Ray’s Daily
September 27, 2021
‘Be not afraid of life.
Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help you create the fact.’
William James
I have a Dentist appointment this morning so another past Daily.
Ray’s Daily first published on September 27, 2004
Recently a dear old friend sent me an e-mail that expressed concern about the speed of life and how its end seems to be moving closer at an alarming rate. I felt when I read her letter that she was measuring the quality of her life in as being time driven measured from the end forward until today. I am concerned that her time is filled with thoughts of the inevitable end. She went on to say she hoped that she could find employment well into her seventies in order to stay occupied.
I was saddened by what she had to say as I think this time in my life is the best ever. When I was employed I was expected to do what I did in the conventional manner and solving problems using traditional solutions. When I was in school I was graded on how well I knew the correct answers, answers based on conventional wisdom. Today I am unencumbered by scientific tradition, any dependence on the literal, and information modified by the anointed knowledgeable. I now spend my time exploring ideas, viewing the world, and listening to voices from the past of those who have shared the results of their search for wisdom. No longer am I measured by someone else’s right answers, I get to find my own. To some extent it is a process, if my personal answers are wrong it is not the end of the world, the journey in itself is worth the effort, and who knows, my answers might even be the right answers.
Time is just as important to me as it is to my friend. But in my case it is the time I have today to do whatever I want, it is the excitement that comes from knowing that today I can see that movie, read, attend a seminar or class, communicate with you, make new friends, and more. Most of my days include a moment of new insight, a new way of seeing the world and the people in it. While I would never impose my beliefs and opinions on others, I do love the opportunity to share the adventure and discovery that comes from the search.
I do dread the end, not the end of life, but rather the end of each day with more I still want to do. But as I drift off to sleep that dread is replaced by excitement as I think about a tomorrow filled with rewarding opportunity.
~~~
Strange History You Didn’t Get in High School (the B.C. years)
3050 B.C. – A Sumerian invents the wheel. Within the week, the idea is stolen and duplicated by other Sumerians, thereby establishing the business code of ethics.
2900 B.C. – Egyptians create Sphinx, one of Seven Great Wonders of the Ancient World, but refuse to talk about it.
1850 B.C. – Britons announce Operation Stonehenge a success after arranging slabs in sufficiently meaningless pattern to confuse scientists for centuries.
1785 B.C. – The first calendar is introduced by Babylonian scientists.
1768 B.C. – Babylonians experience winter in June.
776 B.C. – The world’s first known money appears in Persia. World’s first known counterfeiter appears in Persia next day.
410 B.C. – Rome ends the practice of enslaving debtors, removing biggest single obstacle to the development of the credit card.
404 B.C. – The Peloponnesian war enters 27th year because neither side can find a treaty writer who can spell Peloponnesian.
214 B.C. – Tens of thousands of Chinese people complete 1,500 mile long Great Wall. Neighbor’s dog gets through.
1 B.C. – Calendar manufacturers argue over what to call the next year.
~~~
Q. How many Jewish mothers does it take to replace a lightbulb?
A. None. “It’s all right – I’ll just sit here in the dark.”
~~~
Be Careful, Your Sins May Find You Out.
Have you ever told a white lie? Then you are going to love this. For all ladies who bake for church events.
Alice was to bake a cake for the church ladies’ group bake sale, but she forgot to do it until the last minute. She baked an angel food cake and when she took it from the oven, the center had dropped flat.
She said, “Oh dear, there’s no time to bake another cake.” So, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake. Alice found it in the bathroom, a small roll of toilet paper. She plunked it into the middle of the cake and then covered it with icing.
The finished product looked beautiful, so she rushed it to the church. Alice then gave her daughter some money and instructions to be at the sale the minute it opened and to buy that cake and bring it home. When the daughter arrived at the sale, the attractive cake had already been sold.
Alice was beside herself. A couple of days later, Alice was invited to a friend’s home where two tables of bridge were to be played that afternoon. After the game, a fancy lunch was served, and to top it off, the cake in question was presented for dessert.
Alice saw the cake, she started to get out of her chair to rush into the kitchen to tell her hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, one of the other ladies said, “What a beautiful cake!”
Alice sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (a prominent church member) say:
“Why thank you; I baked it myself.”
~~~
You’ve got to continue to grow, or you’re just like last night’s cornbread–stale and dry.
Loretta Lynn
~~~
By the time a Marine pulled into a little town, every hotel room was taken. “You’ve got to have a room somewhere,” he pleaded. “Or just a bed, I don’t care where.”
“Well, I do have a double room with one occupant, a Navy guy,” admitted the manager, “and he might be glad to split the cost. But to tell you the truth, he snores so loudly that people in adjoining rooms have complained in the past. I’m not sure it’d be worth it to you.”
“No problem,” the tired Marine assured him. “I’ll take it.”
The next morning the Marine came down to breakfast, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
“How’d you sleep?” asked the manager.
“Never better.”
The manager was impressed. “No problem with the other guy snoring, then?”
“Nope, I shut him up in no time,” said the Marine.
“How’d you manage that?” asked the manager.
“He was already in bed, snoring away, when I came in the room,” the Marine explained. “I went over, gave him a kiss on the cheek, said, ‘Goodnight, beautiful,’ and he sat up all night watching me.”
~~~
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.
James Dent
~~~
A woman was at home with her children when the telephone rang. In going to answer it, she tripped on a rug, grabbed for something to hold on to and seized the telephone table.
It fell over with a crash, jarring the receiver off the hook.
As it fell, it hit the family dog, which leaped up, howling and barking. The woman’s three-year-old son, startled by this noise, broke into loud screams. The woman mumbled some colorful words. She finally managed to pick up the receiver and lift it to her ear, just in time to hear her husband’s voice on the other end say, “Nobody’s said hello yet, but I’m positive I have the right number.”
~~~
“I was trying to find stuff to talk about today, it was a slow news day, so I found this. On this day in 1492, Columbus set sail from Europe, looking for a sea route to India – and ended up in America. And ironically, if you make a call from Europe to a company in America today – it’s re-routed to India.”
Jay Leno
~~~
“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people.
A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
~~~
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than twenty years to people who want to start their day on an upbeat. If you have system overload because of our daily clutter, let me know and I will send you the information via mental telepathy. If you have not been getting our daily you can request to be added by e-mailing me at raykiwsp@comcast.net. Back issues are posted at http://rays-daily,com/ currently there are hundreds of readers from around the world.
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