Greg's General Store

It’s Thankful Th ursday and do I ever have a lot to be thankful for. I am not sure what happened yesterday because I swear I posted but I don't see anything so I must have been delusional. I think I am finally starting to feel better so the medicine must be working. Or I could just be getting used to feeling sick. 1. The first thing I am thankful for is the story of Job. No matter how bad I felt yesterday I kept reminding myself that things could be a lot worse. And no matter what happens in my life I will never blame God. Life is only temporary. 2. I am thankful that I was able to get some rest yesterday and last night. I never take a sick day but at my wife’s insistence I took one yesterday. I slept until almost noon and then just laid around the house the rest of the day. I kept thinking “I sure wish I had one of those Snuggies.” Last night I went to bed around 8 and slept the entire night with only a few brief awake moments. 3. I am thankful to be back at work today. My inbox i...

Well my condition went from bad to worse. I got so bad I even took time off from work and went to see my doctor. When I got there I waited an hour and a half to be seen even though I had an appointment. There was a new girl at the check in desk and she put my file in the wrong place so they kept skipping me. Because I didn't have on a watch and was a little dizzy I didn't realize how long I had been there. When the doctor found out what was going on I was in her office in less than two minutes. She apologized and assured me it wouldn't happen again. The good news is I don't have H1N1 or pneumonia. I do however have a really bad sinus infection which has spread to both of my ears. So everything sounds like it is muted and I can't breathe. Other than that I am fine. Oh and since I can't breathe I can't sleep well. And since I haven't been sleeping my blood pressure was very high so I can't take a decongestant. I am in a lose lose situation. The antibio...

Does anyone know what happened to the weekend? Last I remember it was Friday and now it's Monday. Those two days sure have a way of slipping by quickly. Now if only we could get Monday through Friday to go by that fast and slow down the Saturdays and Sundays all would be great. I do have some great news. Chelsea was able to come home from the hospital yesterday. Without going into a lot of personal details I will just say that the doctors were able to isolate her problem and they have it under control. She still has some medical problems but she is continuing to show signs of improvement. And going from the ICU to home is a great thing. Now for the bad news....Guess who is sick now? Me!!. I have had a killer cold since Friday. It started with some post nasal drip, followed by a sore throat and now I feel like someone is standing on my chest. I am so congested it isn't funny. This morning I dropped by the gym since I couldn't sleep anyway and tried to workout. I ended up get...

Where does the time go? This Thursday kind of slipped up on me. But since I have so much to be thankful for it is never hard to come up with a list. Please join in with Thankful Thursday by visiting Sonya's blog. (1) Well there is no new news on Chelsea but she is still holding her own and that in itself is a blessing. Every day that we have here on earth is a blessing and I thank God for each and every one that I am given. The reason that the reports are so sketchy on this girl is because her parents are basically camping out at the hospital and no other family can come into the Intensive Care Unit. When I hear something I will let you know. (2) I am thankful for this nice weather we are having. It was in the 50’s this morning and it is supposed to get into the 70’s by the afternoon. That is just about perfect in my book. I hope the cooler weather holds for another week because my costume is going to be hot and I don’t want my makeup to run if I sweat. Did you hear that…a guy sai...

It’s hard to believe that Halloween is just a little over a week away. Now I know a lot of people that read my blog don’t like or celebrate Halloween for religious reasons and I don’t blame you for that. There are as many reasons not to celebrate this occasion as there are to celebrate it. I have always liked Halloween because I never viewed it from the religious perspective. Halloween has always been special for me for a number of reasons. And God knows what is in my heart no matter what I do. First off my earliest memories of Halloween were going Trick-Or-Treating for UNICEF. When I was very young that is what we did. We went with our church group every year collecting money for needy children around the world. We wore positive costumes that were bright and uplifting. There were never any psycho killer or stripper outfits or anything like that. After we finished we would go to the home of one of the church members and have a celebration where we played games (including twister….read...

I just wanted to give everyone an update on Chelsea's situation. She is still in the intensive care unit but last night they said that one of her kidneys had started working and that is good news. Thank you everyone for your prayers and concern. I will let you know if there is any changes. As for me I am swamped with work here and at home. But at least I have a job and a home and that is more than some can say. I continue to work on my son's car and we are making some progress but it is slow because I don't have much light when I get home from work. There is nothing like working on a car engine in the dark especially when you don't know what you are doing. I know I can get it apart but getting it back together may be a different story. I have a dental appointment today so wish me luck on that too. I hate dentists. No offense Dental Maven. I am sure I wouldn't hate you if you were my dentist. You would probiblly (there's that word again)hate me. Have a great day,...

Good Monday morning everyone. I hope everyone had a good weekend. I had a very busy one but it was good as well. I got a lot accomplished. However I did get a bit of bad news last night about the daughter of a friend of mine. Her name is Chelsea and she is 16 years old. She and her family live here in the Charleston area and she goes to the same school as my oldest son. Last night we found out that she has the H1N1 virus and isn't doing well. She has contracted Pneumonia and is now having kidney problems. If you could find it in your heart to say a prayer for Chelsea I would be greatly appreciated. Chelsea is a sweet girl but has had a difficult life and really needs your prayers. I don't know what her status is as of this morning but I will keep you posted when I find out something. Thank you and have a Blessed Day, Greg

As many of you know this has been a challenging year for me. There have been financial challenges, physical challenges, mental challenges and so many others. Through it all I have somehow managed to keep my head above water. Life would be pretty boring without challenges and I would be pretty weak too. But it is Thankful Thursday and like all things in life, Challenges are a gift from God. “Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.” Not just the “good” ones. I know everyone has heard the expression; What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Well that’s not exactly correct. The statement should really be; Every challenge you rise above makes you stronger. Just because you are faced with a challenge in life doesn’t make you stronger. You really have three options when you are faced with a challenge. You can avoid it. You can go around it. Or you can face it head on. It’s only when you face that challenge and rise above that you become a better person. So here is my thankful list for...

1. I've always wondered why we were taught both printing and cursive. Do you prefer to print or write cursive? (Keyboard is not a choice.) Darn, I was going to say Keyboard. I prefer printing only because my cursive is so sloppy no one can read it. I had to print everything when I was in the Navy so I often switch back and forth when I try to write in cursive. 2. Are you a dreamer or a realist? Sometimes I dream of being a realist but then I realize that I am fooling myself and I will never be serious so I just get real about being a dreamer. Is being a hopeless optimist the same as being a dreamer? 3. Billy Joel or Elton John? Wow what a choice. Two of my favorite songs are “Keeping the Faith” and “In the Middle of the Night.” Since both of them were by Billy Joel I guess he is my pick. However I do think I am more Elton’s type than Billy’s. (Insert rim shot) 4. What is the scariest movie you've ever seen? Not limited to horror flicks but also includes ones where the tension ...

It was an interesting weekend to say the least. Saturday I had to run back and forth between my regular job and the one at the Market. It was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to pull it off. The day flew by too because I stayed so busy. Most people would agree that Wadmalaw Island is not a good place to drop off dead bodies. We are a small community and anything out of the ordinary is usually noted by the local residents. Obviously, someone didn’t get the memo because Saturday they found the remains of a missing person less than two miles from where I live. We have recently been seeing lots of police out in our area but we didn’t know why until Saturday. All the facts aren’t in yet but there are rumors of this being a drug related killing. Scary stuff. So Saturday night I went with my oldest son to the Zac Brown Band (ZBB) concert. He is a country singer with recent hits like “Chicken Fried” and “Toes”. Despite the threatening weather and the fact that the concert was at an...

(Note this is intended to be humerous. I hope it doesn't offend anyone) Those of you who know me well, know that I am always on the cutting edge or should I say the leading edge when it comes to new and exciting things. When there is a new technology or product out there you can bet you will hear about it here first. And the same goes for new and innovative ideas. My brain is often where these cutting edge ideas first surface. And this is no exception. I have known that something was in the works for some time. As they say; The stars and planets have been aligning so I knew some big idea was about to pop into my brain and it has. Before I spill the beans though, let me just list the facts: 1. We need change. That seems to be the buzz phrase these days although I don’t remember who said it first. 2. You got to believe. Again another popular phrase these days but again I don’t know who said it first. 3. Many people are searching for answers these days but need concrete answers that t...

I can’t believe it’s Thursday already. Hey I am still wondering where September went. I am in shock that it’s already October. But it is Thankful Thursday so here is what I am thankful for today: (1)The first thing on my list today is this wonderful weather. It was a hot summer and I am so thankful for this fall weather. There is a little chill in the air in the mornings now and it feels great. As I get older it is hard to take the extreme temperatures. Fall and spring are now my favorite seasons. (2) The second thing I am thankful for this week are the broken down cars. It reminded me not to take things for granted and I do believe God is telling me to slow down more. In addition to my gardening abilities, God also gave me the ability to fix almost anything. So far I have two of the vehicles running well, a third one is going to be fixed today and we are making plans on fixing the 4th one. If I couldn’t do this work myself we would be bankrupt. (3) I am thankful that I am able to mak...

If you are following my “car disaster saga”, then you know that I had three cars that we own die on us over the weekend. We ended up with one blown head gasket, one bad wheel bearing and one bald tire with a nail in it that can’t be repaired. I replaced the wheel bearing, it will take me several weeks to fix the head gasket and we are scheduled to get new tires this Thursday. At least my car is still running good, Right? Not so fast people. Last night on my way home from work I decided to stop at Publix for some fresh fruit. I know I don’t always eat healthy but I do try to eat some fresh fruit every day. So I ran in and found some nice bananas and nectarines and was out in a flash. I put the key in the ignition and turned it and click click click. That was it. It didn’t start. I laughed out loud and said. This is ridiculous, God give me a break. After checking the battery terminal connections I determined that the battery was dead. While I was doing this, several people came within a...

I sometimes joke that I look forward to Mondays so that I can come to work and get rested up from the weekend. But today I am not joking. I am so thankful that it is Monday and that I survived the weekend. I thought about doing a Thankful Thursday post on Monday but then I decided to tell what happened and get if off my chest. But before I do that I do want to Thank God for getting me through a difficult weekend. I may be grey haired but at least I am not bald….Yet. It all started on Friday when my son called me to tell me that the computer modem quit working. If you recall this is the second one that failed this year. The last time I sat on the phone for an hour trying to convince the guy in India that I knew it was the modem but he insisted on sending out a service rep anyway. When the service rep showed up he said; Looks like the modem has failed, that will be 80.00. Anywhoo, before I left work, I did a google search for my modem to see if there was a replacement. Now I’m not goin...

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about Respect. I do believe that is what’s missing in today’s society. I know at least one of my blogging friends ( Steve ) agrees with me. Many children (and adults) have little or no respect. They have no respect for things that don’t belong to them. They have no respect for the environment. They have no respect for other people. They have no respect for authority and they have no respect for God. Yesterday I was listening to “Focus on the Family” which is a radio show that addresses issues in the world today. It is more than a radio show but that is where I hear it. The subject just happened to be “respect” and more specifically: ”respect for authority.” They also went on to say that the greatest respect for authority that is missing is the respect for God’s authority. People who have a deep respect for God’s ultimate authority also respect other forms of authority. And once you respect authority you also learn respect for other people and other thin...