Tuesday January 12 2016   TOO MUCH THINKING

When I think too much, I write too much!  So tonight I will think as little as possible.  Instead of allowing a topic to pop into my brain, I decided to just bring you up to date on what is happening around this place.

Our house is still entirely torn apart.  Wide strips of brown butcher block type paper is taped on the floor from one end of our house to the other so that workers will not walk on the floors with dirty shoes.  I know I have not mentioned weather lately, but we do have snow on the ground, and in the driveway, and everywhere else and it does track in.  The vanity is still in the middle of the dressing room.  I still can’t use the cupboards of our six foot bathroom vanity and all the linens and supplies are in the guest room.  We will hear back from the insurance company this week and then determine exactly what they will cover.

The last week or so, we have had a funny odor in the kitchen, especially when emptying the dishwasher.  Something just did not seem right with that smell but I couldn’t figure out what it was.  I was planning on running a vinegar rinse in it in case it was actually coming from the inside of the dishwasher.  We could see absolutely nothing when we looked into the dishwasher.  As I was getting prepared to run the dishwasher something told me, no, do not do it tonight.  I turned to Dave and told him that I did not want to run the dishwasher while we were in bed.  So we didn’t do it. 

The next day I was coming home from my massage across town.  The freeway was busy but moving at a normal pace.  A car came onto the onramp at my right as a two ton pickup truck was parallel with me in the lane on my left.  We were traveling about 58 mph.  The blue car on my right did not even look to see if anyone was in the lane to their left, and because I was in their blind spot, they undoubtedly did not see me.  Now remember, everything happens fast when it happens.  When the blue car started coming into my lane the only place my mind said to go was to swerve into the lane on my left, and fortunately the truck on my left realized what was happening and also quickly swerved to his left to give me a little room.  I never lost control of the car, but I could see the only way out of what was happening was for me to gun the accelerator while still half way in the truck’s middle lane in order to not be hit by the car coming into my lane.  I have a super charged engine and it has a quick response to acceleration.  It propelled me past the blue car before the truck had to come back over into his full space, and all three of us escaped unscathed.  Except for my adrenalin, that is.  That lasted the rest of the day.  It was a very close call!  The little blue car’s driver realized what was happening after it was too late, and swerved back into his exit lane.  The driver seemed quite contrite and subdued after that.  That little blue car moved in behind me and never even tried to pass me.  I finally came to my off ramp and I am sure that driver was happy to never see me again.  So, that was miracle #1.

When I arrived home I was not yet ready to mention it to Dave.  Instead I turned to him and said, I think we are going to need to buy a new dishwasher.  Something compelled me to open the dishwasher, remove the racks, and to start investigating the interior.  The smell was awful.  I had mentioned the day before that it smelled like an electric burn smell.  There was nothing inside that showed anything different than usual.  So I started running my hand around the heat element and felt something sharp.  I came up with a couple of little hard broken pieces of something that looked black and melted.  One of the prongs of the rack had dropped in the back and lodged under the heating element.  I kept probing, and my fingers came up black and gunky.   I took my Iphone and snapped a picture from the back angling a look at the element.  The picture I view showed a scrap of plastic material of some sort of a packaging bag.  It was melted and burned and sooty.  It had actually caught on fire.  I suppose the water inside the dishwasher put the fire out, no smoke was involved, just a funny smell.  We were fortunate that it did not cause an electrical fire.  I believe that had I turned on one last load, we may have had more than a bathroom to repair.  Once I stirred the mess up it was really yucky and stinky.  It has been closed since then.  Again, I believe it was just the voice of the Lord speaking to my heart to not run that dishwasher the night before as we were going to bed. 

It was actually because of what happened on the freeway that pushed me a step forward to investigate “the case of the stinky dishwasher”.  I was so adrenalized with the freeway episode that it made me realize I had to come to the bottom of what was going on in our kitchen before another disaster struck.  I thank God for giving me direction and wisdom to follow through on my hunches.   Miracle #2.  So, two days, two miracles.  I can only thank God for the outcome of both.  Remember I promised not to think too much.  The rest of what I will tell you doesn’t take much thought.

We were able to find the time this past Saturday morning to buy a new dishwasher from our local appliance dealer, Tri-County in Oregon, Wisconsin.  I guess we are old school.  Every new appliance we have purchased over the years has been purchased there.  We’re on the third generation of a family run operation.  I remember the grandmother and mother of the young people who are now running the business.  The women pretty much run the appliance store, the men do the deliveries and repairs.  We get great service and their service is still affordable.  The new dishwasher will be delivered Thursday.  I am so thankful we did not burn our house down.  Two years ago one of our neighbors started her dishwasher and then went to work.  Her entire house burned to the ground.   That same week our Pastor’s daughter’s house burned partially down.  And again that same week, a family I know who live about two miles from us were on vacation, and a light in the ceiling shorted out while they were gone. Their house also burned to the ground.  Our neighbor’s dishwasher had been recalled due to a malfunction problem that caused an electrical fire, but the store where they purchased it had gone out of business, and they never received the recall notice.  That was a sad time for the neighborhood.

Again, I thank God for his protection. 

BE PREPARED

By Kathleen Martens

January 12, 2016

We never know what a day will bring

As dawn unveils first light.

And perhaps that is a good thing

That we not always know our plight.

But there are things that we can do

To be in a position for the best.

Be alert and make wise decisions

As we pursue our quest.

Be prepared in our spirits

Be right with God in our hearts.

And then no matter what comes our way,

From this earth we’re ready to part.

Life is uncertain but we need never fear.  Put your trust in God.  He doesn’t promise you a walk in the park, but He does promise that He will be with you regardless what you are going through.

Good night and God bless you!