trying to accomplish with the appearance of my body.
Signal Reports
Published for Sunday - February 09, 2025

Written Saturday - 02/08/25 03:45 PM
I couldn't link up with other countries this morning. Try as I might there were just no contacts to be made and no connections to be had.
Now when I talk about contacts and band conditions I'm usually referring to other countries. Not those closer by in the states.
I decided to give it another go this afternoon. I had to really fight to get 5 contacts and that was all there was to be had.
I decided to go for the full 15 contacts and did so with a lot of help from the states. Interesting thing was that the signal reports I was receiving were very similar to the ones I was sending out.
I'm quite used to connecting with other countries but the signal reports I receive are always much worse then the ones I send out. Such was not the case today with my state contacts.
I'm not sure what that says about my antenna but it can't be too bad. I'm running on lower power to save the rig-life but that was enough to make the 15 contacts with the bulk of them being in the states and with similar reports to the ones I was sending out, as I mentioned.
That's a good thing. I'll take it!
Since I'm talking about signal reports I should mention that they are very different when it comes to digital versus voice. In the digital world they are usually provided on a scale of +24 to -24, obviously with +24 being better.
Digital reports are provided by the computer in conjunction with the rig. I'm told that digital signal reports directly reflect upon the noise level and are much more difficult to measure accurately.
RST represents 'Readability', 'Strength', and 'Tone' (when applicable) and is the way voice signals are reported. These use the radio's signal report and are captured and reported using the radio's reporting feature, as seen in the image above.
Tariffs
Published for Saturday - February 08, 2025

Written Friday - 02/07/25 04:45 PM
Victor Davis Hanson explains that President Trump is not using Tariffs in the traditional sense of the word but rather as an economic tool to exert power and introduce a fairer policy with our relationships to some countries. This is an important video lesson and should be viewed by everyone
Before God
Published for Friday - February 07, 2025

Written Thursday - 02/06/25 07:00 PM
A few days ago, I wrote a post titled 'Which Church Do You Attend? At the end of that post, I commented it was to be continued. This is the continuation.
I finished up the post with a comment about how I would have to stand before God in judgement one day. I was referring to Romans 14:10-12 where it says: 'For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.'
It is my sincere belief that this judgement will appear as is found in Isaiah 1:18 where it says: 'Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord...'
It will not be a formal matter and most of all it will not be like a court of law. It will be a time where we can present ourselves as best we understood based on God's word.
And so, let us each stay before God in our day-to-day lives so that our account might be a good one. Let us be faithful to that with which we have been charged and let us find ourselves accountable to all matters and all things for which we have have been given oversight.
I believe God is not a mean God but is rather a fair and just God in all matters. Let us keep that in mind as we are called to go before Him.
Investing
Published for Thursday - February 06, 2025

Written Wednesday - 02/05/25 09:00 PM
I've been very fortunate in the world of investing. My typical pattern has been very good to me, until very recently.
I got caught in a trading pattern instead of an investing pattern and was quite fortunate not to lose more than I did. Total loss was $379.00 I was trading for a $500 gain and jumped out for the loss when the market took a big jump in the wrong direction.
My buy and hold produced a similar result but the fact that I went into things with a more long-term perspective produced wonderful results. When I decided to move to a trading strategy that's when things turned south and then made a quick recovery while I was out of the market.
Truth is, I don't have a very good temperament for buy and hold patterns of investing. It's too easy to slide into dangerous patterns of trading and forgo the longer term view of things.
I went into the world of investing knowing that I'm older and don't really face the same financial needs that I did as a younger person. For that reason, I think I'll step away indefinitely.
Yesterday
Published for Wednesday - February 05, 2025

Written Tuesday - 02/04/25 07:25 PM
Yesterday is not the post title to reflect upon the Beatles song of the same name. It's the post title for a very different reason.
You see, as I write it's the 4th of February. That's an important date because it is the birthday of Patty's mom, Martha. And as you read, it's yesterday.
She passed a few years back in January of 2021 and at the age of 91. If she were still alive yesterday would have been her 95th birthday.
You can read more about her passing on January 1 and 2 in the 2021 archive. You can also read more about her stroke on December 30 and 31 in the 2020 archive.
Which Church Do You Attend?
Published for Tuesday - February 04, 2025

Written Monday - 02/03/25 06:55 PM
One of the most difficult questions I face these days is 'Which Church Do You Attend?' The reason it's such a difficult question is because I don't attend 'Church' in the conventional or traditional sense.
That's not to say that I am not a Christian. I am a Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ and am a believer in His Word (the Bible) but find myself highly frustrated with the direction of 'the church' these days.
I am part of a community who finds 'Church' a terribly misunderstood thing by so-called members of the faith. I am part of a virtual community who does not want to play 'the church' game any longer. In other words, I don't want to support a 'church' that lives by goals that are as unscriptural as it gets.
I don't want to be a part of something for the sake of being a part of something. I'm not trying to be a super-spiritual looking person. In fact, I don't want to look religious at all.
One day I will have to stand before Jesus Christ. The question is, what will that experience be like? What will He say and how will I respond?
continued...
Preparing a Good Post
Published for Monday - February 03, 2025

Written Monday - 02/02/25 02:55 PM
I don't know. This writing the evening before publication puts me at risk of failing to write a post here on my blog because of simple distractions.
But I also understand that writing ahead places the entire blog at risk based on the relevance factor that I described in a previous post. If I write too far ahead how relevant will the post be?
I guess the real question is whether or not I want to write posts in the morning or the evening. Writing in the evening is a better all-around experience for me but also places posts at risk for relevance.
if I wait a full day to publish. Writing in the morning may be better in terms of keeping the post closer to it's publication date but is more difficult in terms of trying to wake up enough to come up with a good idea for a post and to execute on preparing a good post for that topic or idea.
So, perhaps I should decide what constitutes a good post and work from that direction. Let's see...
For me a good post consists of some or all of the following:
* Pertinent content
* Entertaining content
* Honest content
* Timely content
* Interesting content
* Vulnerable content
A Spiritual post is always a good place to start. That requires waiting upon God if it is to meet the other criteria I have listed here.
Of course I have other topics that interest me here on my blog and if one of those topics has a pressing matter, then it might serve as a good starting point.
As for what I started out writing about in this post, I'm leaning toward writing a post in the evening and publishing it the next morning (or possibly the same evening that I wrote it if I feel up to it and it seems right for that particular instance.)
I think I'll give that a try and see how it works out. Seems like it should be a good (and flexible) solution for my issue.
Oh and I still want to follow through with creating a blog post for each and every day. Not sure why (since a huge readership is not the ultimate goal here.) But, that's the plan until I change my mind.
The Break Is Over
Published for Sunday - February 02, 2025

Written Sunday- 02/01/25 02:10 PM
Well, time to get started once again with the blogging. In fact, I need to lump in weight training, running, ham radio, and of course blogging.
I took a break from everything as was mentioned in an earlier post and now it's time to get caught up and move to a new month in this new year in which I already find myself.
Allie has been with us for the week to celebrate Patty's crossing the 70 yard line of life. She departs early tomorrow and with that departure it's time to pick up where I left off.
Oh, and I agree with Patty that it has been a wonderful week of celebration! It's also been pleasant for Lily the cat to join us in so many of the festivities.
Both of the kids were here to celebrate and Amy too In a few months Patty and I will visit Josh and Allie with the grandsons and get a good look at their new residence in Germany, not to mention a visit to some of the sights, some close and some not so close.
Copyright © 2025 Hutch DeLoach