Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Long Days

Some days retirement looks so appealing, to be able to clean the garage and then putter in it on projects, clean the boat, get the motorhome in good condition, trim the plants.

But instead this morning I rolled out at 5 am after going to bed at 1 am this morning.  I took a friend to the airport, then back to Hayward to deliver a flower to my special Ying, then do a reinspection, then race to Stockton for an early arrival, then Lodi for an early arrival and then River Bank for an early arrival.  God blessed with safety and I'm enjoying driving the diesel bug again, 42 mpg and so comfortable with heated leather seats, great sound system and perfect heater, nice and a blessing.

Had great conversations this afternoon with Ying using WeChat, a system that allows for the translation of communications.  So I speak into the phone what I want to say, it turns my words into text, then when Ying receives the text a few seconds later she pushes two places and the words are translated into Chinese, same for me when she writes to me, amazing and free app.

But I suppose it delays the learning process of a new language, we also have a translator on our phones so when we ride along in the car I have my phone on my knee and when I speak to her in English she hears it in Chinese.  It is good for English but not so good for Chinese, often when she speaks it does not recognize what she has said and I never learn what she meant to say but still it is a great help.  Her English is better every day and my Chinese remains stuck to about 4 words.

I'm heading to bed now, it was a great day of work and safety as I drove and texted verbally, listened to a great book and talked to many people for business.

Sending love to all and asking for your prayers that God will guide Ying and I in our relationship, sometimes rocky and sometimes very sweet, not easy to fall in love when you are my age or even her tender age of 46, she looks 35 which makes it even more difficult out in public, people think she is my daughter, she does not like that at all.

Take care my friends and family,

Tim

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Rainy day in California

Blustery night, heavy rains and wind sent gates and fences leaning and swinging. 
My day started with a walk to the park where we were all hurrying to get back home in the warm.
Had a rare sunday appointment at 10 in Walnut Creek, rains were incredibly hard on the way but were less so during the appointment, still not a lot of fun, very wet and so glad Ying insisted on a new coat for me, it came in so handy with a hood and all during the work.
Then drive back to work in the office, do my laundry and get the office all arranged for the week, now I have tight appointments for the next two days that will involved hundreds of miles and many inspections, amazingly many are sales at this time of year.

So thankful for work, for my friend Ying and for my family.

Keanna and I went Christmas shopping this evening and then to dinner, fun stuff but so cold and windy.  Loving driving the Bug with its strong German heater and great 42 mpg for long trips, that coupled with low diesel prices means less money out for travel.

Now to bed and to be ready for a very long day tomorrow, God is good to us, not always easy to understand but always there with His incredible love that amazes and inspires us to love one another in the same manner.

I long for a day when I will no longer be alone, after 8 years of it I'm through with doing everything solo but I know God knows best.  I wasted a year and a half pursuing Ellen in Ghana, I will never know for sure but I'm pretty sure it was a scam to see how much money.  Morning after morning I woke to believe she was flying in that day only to have another issue that cost money arise.  I have a hard time with waking up now, tend to be very discouraged when I first wake.  It was never like that before Ellen and the scam so that is a bitter pill to deal with.

Love life though and even have Christmas lights strung across the garage now. 

Sending love to all,

Tim
Please pray for Ying and then for me that we will find the right path for the future. She is an amazing woman with a heart of gold and an honesty that is so open and refreshing.  Oh that I could be as good of person as she is!

Friday, December 11, 2015

Finally a good deed

Today is Steve's birthday and what fun they are having this evening with a few friends over.  Nikki is looking great with her loss of more than 60 pounds, amazing really.  So very proud of her and she is sticking with it faithfully.

Today I inspected a home in Antioch, then drove to Martinez to see another, then hit the road for Rocklin, a long trip for sure.  I arrived on schedule at 1 pm, picked up a young man from Hong Kong named Moses and we left for the SF airport, We arrived there at 4:15 and since Moses did not fly out until 6:15 we had plenty of time.  We found his gate and he is on the first leg of a long trip, this trip to Japan will take 16 hours and then a 4 hour flight to Hong Kong afterwards.  He is a nice Christian boy with a beautiful girlfriend who helped see him off today. He is so funny, he says they argue every day no matter what and wonders if that is normal.  His English is so much better than when he came a few months ago, I picked him up from the airport then and drove him to Rocklin to Sierra College at that time.  His mom is fighting cancer and he is so happy to be going home to see his beloved family.  Once I left the airport I found a daunting GPS warning that it would take 3 hours to get home, then Nikki called to remind me of Steve's birthday party this evening, the trip was faster than the warning and before long I was enjoying pizza and German Chocolate Cake, wow was it good.

The home was filled with kids, friends and good cheer.  How I hate to come home alone and even though I got to talk to Ying via WeChat, a very good system where you can send photos and messages, even make phone calls.  That was nice but not the same as being together.

Will you pray for us, that we figure out the next step of our future if we are supposed to have a future?

Love to all

Tim

Monday, December 7, 2015

Another day

Sort of down tonight, trouble domestically with my friend and I know I have failed to love her like God wants to have her loved.  Ever feel like that, you just know your love is filled with selfishness and is not a pure love like that of Jesus.

Today I started in Antioch, perfect home with delightful older couple, then to San Francisco to see a home for an estate and a value of last year in September, then to Hayward to see an overpriced condo and then finally home.

I picked up the green diesel bug from the shop.  Sad experience, I had taken it for tires and the owner offered a nice new 4 wheel alignment on his fancy equipment.  Before they got through with it they had caused over $800 in damages and so for the last two months the car is sitting in the garage.  So today I decided I need to drive it.  Now it is great and I can enjoy doing my work with this very nice car again.

Ray, my neighbor was kind enough to drive me there last night to drop the car off and to pick up the Civic and drive it home tonight for me. 

Now I'm tired so am heading to bed now.  Many miles with God's travel mercies, I never stop thanking Him for keeping me safe and sound as I drive.

Just now I was able to have a short phone call with my special lady and it was so nice and tender.  Now I can sleep better, the day ends well.

Love to all

Tim

Sunday, December 6, 2015

challenges of life

This evening I'm writing because my friend Judy checked up on me to see if I was pushing daisies or not.

I'm still here and heading to bed right now.  Tomorrow its Antioch, San Francisco and then Hayward before coming home to work.  That will be some traveling.  I finally have bitten the bullet and am having the diesel VW worked on, I took it to a place for tires and they did a wheel alignment but in the process destroyed several things under the engine that will now cost over $800 to get fixed, really very sad to deal with.  I've waited two months and driven the other car but its transmission is starting to fail.

My personal life is very challenging right now and I could not begin to tell you what comes next.  I've learned so much about myself and how selfish I've become since Nan died, just living and making decisions all by myself, not listening to others.  Now its affecting my ability to build a relationship with a woman I care deeply for, Ying She.

I can use your prayers for guidance and God's blessings.

Good night

Tim