Wagler Wisdom

These Rainy , (but not snowy) December days make for reading times . So much information out there , not just on-line , but in old fashioned book form , too.

We are slowly working our way through Leroy Beachy’s ”Unser liet”‘ , his compilation of Anabaptist history he has called ”The story of the Amish.”

We would note here that if Jacob Ammon’s historic efforts took place Around 1700 A.D. (Give or take a dozen years either way ), That would mean that Amish history started rather late in the Anabaptist movements.

The last execution of an Anabaptist in Switzerland took place in 1614, in Holland about a dozen years earlier . Long before anyone was known as “Amish “.

There is an old Wagler story, we have heard since our youth , about a group of Waglers that arrived in Ontario, Canada , in the early 1800′s . Someone pointed them the general direction that the ”Amish” lived at .

The newcomers were confused , as they had never heard that description of themselves , until in America , to refer to themselves as Amish .

The ”Ausbund” the well known Anabaptist compiled Hymnal used to today by most Amish  , and the ”Martyrs mirror” , the tome of the persecuted ,had been around for generations before Jacob Ammon, founder of all things known today as ‘Amish”,  did his work .

We would wonder if one in Twenty Amishmen today would know that, that no Amishmen were ever burned at the stake of fire , for his beliefs ?

 

 

 

 

The final 2 months of the Year are upon us , Holiday times are and can be a blessing to all. It is estimated that over 90% of Anabaptist are passive folks, and feel good about it  . Well , you will note that we do not intend to run with the flock on that one. If Amish ways are too hard , and “English”"  ways too modern , why not go somewhere in between ?

Latest items always at the top ,

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20. Wendy’s is now overtaking Burger King in fast food sales ……Wendy’s is for sure a better deal , and seems like better food , then either Mcd’s or Burger-king .And they have about a thousand less stores .too, then Burger King.

But we would still prefer “Cracker Barrel” , That feeder of the common man, (with a job).

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19.today ,Dec 19-11 we bought cheaper gas . The per gallon price is not as important to us as exactly how many gallons go in the tank from a $20 bill . We haven’t been able to pump over 7 gallons for that money for quite some time .7.007 gallons ,to be exact. ($2.82 a Gallon.)

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18.We yesterday teased a dear niece , who is obviously , rather pointedly pregnant.

”The next time you eat watermelon, just spit the seeds out ” , was our clever remark.

Her rather quick  reply .”I happen to be pregnant , what is your excuse?”……Now that is meddling …

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17. Thanksgiving is past , but we can still be thankful , for all things.

In the Medical field , appendicitis, diabetes, even gall stones meant a painful death , not that many decades ago. Sure , the medical procedures are ridiculously expensive and all , but we can expect to pay for progress . A small cut while shaving could mean death from infections , until the “miracle’ drug , penicillin came in the early 1940′s.

We can still remember a time when older folks fought to keep from going to a hospital for any reason, because a hospital was just thought of as  a place to go and die . And it was , too.

So , some things do get better , with time and knowledge……Dec.19-11

 

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16. The crazy beard-cutting Amish Bishop has run up against something he cannot handle , the federal government .  He has all the Amish Women he desires , all the money he wants , which may have affected his thinking some.

His 700 acre spread is smack-dab in the middle of that shale oil frenzy in Ohio, He recently reportedly banked a check for a cool $2 million from that.    What would an Amishman do with $2  million Bucks?  He’ll need to spend a good bit of that on lawyers , now.  Dec 14-11

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15.    A couple of sayings that can make sense …….

a.  Life is too short to put up with dial-up Internet service.

b. If you are not comfortable inviting those you meet during the week , to attend Church with you on Sundays , you may be wasting that day.

c. Time proves out most arguments, also tends to put them in perspectives.

d.Good fences make for good Neighbors.

e.A clever person, in the final analysis , seems clever only to oneself.

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14. Cell phones are here , and take over some folk’s whole life. We do not intend to be one of those. We spend about 400 minutes a month , mostly 1-2 minute calls .

Last month we suddenly realized we were about out of plan minutes ,the Verizon folks were calling , reminding us of that . A check on-line , at the Plan ,showed that one of our phones was doing 2-3 hours a day of active time . Whoops, we had ”loaned’ one of our cellphones out to an unemployed man who also is a tenant .

That was fine , though it is in the past tense now . That rates right up there with people asking to use one’s phone ,”Just for a quick call ”. We do this about every day , and will continue to do that , though the callbacks get frustrating .

Just a few minutes ago I got a call from an unknown man asking to speak to an “Ed”.  At those times we resort to what has to be the worst put-down in Southern phone etiquette . I firmly ask ”What can I help you with ?”

That has got to be the rudest phone question imaginable if asked of  an acquaintance. But is acceptable with an unknown caller .

We do hear the Northerners tend to do that to each other , to save time  ,they say.   Dec.06-11

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13. The Old German Baptist Brethren , had a major split in 2009. The splitees call themselves the ”New conference Old German Baptist brethren” .

Yeah , you guessed it , it was mostly over the Internet and having E-mail access . The biggest Invention in the past several hundred years is splitting up plain groups all over . The ”old” , remaining group is giving it’s members 3 years to get entirely rid of all and any Internet influences , including E-mail . That should be interesting to see a try to  unravel that influence, once they have it . Dec.03-11

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12. They are camping out in the rain in Greenville SC to try and enroll their children in a new-fangled ”magnet” school . Some are planning to stay in tents 4 days to get a crack at it for their  children. Rich and poor , famous and unknown  , they all have the same goal,to get their kids in a better school . Our own Christain Schools  are not always the answer , as they can rot from within like a rotton fruit , too , If God does not stay in the center of it . Nov 28-11

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11. Really mild and balmy weather has been had here over Thanksgiving week . We heard several concerns over this weekend that folks have stacked up huge woodpiles , and worry that there may be no real cold weather this winter . Just wait , it will come , though hopefully not as long and lingering as last years’.   We even had a whole tramatizing week of snow last Jan  1-7. That was the most snow we had in 10 years.In SC

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10. Those of our relatives interested in and  related to my Grandfather J K Wagler , and Great Grandfather Christain Wagler , may care to check back to the July 2008 article archive on that subject , as we have just now added a few pertinent details onto the comment section there. Nov24–11

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9. This past weekend Nov-18-20, we attended a series of meetings held at a local BMA (Biblical Mennonite Alliance) Church . Paul Emerson , One of their most senior Pastors , was the featured speaker . It was about the many different Bible translations , and how they should effect us . Paul Emerson is planning to go on to Elnora , Ind , to be the principle of the BMA Bible School there. We believe he will do well there .

Paul is a very Slow -speaking , but well studied up speaker who shuts down right on time or earlier . He is also not at all redundant . (As in repeating one’s point over & over & over in so many slightly different ways, perhaps to kill time , almost all slow religious speakers tend to do that ,).

We have never before noted this particular combination in an Anabaptist speaker , and very much enjoyed hearing him ..

Nov 23-11

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8. A thing of interest to all you ex-Aylmer folks , A time-capsule of Aylmer-Amish  info is found by typing the following into google ……..”Recent Amish immigration to Ontario By Joseph Stoll Oct 1966” .

A thorough scholarly look at all Amish settlements in Ontario at that date . We do not know who is putting this material online , but are confident it is not the author.    Nov22-11

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7.The Amish are modernizing in lots of ways . At least the ones in Daviss County Ind, are. Cell phones are a must . L.E.D. lights on buggies make them very visible , and top buggies are in too . The biggest thing we noted was the lighting in houses . LED lights hooked up to regular house wiring and switches , hooked to banks of batteries and solar panels ,supply lights throughout the house . Now if they could just invent a buggy that runs on solar power, they could get rid of the dumb horse for good.

Motor generators are out , but anything solar is in , so that may be only a matter of time . We have always despised horses , since you-know-when.

We at one point paid a very short visit to Worthington Ind. ,just 30 miles north of  there , to talk to our niece a bit. The Amish group there is in the process of switching from buggies & horses to driving cars . We assured them they would not regret it . It will not solve all problems , but will surely open up a lot of options . We feel sorry for them in this transition time because they are being beset by spiritual violence from some other Amish , who now boldly pronounce them as ”Gone to nothing” ,and treat them accordingly . Thankfully ,the Davies Co. Ind. Amish would not generally act like that .

We were at an Amish store in Worthington ,watching a soon to locally be extinct buggy rattle by . I asked the Amish girl behind the counter …”What are you going to do with your horse & Buggies?”…

“We’re going to sell them” was her immediate reply ..Ah, smart girl indeed.

The big news up there in Southern Indiana now is the I-69 Interstate being built through there now. One Amish friend told how he got up very early in the morning to sneak a horse & wagon load of something across No-man-land of Interstate work to a Nieghbor’s place . A supervisor caught up with him ,and kindly inquired where he wished to go . After helping him across , the Construction Supervisor just off-handedly mentioned that next time he may want to consider using the Roads….

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6. we spent the past few days in Southern  Ind. at My Uncle Ben Yoder’s Funeral . We had a great time catching up with past friends , Also enjoying some great foods from Southern ind. Amish Country. These folk don’t go in much for casseroles and such fare , They prefer real meat and potatoes stuff.

We checked in at the Gasthof hotel in Montgomery Ind , And I could not resist ordering  up a ”Beef Manhattan ” Right off the in-room menu. They don’t serve that in the South . A stacked tier of Bread, mashed potatoes, beef and gravy. I think that was also the last food we bought , and we were stuffed from then on throughout our 3 day visit. Even the Funeral food was delicious. Food is a serious matter up there.

So are urban legends . A good but a bit under-informed friend tried to explain to me why railroad rails are exactly as wide apart as they are . Something about horses and wagon trains and Roman Chariots being that same width apart. And parts of the space shuttle , too .

I checked on the “‘urban legend” sites , and that particular tale rated up there pretty high . Come on , folks , 99% of those stories are easily debunked ..Nov.13-11

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5. And now , our take on toilet flappers . (That is the roundie thing-ama-gig that pulls up when you push down on the handle to let the water flush out ). They need to be replaced every few years . We had always got by by buying a baguette full from Lowe’s for about a dollar each . They worked fine , even if they come from China , until just recently . The Chinese have apparently cheapened them to the point where they no longer work keeping water in the tank . We now get the Corky brand , made in USA , about $4 each , and they work fine …

We are constantly repairing toilets . We will check the supply line, the tank bolts, the flapper, and then finally the wax seal, in that order .that takes care of 99% of problems.     Nov.09-11

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4.The big news of the day  is that former performer Micheal Jackson’s Doctor is found guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter for supplying Medicines that supposedly killed the ”Man? with a fake nose”.

I didn’t follow the story very well , before or after the death of the so called Star . it would seem that almost any Medical Doctor could be put in jail if it is a Jailing crime to make mistakes with medicines. Let’s just say it is a slow news day . Nov 08–11

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3.Climate Change seems to be happening in some form. We remember when they warned us that the World was going into another Ice Age , Winter all year round . Now, most Scientists tell us we will all be getting hotter fast . With all of Science , we do not know whats to come in the future , hotter or colder .

There are now about 7 Billion Humans on the Planet , and that is a lot of folks . Some horrifying disease or perhaps War will cut that number down in the future , If the Lord tarries ….Nov 1-11

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2.Probably  the World’s most savage people are , guess again , the People of the island nation of Japan .Modern historians are still studying What all took place in 1940-45 , when the entire nation of Japan reverted to a savagery unequaled in modern history , for a so-called civilized Nation .. Turns out it is a recurring thing , that Japan is noted for . In about 1600 A.D.  Japan almost annihilated the Korean peninsula populations . To show the Home folks how well they were doing , The Japs shipped back to the Home empire up to a million sets of enemy ears , noses and heads too. They buried many of these in a large Mound with a shrine on top of it . There are several of them ,and  are up to 60 feet tall and a hundred yards wide . Known as Mimizukas they are still  there , neatly mowed and kept up , and an embarrassment to today’s ‘peaceful” Japanese folks ..Or are they ??

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1. About once a year we keep track of major league baseball , at world series time,of course ……The St. Louis Cardinals pulled  out the win , after an unbelievable game 6 where they faced total loss twice by a single strike …..Almost reminds me of the Pittsburgh Pirate’s unlikely series win in 1979 …

The old Ford F150 , 1993 model year, groaned but would not turn over this AM in 30 degree morning chill. Yes , we have been noting the last week or two that morning starts are a bit iffy . Until now it has always started .

We tend to buy Advance Auto stuff , not that it is so good , but that there always is a store close by no matter where one is . We had an unfortunate experience several years back with an Exide Top – of the line battery , that needed warranty attention . The original seller had gone out of business , and other Exide dealers failed to help out on it .

Advance has a ”Gold” battery that with all the fees and core charge and all taxes comes to about $140 or so .

Son-in-law Mark Stolzfus had mentioned to me a while back that Advance Auto stores always has on-line deals worth checking out . We checked on-line and sure enough , a $20 on-line shopping coupon applied to this battery . And whoa, something much bigger was there too. Until Dec. 12 , a $50 coupon on future purchases applied too, on this particular battery , E-mailed to you and good for 21 days after that . Thanks ,Mark, for the tip.

Wow , a full 50% off in a round-a-bout way . We purchased it with Paypal , drove the 5 miles to the store to pick up the waiting battery order , and were through with it ………….

Continuing the Winterising of the Ford F150 , our hearer core had given out some time ago , and since heat is not a factor in summer , we simply by-passed the heater for then , until a month ago. We purchased the heater , and considered the installation options . We decided to do it ourselves , knowing the Ford F150 heat core  is notoriously tough to do . It is deep in the dash behind the cubby-hole , and requires major dismantling to get in and out of there . Major-Major.

We did it the Shortcut way . After the Cubby- hole was removed , we used a screw-driver , pliers , a UT knife, and a saw . The wires , and the main-brainy thing , we did not cut , but everything else was fair game . A rather quick installation , we must say , and the heat works fine ,looks fine too , looking down , though there is no directional control at all for the hot air , a rather minor glitch on an older truck …………..

And why are we driving a somewhat tired 18 year old truck for our main work Vehicle ? Well , let us just say it replaced the 1978 Ford F150 some years back . Fords are Tough , the 93′ somewhat resembles Uncle Jess’s truck in the ”Dukes of Hazard”.  The truck is all white , somewhat dulled by age . Having a different color hood , or a door or so with different color would perhaps carry that idea too far .

My clientele seems to appreciate us not driving fancy new trucks , that seems to hold true throughout the South ,not to drive expensive work trucks. Many of the Yank Mennonites that have in the past immigrated South have done that , bought shiny monolith monster trucks that roar a lot and look expensive . A good many of them are now waiting on tables and punching time cards , come to think of it .

 

Today ,December 14th , we are well into the Holiday season . Almost all work projects are grinding to a halt . If one prefers not to do something just now , ”We’ll look at it after the Holidays ” , will do it just fine . That can mean up to Jan. 15th or so …….

Now is also a good time to take stock of whatever is important to oneself , Whether it’s one’s weight , or accomplishments , or lack of them ,or nothing at all . Almost everyone in the South takes off a few days , or weeks , or whatever they can swing , in time or financially from their jobs . And start some serious decorating and cooking up of foods of all kinds .

Our daughter last night achieved something we always wanted to do but never have quite managed to find time for . And what was that ?  Ringing the Salvation Army Bell in front of the little red kettle , to raise the change and small bills for their works. Ah, maybe next year , Ho-Ho-Ho.

One of the most astounding things we have found ourselves in this past year is that we now find ourselves the owner-operators of an old fashioned Single-wide Mobile home park ,often as not referred to as a ”Trailer park”. .

We’ve about always landlorded a handful or two of houses  . Over 20 years ago we permanently washed our hands of ever , ever , owning or renting out a trailer , especially single wide ones ,and all the problems they tend to entail with them. and we have faithfully abided by that , until this year , that is .

How this came about , is a bit complicated . An Investor friend held a note to the property , and in this economy it came about that the ”Trailer Park” ripened up to an ownership situation. The hunt for a partner to run the thing ended up at our door .

Twice we rejected the Idea of being involved in it quite vigorously , and with good reasons . The 3rd time was the charm , we suppose , or perhaps the hot summer heat dissipated the oxygen in the air around us , making rational thought hard.

It is a rather small Park , 28 spots in all , about 16 of them producing income when we took it over.  There was one burned out hulk , 3 unclaimed trailers of unknown ownerships , and 2 vacant park-owned ones badly needing repairs ,too.

The previous Park owner had somewhat let things slide , and what seemingly kept the Park habitable was the presence of a number of long term trailer owners who leased the lots only , and were very nice folks to get to  know  .

One older leaser mentioned to me that he had been living in the same spot there for 42 years .  He noted that mostly it had been in his ”newer ”’mobile home . Further conversation revealed that it was a 1975 model year home..

Our first job there was to put up an attractive covered Bulletin Board , which also was the location of the metal lock box for rent collecting.  ”Checks only, No cash allowed ”,was printed up prominently .

We were warned by several Park residents that ”They’ll hook a car and chain to it the first night and bust it open to make sure no cash was in it”.

The ”They ” they were referring to were  several functional druggies who purportedly lived in  there. (Folks who drugged , but still were able to hold jobs).

We were tempted to put a lot of iron and heavy wire mesh all over it , but ended up just neatly bolting it to a post . The first month hardly anyone used the lockbox , but gradually use of it picked up . And no one has tried to bust it up ,yet.

We’ll branch off here and talk a bit about the  supposed hectic life of a Landlord . We keep our work phone on 24-7 , but rarely hear from any tenants except an occasional emergency , like water running where it shouldn’t be , which will happen anywhere .

Otherwise we never expect to hear from any tenants , and when we do we know almost 100% of the time it is an ”angle” call . We always try to act cheery and uncomplicated when we answer , but know that any tenant who calls has his or her very own good in mind . Always .

So, if you rent a house now , you can expect your landlord to sound  cagey and withdrawn when you call him or her.He is expecting a hook in the conversation somewhere .

We once rented a house in Florida several weeks from an old acquaintance . When we left I called her just to thank her again ,and all that. From her stiff phone demeanor you would have thought we had fired up the house or something like that . I’m sure she rushed over to check it out right after we left the place . I got to see the other side of the equation that time .

 

 

 

to be continued

 

 

 

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