What is a "tiehacker"?

"Tiehacker" is a term originating in the Ozark hills of southern Missouri. It referred to a class of people from WAY back in the hills that made a living cutting trees into ties for the railroad. I first heard the term from my wife shortly after we married. I had been working outside all day and was dirty and stinky. When I came inside, she told me I looked like a "tiehacker" and had to get cleaned up. She had learned the word from her father, and thought it just meant "a bum". Never having heard it before, I looked it up. Although I am not really a bum, I thought it was interesting, and I do have a life-long love affair going with the Ozark hills, so ... there you have it!

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

A little humor (very little), what I'm reading, good news on health issues, other stuff.

Start off with a little bit of humor



Here are a few links to some blogs I've been reading today:

A discussion of the difference between toxic patriotism and nationalism.

This is a virtually perfect example of the horrific result of the previous post's topic.


Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

"There is a phony faith that claims to believe in Christ, but is only a fire insurance policy. Phony faith “believes” only to escape hell. It has no real desire for Christ. In fact, it would prefer if he did not come, so that we can have as much of this world’s pleasures as possible. This shows that a heart is not with Christ, but with the world."

2 minute audio clip from John Piper, with transcript.

The recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd demand that Christians be aflame with the Godly anger that opposes all things like racism and oppression and abuse and corruption. One caution I would add is that we not fall into the trap of worldly, unrighteous anger. James 1:19-20: Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

There were a lot of good articles today, but those were the cream of the crop.

Moving on to other stuff

Healthwise, things are looking up. I had a chemical stress test done recently, which showed some abnormalities. So, yesterday I went in for a heart catheterization. That went MUCH better than expected! Just some plaque build up, and no stent required. The cardiologist is confident that this can be controlled by diet, exercise, and perhaps a change in my cholesterol meds.

And, then to put icing on the cake, I got a call from the eye surgery clinic today. They can FINALLY get me in for the much needed cataract surgery on my right eye. About time, I'm almost blind in that eye by now. Next Tuesday they're going to do all the tests and measurements, with the surgery the following Monday. Hallelujah!!!

Did a little work on genealogy today, still processing that same obituary for Albertine Formhals Thornton. I should have been able to knock it out in a couple of hours at most, but I keep getting distracted, both by chasing down rabbit holes that it uncovered, as well as by external stuff. (Grrrr! Facebook Grrr!)

Oops, almost forgot. A HUGE shout-out to the Debster. That woman has been really going gang-busters with making sure we eat a lot more healthy and a lot less junk. I should have been all along, what with the diabetes and all, but I think this latest thing about my heart scared her more than she's letting on. Now that's she's helping me control the calorie input, now I have to really bear down on the whole exercise thing. I have to be honest, that is going to be very difficult. But I gotta do it.

Well, as a famous cartoon character said,
That's all for now, folks!

Ron out.

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