Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

[BG_TRBL]

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all the members and visitors of Freemason Hall, a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy and safe New Year. To all those who do not celebrate or observe Christmas, I wish you Happy Holidays.
Enjoy the season and enjoy the love and affection of family, friends and those who you know.
Take care and have a great new year.

Fraternal Greetings and brotherly love.

 

[jason]

Thank you, and I hope you truly enjoyed yourself as much as I did yesterday.

May your new year be touched
by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles
of the people you love.

 

[jvlighting1]

Thank you my Brother. The same to you!

 

[rustybones49801]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as well. Both went off without any troubles this year. Yeah!!!

 

[Ashlar2006]

Christmas was great . But if the way things went at the beginning of the New Year are any indication of how things are going to go for me for the rest of the year , then I am in big trouble . New Years day my furnace went out and cost me an arm and a leg to fix . After walking out to pay the heating and air guy , I noticed the yard was wet along my driveway , turns out I had a busted service line and had to have it dug up and replaced , and plumbers are not cheap , especially when digging in the frozen ground , which due to the position of my service line had to be dug by hand . And to top it off ,I was notified by my doctor that my insurance is not going to pick up and pay for a procedure I had to get done , so there went another $1000 . So , in the first week and a half of 2009 , I have had the pleasure of cleaning out both my checking and savings accounts .

Boy , when it rains , it pours ! I'm waiting for one of our cars to break down or my house catch on fire and burn down .That would be the icing on the cake .

 

[BG_TRBL]

Wow Ashlar,
I certainly hope things turn around for you, it's terrible to hear about all of the problems you have encountered. I hope that after all of this, you will have good fortune to offset it. But on the other side, if all of it happens to you, it should keep the rest of us from getting the same (Just trying to make light of of it). I hope things do get better though. Best of luck to you, and the new year.

 

[Ashlar2006]

LOL , With all the bad luck I'm having everyone else should be setting pretty . I think my family is cursed , my brothers and I have nothing but bad luck , so I should be use to it . But it never hit me all at once like this . If the wife and I are doing well and it looks like we are coming out ahead , we never talk about it or mention it . If we do it seems something bad will happen to put us back in our place and keep us grounded . The wife will mention that we have $300 extra after all the bills are payed up and we think we are doing great , fate will step in and say "Oh no you don't !" and bang , the Fridge quits working or I walk out and find two flats on my truck or the compressor on the heat and air pump goes bad .

Gotta love those curve balls life throws at you ! All I can do is keep swinging away ,hoping to put one over the fence .

 

[Ashlar2006]

Oh , I forgot to mention . After everything was fixed , working fine and looking good , I thought to myself , finally ! I stepped on a patch of ice when stepping off my front porch steps and fell backwards , landing flat on my back . Come close to jarring my fillings out of my teeth .With this spinal disease I am now stuck in bed .

Like I said , curve balls ! BG_TRBL , you may want to go buy a lottery ticket , you just may be a millionaire and don't know it yet , LOL . I'd buy one , but I would scratch it off and find out I owe the state lottery commission money .

 

[BG_TRBL]

!!Yikes!!

Ashlar,
I think your stuck in a hail storm now, instead of the "Pouring", dang man, I hope that slip didn't really screw things up too much. I hope the rest will do you well, Sorry to hear about the latest "trip-up".
As far as the bad luck, I truly believed for quite a while that "if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all"
I am still banking on retiring early by winning the lottery, however, something tells me I'll end up working till I die if I wait for that. I still buy the tickets though.... That reminds me of a joke I read once, nothing against blondes but I thought it was funny:
A blonde sits on the edge of her bed one night and speaks to god, she says, lord, please help me out, I am down to my last 3 days of food, I barely have enough money to survive, I can't pay my bills, I don't know what else to do. PLEASE help me, let me win the lottery, PLEASE. Well the next night she sits on the same bed and says, lord, please help me out, I am down to my last 2 days of food, I don't have any more money now, the bill collectors called, I'm going to lose everything, PLEASE help me win the lottery, PLEASE. Well the next night she sits again and says, Lord, PLEASE help me, I really need to win the lottery...... Just then the lord says to her...... HEY HELP ME OUT HERE, ATLEAST BUY A LOTTERY TICKET.......


LOL, sorry, but I thought that was too good...
Take care brother and I hope you heal well and quickly.
Fraternal well wishes!!!

 

[Ashlar2006]

LOL , now that was funny .

Well , my wife's beloved cockatiel , Sofie , died yesterday . We have had her for 10 years . She loved that bird , it would sing and talk to her and would go nuts when she heard the wife's voice . Going to be quiet around here without all her singing , talking and whistling . Things just keep getting better .

Not whining or complaining , just keeping a running tally of things . What a nightmare of a start !

As for me , I can move around now ,so that's a plus .

 

[jvlighting1]

Guys hang in there! We all have a bad luck. It comes in 3's for me. Ashlar521, think of it this way, You are getting all your bad luck out of the way early in the year! That way, the rest of your year should be good to go.. Hope all is well..

 

[Darrel]

Bad Years

It was 1997 for us. I lost an aunt and and uncle on my dad's side of the family, and another aunt and uncle on my mom's side of the family. In July, my mother had some minor surgery and after she was home and we were getting ready to go out of town on vacation, our house burned down. We lost almost everything. I was a patrol officer at the time (now a detective). My cruiser was parked next to the house and suffered damage (cracked window/windshield, melted trim and tires, paint and decals) and had to be towed in. Now keep in mind, I was on vacation and had not done anything to the car while I was off. I normally clean it up before I start back. Our chief deputy saw it and had me written up. They made me park my car for a week as punishment (my Captain let me count the time the car was in the shop, so I really was not out anything). We started clearing the lot and building back. In September, my wife's father died suddenly. By the time the ball dropped on New Year's Eve, I was not sad to see 1997 go. Just remember, your family and your brother's are behind you, and it will get better.

 

[BG_TRBL]

Darrel,
I agree that we have all had our bad times, I definately agree with you about the part of the brothers and family are behind you. I am saddened to read about your situation in '97, I certainly hope that it doesn't even come close to repeating itself. I wish all of the brethren the best of luck with anything and everything they decide to undertake. I hope that if we collectively can weed out the bad things, the rest of the brethren may rest easy for the year. As I have said before, I certainly hope that 2009 is better than 2008.

 

[Ashlar2006]

So very true . I believe it will get better . As for my bad luck this new year so far , I am only venting . I look at it this way , there are people out there who have it much worse than myself and my problems pale in comparison , like Darrel's problems in '97. It will all work out in the wash . It's only money , and I can care less about money . As long as my bills are paid and I have some groceries in the pantry , I am golden .

When my spinal disease worsened to the point that I could no longer stand upright without the use of a cane and I now live in severe pain I went to church to ponder on it . A man walked up to me while there and stated that he would pray for me . I told him , with all due respect , not to waste his prayers on me because there were people in the world who needed them more than I . Even my wife has told me that I am too good a man for this to happen too and this disease should have happened to someone more deserving , or less deserving , ever how you want to look at it . I told her that this was not something to wish on anyone and it is my burden to bare , and I will bare it without complaint . If I can still enjoy my friends and family , read a good book , have my dogs at my side etc; etc; and if I can still put on a degree , give a lecture or two or even just make it to Lodge , I am happy . My biggest regret is that I can no longer ride my horses .

All one needs to do is look around to see the trials and tribulations others go through around the world , that puts our own lives in perspective . We may think we have it bad , but there always someone who has it far more worse . All we can do is take it in stride ,keep our heads up and soldier on . We may take it on the chin every so often , but such is life and there is always a new tomorrow .