My Car Is Possibly Contracting The Corona Virus

I’m just wondering here, but can a car get the corona virus? I know it sounds like a crazy question, but I’ve seen some odd things on the roads lately.

My Car Is Possibly contracting the Corona virus
Single car parked on a top of a garage parking lot. View from the above.

Maybe it stems from what we are being told to do, as opposed to what we’re being told about how the virus spreads. 

The authorities want people to stay at home as much as possible. I’ve heard the Prime Minister even say, “go home and stay there”. 

That sounds pretty serious to me. It also sounds like a kindergarten teacher scolding his class of delinquent five year olds. 

But I get the picture that we are to stay in our homes. 

Yet we are also told that the virus is not floating around in the air everywhere. The virus doesn’t really float well; it’s more like it has to be flung at you. It gets passed when someone with the virus coughs on you, sneezes on you or maybe talks “on” you like Sylvester the cat. 

That’s why the six feet or metres rule. You can only fling the virus so far. Personally, I like the six feet over the six meters because it’s a lot less. 

But the one measurement that I like the best is the hockey stick rule: Stay a hockey stick length away. 

That idea was not really well thought out though because everyone’s hockey stick is different. For instance, I cut my hockey sticks way down, so they are well under six feet in length … maybe under five feet in length. … They wouldn’t do. 

I guess what I’m saying is that we need to stay clear of people, but we shouldn’t have to stay indoors. 

I played a little basketball on my driveway the other day. It was by myself, mind you, but I did win so I hope I don’t get in trouble for that. 

There were no people in the vicinity if potential sweat droplets got flung off my body. Then again, there was no sweat involved at all. The temperature was above zero but not high enough for any of my glands to be producing sweat particles. 

So that brings me back to the cars on the road … 

I’ve noticed people being very cautious when approaching an intersection. Any time a light turns red, I’m shocked at the number of cars that are stopping well back from the traffic lines. 

People are driving their cars like they are standing in line waiting to get into Costco.  

It’s like there is potential for my car to get too close and catch something, or like they’re afraid heat or exhaust from the engine might infect someone crossing at the lights. 

Let’s keep our distance. You never know if somehow something got into your gas tank and is now spewing corona to all the cars that pass by. 

… I don’t know for sure – and I haven’t heard any of our health experts comment on it – but I think we can drive normally … although driving like your car can get COVID may be normal for some people.

Here’s the thing: The message of what Christ did for us on the cross is the best news there is. It’s the news that everyone should know about and have a chance to respond to. However, for others to be exposed to the gospel message they have to have some proximity to it. Don’t be afraid of getting close enough to someone (while practicing social distancing) with the best news they can hear. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How can you stay social while social distancing? Leave your comments and questions below.

I Actually Did What I’ve Been Meaning To Do

The other day I actually did something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. 

I actually did what I've been meaning to do

For sure it’s because of the isolation that I did it, but I’m really glad I gave it some time.

In this “post-busy” society we live in, I think everyone is finding new or different things to do than normal. 

A large segment of our lives has been cut out. We don’t go out anymore; we stay home. 

I’m reminded of that everyday I go in to work. I pass a roadside work sign that states in large block letters (so you know they are yelling it), “STAY HOME; STAY SAFE”.

Any recreation, hobbies, meetings, events or activities you used to do are not happening right now. 

Everyone is looking for things to do around their homes. 

I’ve noticed lots of activity at the hardware stores so some people must be doing home projects. Spring is here so others are getting to work cleaning up their yards.

Then there are some who are making up games to play. It’s fun to watch the crazy stunt tricks and downright ridiculousness people are posting on YouTube and instagram these days – all things from around their homes. 

One thing I’ve been meaning to do for years is shoot some hoops.  

We have an adjustable basketball net in our driveway and every day I come in and out of the garage and have to avoid it. Many times I’ve thought I should go out and take some shots … but I’ve always got something else to do. I’m on my way here or there; I have to do this or that. 

But not anymore. 

For the record, I have been working a lot. I’ve even been doing extra and learning the technical aspects of live-streaming which has taken a lot of time. 

But the other day I decided to take a few shots. I had nothing else to do except watch TV and I try not to get sucked in to that too early in the evening. 

It’s been several years since I went out to shoot baskets. The only other time was a year ago with my son … and he killed me playing one-on-one. 

So I pumped up a ball and went outside. I tried to raise the net to 10 feet but the mechanism wouldn’t engage and hold the net up that high. 

It was not that exciting shooting on a 7.5 foot net so I didn’t last too long. 

But the next day … 

The next day I got inspired, got some tools out and took the mechanism that raises and lowers the backboard and rim apart. 

It was a very quick fix.  

I then spent a good hour or so taking shots. My wife, Lily, came out part way through and we took shots together. 

I’d been meaning to do it for so long. I had no excuse and lots of time. 

Here’s the thing: Maybe there is something spiritual that has been nagging at you for some time. You’ve thought of studying something in the Bible, or investigating a question you’ve had. Maybe you thought of memorizing scripture, or discovering what faith in God is all about. Well, now is the time. You have the time, so take it and develop your spiritual side. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is something you’ve been meaning to do, and now you could actually do it?  Leave your comments and questions below.

I Forgot And Now It Will Cost Me

I realized the other day that I forgot to do something last fall and now it’s going to cost me.

I Forgot and Now It Will Cost me

It’s that old procrastination thing. If you don’t get right at something, you’ll pay the consequences later. 

I used to do that with school projects and papers. I would delay getting to them and then I would end up pulling all-nighters the night before the projects were due.

When I started preaching, I told myself that I would not do that; I couldn’t do that. I had heard about pastors who burned the midnight oil every Saturday night to have something to preach in the morning. I knew I would never survive doing that. 

And in twenty-four years I’ve been preaching every Sunday, I can say that I have not done that more than a couple of times under special circumstances. 

You would think, however, that discipline would translate into other areas of my life … but not so.

There are many things in my life that I end up leaving and have to later pay the consequences.

Right now I have a situation with my mountain bike that I’m kicking myself about.

Last year, near the end of the mountain biking season, the front shocks on my bike were not working well. I took my bike in and the people at my bike shop helped with a temporary fix that would see me through until the cold and snow forced me to put my bike away for the winter. They told me to then bring it in and they would work at rebuilding the shock when they had a little more time and I wasn’t using my bike.

It sounded like a great plan to me and so off I went with my bike working not too badly, but not perfectly. 

The biking season ended slowly and I started to play more hockey. Though I thought I still would get in a ride or two, it never seemed to happen.

At that point, I should have taken my bike into the shop and had them work on the shocks. But no, I didn’t do that; I waited a little longer. Then every time I thought about taking it in, I had a reason why it wasn’t a good time. 

At the end of February I again thought about taking my bike in. They wouldn’t be very busy and would have plenty of time to work on it. 

But still I just didn’t make the time to take it in. 

Now the store is closed because of the coronavirus shutdowns. When we finally get done with all this isolating and the store reopens, everyone and their uncle will have their bikes in for tune-ups and my bike will be a low priority.

This is really going to be costly – and not just monetarily – to rebuilt or install new shocks.

Here’s the thing: Do you find that you can get right to certain things but then there are other things that you procrastinate on? Well, the one thing you don’t want to procrastinate on is what you do with Jesus. Jesus Christ will be returning one day … and these days it seems like a possibility more than at any other period in our lifetime. When He does come back, it will be too late to decide where your faith lies. You have to do it now. That’s one decision you really don’t want to procrastinate on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been procrastinating on that you really need to act on? Leave your comments and questions below.

This Isolation Is Taking Us Back In Time

I can see where this isolation is taking us – right back to the 70’s!  

This Isolation is taking us Back in Time

I’ve already started to see some people’s facebook pictures of what they looked like in their teens. 

Why the photos? Well, with hair salons and barbershops closed, our hair is going to get longer … at least for the people who have hair. 

I’ve already started thinking of how I might comb my hair after it reaches a certain length, because my present hairstyle is not going to work. 

I’m also interested to see how many Donald Trump look-alikes start cropping up. You know, guys who are thin up top and have to start doing the combover.

It should be good for laughs … but it brings me back to a time that I don’t really want to go back to.

Back in the seventies, I could not imagine myself with short hair. Now I can barely handle thinking about what I would look like if I had long hair again. 

The picture might give some ideas. 

If we get to that place – and we’d have to be isolated a long time because I don’t think my hair grows as fast as it did back then – at least we have better resources now to deal with long hair than we did in the 70’s.

In the early 70’s, my hair would take upwards to an hour and a half to dry after a shower. If I needed to go out then my only recourse was to put on my mom’s hair dryer. 

That’s right, I said “put on”. 

That hair dryer had a base unit that generated hot hair which, in turn, flowed through a tube into a plastic bonnet-like shower cap that was perforated with holes on the inside. 

I was quite a sight sitting with that dryer on my head! 

When the first blowers came out, they barely had enough power to blow out a candle. The blower dryers we have now would have no problem drying my 70’s long, thick hair. They can pretty much dislodge the hair from my head if I’m not careful!

Until my kids were in their twenties, they had never seen me without a moustache or goatee. It was a tough adjustment for them to get used to looking at my clean-shaven face. If we end up staying holed up in our homes for a long time, my kids will have to get used to seeing their dad in a whole new way.

I wonder if having long hair again will make me look younger. In reality it will probably just make me look creepy, and who wants that?

So I guess either our isolation will have to end sooner than later or our premier will have to list hair stylists as an essential service and get them back to work.

Even then, think of the backlog of people trying to get their hair cut. We might have to wait another month just to get an appointment. 

Here’s the thing: I think we are more concerned with how we look to other people than to God. Yet others don’t see us when we first get up or when we are sick; only God sees us all the time. He sees us when we are at our best, but also when we are at our worst. We should pay more attention to how we look to God than how we look to people. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your plan if our isolation lasts longer than one month? Write your comments or questions below.

Let’s Connect Now More Than Ever

In these times of change and uncertainty, we need to intentionally connect more with each other.

Connect Now More Than Ever

As isolation becomes more and more widespread, and the normal ways of connecting with each other become harder, if we don’t work at it, if we just accept our isolation, we will slowly cut ourselves off from others.

And that’s not good at all. We can become very self-absorbed, thinking only about ourselves and our needs.

What has encouraged me is how my church family has responded to being isolated. I have heard over and over how people have been calling each other. People, who would not normally phone others, are burning up the minutes on their phones, chatting, cheering and encouraging other people in our church community. 

I’ve been thrilled when I have phoned someone and they’ve told me that this person and that person had called them this week. My heart shouts for joy when I hear that!  

It’s a sign we care about each other and a sign we are not going to let this isolation keep us from connecting with one another. 

But there is a segment of society that we could all learn a lesson from. 

Two months ago you would never have thought that this group could teach us anything. In fact, most people have just wished that this segment of society would finish maturing and finally enter adulthood. We just considered them as adult-ish.

I’m talking about the 22 – 30-year-old single male population. 

There is no better model than them right now for us to learn how to connect together. And the crazy thing is they have been practicing it for years already. It’s just natural for them.

I’m not saying that the females of this same demographic don’t connect as well – they may, but I can only speak of what I know and have seen. And these twenty-something-year-old males are masters at connecting. 

They are highly tech savvy, so they are on their phones, burning up data at lightning speeds. They text, video chat, send pics, phone, and play group video games with headsets …sometimes they do it all at the same time. 

These males could be isolated for months – heaven help us – and yet still connect with everyone in their circle on a daily basis. They are just that good at it.

For the rest of us, outside of getting into online video gaming, we need to work hard at using the means available to us to keep connected with one another. 

I like what many people are already doing. Let’s just keep it up. We now need to connect more than ever.

Here’s the thing: While we find ways to connect with each other, we should be as intentional to look for ways to connect with God. There are the basic ways to connect with God: through His Word, and through prayer. And especially now we should be taking full advantage of these ways of connecting with Him. But let’s also not neglect connecting with God and others at the same time. Make it a habit on Sundays to tune into a livestream service, and take full advantage of online Bible studies and devotionals. We need to connect with God now more than ever.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you doing throughout the week to stay connected to God and others? Leave your comments and questions below.

Look Mom, No Hands!

These days I’m trying  as much as possible not to use my hands. 

Look Mom, No Hands

As a kid, I remember that shortly after I learned how to ride a two wheel bike, I learned to ride it with no hands on the handle bars. 

When my mom came out of our house, I yelled from the street, “Hey look, Mom. No hands!” 

Right now I’m trying every trick in the book to keep from touching things just so I don’t have to wash my hands. The backs of my hands have been getting rough, sore and chapped from all the hand washing.

I even resorted to putting some lotion on them a couple of times. It was that serious. 

To provide a little relief, I’ve figured out ways to do things that don’t require hands. 

I push doors open with my shoulders, and when a door is half opened I chicken wing it the rest of the way. … If you don’t know what I mean by “chicken wing” it, that’s just sticking out your elbow to pry the door open.

I’ve been wearing gloves a lot too – not because it’s cold, but so I don’t have to touch things with my hands. 

On the few occasions I’ve had to go into a store, I’ve kept my gloves on the whole time. Then when I got to the cash I used the tap feature on the key pad with my Apple Watch. 

I never had to touch a thing. 

I don’t uses railings anymore either. It’s all hands-free for me. I’m just glad I’m agile enough not to need to steady myself up and down the stairs. 

I saw a hand washing demonstration on YouTube the other day and it was amazing. The guy made hand washing look like an art form. 

He had latex gloves on and took some black shoe polish or something to rub on his hands to simulate soap. You could see, as he was working it into his hands, the spots that he was missing. But then he used Olympic style hand manoeuvres to get at those often missed portions of the hands. 

When he was done, his latex gloves were completely black.

But to be honest, I can’t remember a couple of the advanced techniques he used to make sure he scrubbed the part of his thumb just below the knuckle. 

I have to say, my method has been paying off for me. I haven’t used hand lotion for three days and the backs of my hands are returning to their soft and supple state. 

I’m not saying I’ve stopped washing my hands. Believe me, I’ve been singing Happy Birthday and Mr. Brightside (Roman Josi version); I’ve been counting steamboats and checking my watch.

All I’m saying is I’m going out of my way to give the backs of my hands a break.

Here’s the thing:  Even if you’re living hands-free, you can still be coughed on. Someone can still sneeze in your presence and you’ll get infected. If you ask, people will tell you they try to live a good life and therefore feel that God should let them into heaven. The thing about trying to live a good life is that we aren’t perfect. We sin and therefore get infected by it. God is holy and perfect. The only way a sin-infected person can have anything to do with Him is to first have the virus taken away. That’s what Jesus did on the cross. Just ask Him for the vaccine – it’s called forgiveness.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How is your isolation going? Leave your comments and questions below.

A Tale Of Contradictions

We are all supposed to practice social distancing right now, but there are lots of contradictions.

A Tale of Contradictions

The other day I needed something from a store … well, maybe “need” is too strong a word.

I’d ordered a part to help me livestream online, but when it was delivered I discovered that it didn’t come with a power source.

Do you remember commercials for kids’ toys years ago? At the end of the commercials the announcer would say, “batteries not included”. Well, it turns out I ordered a product like that. It ran on DC current or rechargeable batteries but came with neither.

I headed straight for a store that sold both.

The store was practicing social distancing – which I completely understood – but there were obvious contradictions. 

I was first asked to stand in a line outside the store, marked with tape every six feet. 

I happened to be the only one in the line and, judging by the number of cars in the lot, there were probably only about ten customers in the store. 

In front of me was a store employee, standing a good six feet from me. He informed me how my shopping experience was going to go.

First there would be no cash, no paper receipts and, when I did enter the store, I would have an advisor who would assist me with my shopping. 

Okay, that was fine. 

The employee asked me what I was looking for and when I told him, I got the impression that what I wanted wasn’t really worth his effort. 

He said the two employees in the store that could help me were both busy with customers, so I would have to wait. 

In the mean time, he asked me for details about what I wanted. When I told him I needed a battery, he looked it up on his phone and promptly exclaimed they did not have that battery in the store.  

Unfazed, I replied, “Then I need a power adapter.”  

He wanted to know more about the adaptor so I pulled out the user guide and read the specifications to him. 

He apparently didn’t believe me, so he entered my six-foot bubble and asked if he could have the guide. He gave it back after he’d touched it with both his hands.

Armed with information, he went inside the store and several minutes later emerged with a box and another employee.

This other employee also got inside the six-foot perimeter to ask me more questions. He also touched my guide and had his hands all over the product they brought out to me. 

Once I decided to purchase the adaptor – and the possible accompanying coronavirus all over it – we went inside the store to complete the purchase. 

I decided to pay with my watch since I wouldn’t have to touch anything. It worked perfectly. 

I was told they were going to email me the receipt – perfect! But I had to agree to that by selecting “yes” on the key pad – crazy! I couldn’t do that without touching the screen with my finger or picking up the attached pen to select “yes”. 

Are you kidding me? How many others had touched those things? 

Their measures were strict but not consistent. Their contradictions made me want to wash my hands immediately … but there was no sanitizer anywhere!

Here’s the thing: We can find contradictions everywhere in life. We contradict ourselves when we say people need to be tolerant, but then we are intolerant of those who don’t agree with us. We can’t get away from contradictions. But God never contradicts Himself. When you align your life with Him, you can be sure you won’t be disappointed. 

That’s Life! 

Paul

Question: What’s a contradiction that has bugged you lately? Leave your comments and questions below.

My Days Are Getting Longer

The best part of early spring is how the days just keep getting longer and longer.

My Days Are Getting Longer

One thing I really like after the time change is how much later it stays light out in the evenings. It’s a big deal for me. 

For people who lived before there was electricity, they must have been ecstatic. They had so much more time to do things, to get things done. During one part of the year they would be shutting things down around 5 pm, but as the days got longer they could extend their work to 7 or 8 pm and later.

I remember when we lived in Edmonton and in the summer we could still be on the golf course at 10 pm! 

There were, however, some downsides … like when we ran summer camps. We wanted to end each day with a camp fire, but there is something lost when you’re sitting around the fire with the sun still high in the sky! 

Though the daylight is now extending later, I’m finding that my days are getting longer as well.

During this time when people are working from home, some not working at all, and others practicing self-isolation or forced isolation, there is less work being accomplished. 

More and more stores and businesses are restricting hours or closing their doors altogether. 

There is less that we can do. The normally busy parents, chauffeuring their children from one club or activity to another, have all stopped. 

For many people their days of work and activity are less. The light is increasing, but we have more time on our hands. … But that’s not what I’m experiencing right now. 

As the sun-filled skies linger longer into the evening, I find that my work is keeping pace with the ever-increasing light of day.

Some of the reasons my days are getting longer is that I’m having to learn new things right now to address the current COVID-19 conditions we are facing. 

There are also a number of different tasks or jobs I’m having to add to my day. 

I’m feeling a little like a green garbage bag. You know, there is always a little more you can stuff into one of them … the plastic stretches to make room.

It’s a huge contrast to when I’m on vacation. On vacation, I get up and decide what the one big thing is that I will do that day – maybe go to the beach, or hike a trail to a hidden lake. Everything else in the day then supports that main activity in one way or another. 

Right now, unfortunately, I need to make sure my list is constantly in front of me and that it is up-to-date so I don’t miss something important. 

Right now, all I know is that there is a part of me that wishes the days were getting shorter.

Here’s the thing: Whether your days are getting longer or have been shortened for the time being, be sure that on your list for each day is time with God. It is easy to get busy with work or busy with other things. At this time especially, don’t neglect time with God … and pray that He puts a halt to the coronavirus. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How will you make sure God is a big part of your day at this time? Leave your comments and questions below.

Livestream – Keeping the Service Live

In my last post, I talked about how we came to livestream our service (check that out here). It happened much sooner than I thought it would.

Livestream -Keeping the Service Live

I have a YouTube channel (check it out here), where I post drone videos. We didn’t want to spend a lot of money on live-streaming because we weren’t sure we’d need it for more than a few weeks. Since our goal was to keep it cheap, my free YouTube channel was the perfect solution for our streaming service and platform.

But having a streaming service was just the first step. 

I could easily film myself in front of my laptop with its built-in webcam, but there was no way we could stream a service that way. 

I did have an old video camera that I haven’t used much lately. In fact, since the iPhone started taking good pictures and videos, I haven’t used that camera at all.

Fortunately it had a HDMI video port on it. 

If right about now you are thinking that this is getting a little too technical, that is exactly what I was thinking to myself last Saturday morning. 

I started looking at how-to videos on my computer, and the morning quickly turned into the afternoon.

I learned a lot from all those videos. One thing I learned was that you can’t just plug your camera with a HDMI port into your computer and see the picture. You need something to transform the camera feed into something the computer can make visual.  

That reality had me drive downtown to a store to pick up a cam link – probably one of only two in the whole city. But I got it and it wasn’t too expensive.

I remember driving back home from the store and thinking, “What if this doesn’t work with my camera?” … because the 14-year-old kid, who told me about the cam link on his instructional video, said that it only worked with some cameras.

I was fully prepared that my 10-year-old camera – almost as old as the kid in the video – would not work with this miracle connector.

When I got home I found some free software on the internet that I installed on my computer to communicate with the camera feed. I plugged it all in and it was one of those “praise the Lord” moments. The picture from the camera was visible on my laptop. 

I was amazed and grateful.

It felt like those times when you didn’t study the night before a big test, and felt bad, nervous and pessimistic that you would even pass. And then, out of the blue, beyond any possibility, your teacher was sick and the test was postponed. 

That’s how I felt. It was great.

… Then it was back to the online tutorial videos to figure out how to connect this new software with my YouTube streaming. 

I must have watched one online instructional video about fifteen times in order to finally put all the steps together and be able to livestream on my YouTube channel. 

The next day, we did it for real and the results were great. Our first livestream went off without a glitch!  

… Now we have to repeat it this week.

Here’s the thing: When you have gathered together all the equipment for livestream, you still have to learn how to put it all together. When you place your faith in Christ, that is only the start. Next you have to begin the learning curve of being a disciple. Don’t stop at faith; keep growing in that faith.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you bought that you never took the time to learn how to properly use? Leave your comments and questions below.

I knew It Would Come To This

Last Monday I knew that we would have to cancel our church service. Even before the NBA announced it was postponing their season, I knew it would come down to this. 

I Knew It would comer to this

I just didn’t think it would happen as fast as it did.

This week has been a whirlwind of landmark announcements, precautions, instructions and down right fear. 

For the fear part we don’t have to look any further than the hoarding of toilet paper that happened this past week. If people contract COVID-19 they will get a high fever, cough and respiratory symptoms … and with all that toilet paper, they may also get a clogged bathroom throne! 

As the week progressed, I thought it might be good for me to think of a way to stream our church service to our congregation. As I said, I knew it would come to that eventually, but I thought I had a couple of weeks to work out the details. 

On Wednesday I signed up for streaming services on YouTube. I already had a YouTube channel to which I post drone videos that I make. All I had to do was click on the request and in twenty-four hours I was able to livestream through my account. 

… But I was just doing that because at some point – maybe in a week or two – I thought it would be necessary. 

I was wrong. As the weekend approached, there were more and more health suggestions and warnings. 

By Friday afternoon, I knew that we didn’t have a week to prepare – we now had one day!

Along with securing a livestream platform on YouTube, I also had downloaded a piece of streaming software, which I hadn’t yet installed on my computer. I wasn’t even sure what it did. 

Now I knew I was going to have to find out more about this software and actually use it. But maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself … 

It was clear that no one was going to force us to close our doors on Sunday. There were, however, recommendations on the size of gatherings organizations should limit themselves to. 

I couldn’t help but think of all the people out shopping in stores, stripping the shelves bare of essentials and non-essentials, purchasing what they “needed” while putting themselves at greater risk of catching or passing on the virus to other shoppers. 

People who were shopping this week were probably in closer contact with others than if they were attending a church service.

Though our church was under the size limit recommendations laid out by the health officials, I knew that there would be many people who, just to feel safe, would not want to come to church.

There were also a good number of seniors in the church who probably needed to avoid being in contact with people.

What went through my thoughts was to hold our service but offer a livestream for those who would stay home. 

That ended up being the plan we executed. How we put the livestream together, I’ll share with you in my next post.

Here’s the thing: Big changes can happen quickly, quicker than you expect or anticipate. If a face-to-face meeting with Christ comes quicker than you expect or anticipate, you will really want to be prepared for that meeting. The preparation is straight forward: place your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and make Him the boss of your life. That’s what you need to do to be ready for the unexpected. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What unexpected decisions did you have to make this last week? Leave your comments and questions below.