Bad News, Good News

First the bad news: People have commented that my oldest grandson looks like me.
Now the good news: In one year he has gone from being one of the smaller players on the basket ball team to one of the taller players, and he's not finished growing.
And he'll have no trouble attracting a wonderful, beautiful Godly woman.
Right, Mary?
Mary: RIGHT!!
(His late grandmother was also a wonderful, beautiful Godly woman.)

Two of my three grandsons, along with my late wife Lynne.

Slaying the Jabberwocky

Alice Kingsley: I try to believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Count them, Alice. One, there are drinks that make you shrink. Two, there are foods that make you grow. Three, animals can talk. Four, cats can disappear. Five, there is a place called Underland. Six, I can slay the Jabberwocky.

Night owl report:The reason I put the Jabberwocky quote from the Tim Burton "Alice" film on my time line is because my extreme night owl habits have moderated. Not long ago, I would have thought that impossible.
With small changes in our routine, I have gotten up early and stayed up all day. Remember, early for me is before 2 in the afternoon.
I am amazed at how far a little sunshine therapy goes. It's been several weeks since I've had a chance to sit or walk in the sunshine, but the little bit that seeps through our windows has been effective in rousing me.
Now I find myself not only getting up, but staying up all day. Of course, this means I have to go sleep earlier. One night I drifted off at 1:30 am. That might be a record.
With more daylight hours, I can do more projects per day done, instead of bailing out at 2 in the afternoon, and galloping to the bank before they close at 6 pm.
Today I got up with the sun at 8 am. I am still up. Weird, but nice.
Please don't misunderstand. I like being a night owl. On Christmas Eve, after driving to Indiana to visit my children and their families, Mary and I started back home around midnight. There was a fierce snowstorm. We arrived home at 6 am. I went to bed at 6:30. I saved a ton of money and a day of hassle by NOT having to spend the night at a motel. I can do that.
I also have no need to sit out on the front porch, soaking up sunshine and being social. I have no desire to fit into a day shift world, and it would be too much work to straighten them out. My standards are too high.
Actually, there are is long list of impossibilities that have been made possible, through God's grace, and I am hopeful that God may reveal the steps for a couple of more changes.
Hence the line "6 impossible things before breakfast." Reversing Irritable Bowel Syndrome and the Jabberwocky - Short Term Memory Loss are my next targets, with God's help. Surprisingly positive changes have already happened with the addition of bone broth and egg yolks to our regimen.
God is good. Stay tuned.

RELAX! #rmdc

RELAX! God's got this!

Photo by Mary. #rmdc means I didn't write it, but I'm collecting it. RMD is is the acronym for Rev. Mad Dog. #rmdo means I wrote it.

Weird Seaweed Effects

My latest concoction, kelp powder butter, is working. It improves the flexibility of my bladder immediately so that I can sleep much longer between bathroom breaks. I am certain of it's effectiveness because I have run out of it several times and my late night bathroom habits quickly go back to one to three hours. Weird.
That's three effects for three seaweed products. Wakame for weight loss, kelp chips and ginger candy for acid reflux, kelp powder butter for a happy nighttime bladder. Like I said, weird. But nice. God is good.

Changing Expectations

Changed expectations. The last time I lost weight was before 1990 when Standard Motor was Ristance in Bremen Indiana. I was moved to the new job of weighing all the scrap for every operator because too much was not being reported. Ristance made up a new job and put a bi-vocational minister in charge.
It took me 6 hours of heavy physical work in heavy humidity and 100 degree indoor temperatures to weigh all the scrap. I lost so much weight, my late wife intervened and told me to stop it. People were coming up to her and asking if I had cancer.
Later Ristance went back to every man reporting his own scrap. My unique job was eliminated and I went back to being a line operator and then retiring in 2010. By this point I had slowly gained 70 pounds.
After losing weight for the first time in 25 years, 15 pounds in a month or two, I now wonder why I haven't lost any weight for a week. 
Like I said, changed expectations.
By the way, I love my weight loss routine. I eat one normal meal a day, plus a snack or two. I almost always have between 1/4 pound to 1/2 pound of meat, which includes double quarter pounders from McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King. I also have home made low carb desserts daily of either cherry custard pie, or bread custard pudding with low carb ice cream and Extra Creamy Whipped Cream. Breakfast is coffee with heavy cream. No, I don't feel hungry.
The catalyst for the weight loss was when I added Wakame to my just before bed snack. To make it palatable, I add heavy cream to it.
I feel very little hunger. I feel best when I don't eat for the major part of the day. Frankly, I love this routine. I've done it for a couple of years, except for the Wakame Sea Weed. I predict I will probably continue this from now on.

Genetics and Influence

Just when I think my Disney Princess daughter Wendelyn Daly is a clone of her angelic mother, the Dittmer sarcasm comes zinging through. The combination makes it even more effective.
Likewise, surprisingly frequent angelic streaks of my clone Rebecca Taberski I lay at the feet of her mother Lynne's genetics and influence. God's hand at combining genes and influence in our children is frighteningly amazing.
Lynne did have a dark side. She would play the role of good cop, bad cop in our shared parenting responsibilities.
A quietly whispered threat of guilt, shame, or even physical consequences into the ear of a child can be a powerful motivator. Lynne was not afraid to use it.
She had other faults. She was not perfect. But...
when someone observes moments of responsible behavior in me, it was probably Lynne's influence. Thanks, Lynne.
Since our family is discussing favorites, I thought I'd mention a similar whispering incident of my late mother.
My brother Tim Dittmer had taken up the guitar, but seemed to lose interest. After talking with Tim, she had bought him a much better guitar, but she worried that my playing Tim's guitar might dampen his enthusiasm. I was watching intently (I was obsessed with music!) as she handed him the guitar. As she left the room, she whispered in my ear, "If you touch his guitar, I will break your fingers."
I have taught guitar. One student of mine ended up playing like Charro, a wild crazy blonde Flamingo guitarist. But I neither own nor play a guitar.
By the way, Tim went on to become an excellent, professional level guitarist.
Thanks, Mom.

Obseesed with Sunset Times

My wife Mary loves to take sunset and sky pictures!

Since I am now an ardent student of sunset times, I have learned that sunset times change much slower in the winter than in the summer at this latitude.
Sunset for this town is at 5:10 pm today on November today on November 17. On the shortest day of the year, Winter Solstice, the sunset time is 5:05, a difference in a month of only 5 minutes.
It seems in the Spring and Fall the sunset times change at least a minute a day. I keep track of these times daily so Mary and I can be where we want to be at sunset. I learned while tracking these times that knowing one day what the sunset time is not necessarily valid several days into the future.
Looking forward to Daylight Savings Time, not because I think it's a good idea (I don't) but because sunset will be at 7:30 PM.
My daughter Rebecca mentioned that one of the Equator countries the sunset and sunrise times are 5:30, year round. That sounds 1. weird. 2. boring. 3. nice.
By the way, the Google Weather app on my Android phone has daily sunset times. Who knew?

Losing Weight on Wendy's Baconators

I'm in new territory on weight loss! 305 was my former set point. I weighed 298 today.
Observations: I never had a weight problem until after I retired.
I stopped gaining weight when I went to heavy cream in my coffee a few years? ago.
The heavy cream in my coffee allowed me to have an empty stomach, which encouraged me to run. I found out later this is called Intermittent Fasting. Hunger is greatly reduced.
I finally started to lose weight when I added Wakame seaweed to my evening regimen.

My evening meal is normal, MY NORMAL! It might be the double patty Baconator with Baconator fries from Wendy's, or 2 pieces of Extra Mostest Bestest Pizza from Little Caesar's, or fried chicken livers with mashed potatoes, extra gravy, turnip greens, and biscuits from Cracker Barrel. Added into my evening meal is Mary's leftovers (she makes me finish them!)
I also immensely enjoy salads, and salads allow me to feel more alert in the evening. But I don't lose weight on salads, and after the last episode of food poisoning, I'm cutting back to having salads on special occasions when eating out.
Further observations about fat burning metabolism:
In the last couple of years I accidentally switched myself over to a fat burning metabolism.
It is a very enjoyable state to be in. I can postpone eating to whatever time I choose. I do not wake up starving.
This happy accident occurred because, always loving heavy cream in my coffee, I decided to make heavy cream a part of my daily regimen.
Part of what aided that switch was the decision of Walmart, and later Kroger, to Ultra Pasteurize heavy cream. My frugal nature kept me from enjoying heavy cream in my coffee not only because it was expensive, but because it would so easily spoil. But heating the cream to 180 degrees rather than the normal 160 degrees made it much more stable in the refrigerator.
What also helped the switch was that Walmart charged half the price of Kroger.
The amount Kroger charges for cream is robbery, twice as much as Walmart! They basically get the cream for free by stripping the healthy fat out of the milk and selling the fat free milk to the fat free dip sticks for the same price as whole milk.
Now I'm glad to report that Mary is also switched over to a fat burning metabolism.
Her happy accident is possibly because of two changes. She takes an herb for her blood sugar called goat's rue. And when she wakes up, she has a piece of Adam Mathews New York style cheesecake, a low carb dessert that Mary has had for breakfast since she was out of the hospital. I can only get this at Walmart.

I know that she has switched over because she slept in today. It is now 5:30 in the afternoon, and she isn't hungry yet. Like the old me, for the last 7 years, Mary always woke up hungry.
Tough assignment for her, having Adam Mathews cheesecake every day when she wakes up.
God is so good. I thank him for lucky accidents.

Update: 

Thought I was done with research and I would be able to write more, but small changes made to our regimens have had remarkable results.Mary's blood sugar appears to be improving. AND
I am losing weight.
Both of us were accidentally and rather painlessly switched to fat burning metabolisms.
Now I'm wondering if memory loss and brain damage can be halted and reversed. AND
If a life time of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, permanently worsened by a life saving bowel surgery, can be reversed.
Using a regimen is not a cure, since stopping the regimen would bring back the symptoms.
But the tediousness of the regimen would be far better than the alternative.
Will God allow me to discover this? We will see. He is a generous and loving God.

The Great Gift of Clarity

God has made my life into a living Parable, and your life also. I see this clearly. Some day God will give you this great gift of clarity also.
You can not be saved unless you can first clearly see that you are lost.
You can not receive Jesus as your Savior until you can clearly see that He, and only He, can save you.
Never underestimate the amount of trouble we can get ourselves into when we ignore God, and remain in stubborn, ignorant darkness.
Do not be ashamed or afraid of the Name of Jesus.
The Name of Jesus brings light.
The Name of Jesus defeats the Enemy.
Embrace the foolishness of preaching which brings the Name of Jesus and light to the worldly wise man who walks in ignorant, stubborn darkness.
Clarity, Threads of Grace, and Riding Shotgun With Jesus

Salad Win-Win

This post is actually 3 Facebook posts combined, since they seem to speak of the same subject.
The last time I had a salad obsession I ate salads at every opportunity for 6 months. I lost interest when I didn't lose weight and when I didn't gain weight on large portions of meat.
Recently I've tweaked the salad regimen by adding wakame bits and sun dried tomato slices, which cranks up the enjoyment (like I needed that?!) I also add bacon bits to counter the light seaweed taste of the wakame. The chewability gives it a meat like feel. My salad obsession has exploded back.
The main motivations of eating salads, besides just the crunchy factor, is the feeling of well being, similar to the intermittent fasting. Since I accidentally trained my body to burn fat instead of carbs, my hunger pangs are very mild, unnoticeable if I am busy or occupied. A salad is one way to keep myself joyfully occupied, even when others are eating other things in front of me. 
The wakame and dried tomato slices are also surprisingly filling. If I should find myself in the unlikely dilemma of losing too much weight (knowing how my body tenaciously, with kicking and screaming, holds on to every globule of fat, I think it unlikely) I will have to drag my self away from salads intermittently and load up on double whoppers. with bacon. For me, it sounds like a win-win.

Next post: After two big meals on Friday and Saturday (thanks, Pablo Montez for last nights delicious dinner!) I am down 4 pounds. The difference to my latest salad obsession is Wakame sea weed flakes, which are reputed to help with weight loss. I think the Wakame flakes have calmed my body into not panicking when I eat less. 
To help with the mild fishy odor, I sprinkle a teaspoon of flakes on the bottom of a bowl. I put in dashes of soy sauce, sriracha, liquid smoke, and Ranch, and sprinkle bacon bits in, then add salad ingredients. including sun dried tomato strips.
I realize I am not normal. I get obsessive and compulsive. I really, really love this salad. I will be able to take the Wakame flakes with me when we eat out and add it to a soup or salad when I need to eat light, for a long nights drive ahead.

Final post: God is good.

My body's weight loss mechanism has 2 very stubborn set points, 305 pounds and 300 pounds.

Last week I broke, for the umpteenth time, the 305 set point. But I was delighted to see that my body did not take emergency fat building powers. I hovered as much below the set point as I did above.

4 PM is my low point for the day. Today at 4 PM I weighed 299 pounds, a historic low, since I've been married to Mary and retired, two simultaneous and life changing events.

Wakame sea weed, my latest change to my diet, has a reputation for aiding weight loss. My experience seems to verify that. It appears to help set points. 

It also helps with my main goal of eating and not eating to feel better. (I practice intermittent fasting). I am also enjoying other benefits, such as more available time and less expense.

May I say it again?

God is good.

I Am What I Am

Sometimes my sermons are stories and my stories are sermons. I am what I am.

Useful Quotes from Abe and Will

I sent a friend a couple of useful quotes: 
I never met a nap I didn't like. - Will Rogers. 
Don't believe everything you read on the internet. - Abraham Lincoln

Thought's About Future Book

This is rough draft material that I'm working on to put in my blog and future book Clarity, Threads of Grace, and Riding Shot Gun With Jesus. I thought you might enjoy it as is. Some of it has been posted separately as wisdom poetry.

If we would know who we are, we must know who Our Father is. If we would know Our Father is, we must look to the Cross. 8/26/15

When I clarify who God is,  I glorify Him.  8/26/15

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ Isaiah 65:1 NIV

Never underestimate God's ability to orchestrate the smallest detail. 9/18

Pray for specifics. God has an eye for detail.

Pray for the impossible. God doesn’t mind a challenge.

Women were made in the image of God, as well as men. Women are not alien creatures.

God can be a fierce warrior as well as a gentle shepherd. His children are made in His Image. Men who callously ignore this fact about women risk injuries that are life changing, or even life ending. Ever heard of the scissors of Lorena Bobbitt? the burning bed? the tent peg that ended Sisera? as Willie Nelson learned, before he was sewn up in the sheets and beaten with a broomstick, you have to sleep sometime.

God is not a puppet, nor is He a button that you push to turn on the power. He is not a Force to bend to our will. He is a Person with a Plan. You are part of that plan. Learn what it is, and don’t try to take over.


Find out what He would delight in giving you, the gifts that would further His plan rather than hindering it. Talk to Him. Find out Who He is, and what He is doing. He has a warehouse full of gifts with your name on it, but you haven’t asked for them.

(this next section are about VW Bug adventures.)

From my Facebook friend Jim German: Hey Mike Dittmer....scrolling thru and saw your post about a vw......I seem to remember....vaguely...10 college kids in your vw one night at ONC 3 in the front....u drove, your brother in the middle..not sure who was in shot gun. Don Sutherland, Bob Duteau, Galen Bennet, me and 2 other guys in the back Gambrelski was behind the back seat.....stopped traffic when we got out ar the ham and Egger downtown K3.....good times great memories

Michael DeMint was not there, but he was there for the time the freshman decided to challenge Hill's Hall, but first they personally recruited all the guys from Gary, which somehow included Phil Gambrel who said he was from Gary to avoid initiation. Michael was there because he tried, along with several other guys, to give me a swirlly. Didn't succeed, but it put him on the Call list. Funny thing, when the guys came roaring out of Hill's Hall, the only guys who didn't bolt were the guys from Gary, including Michael, and it wasn't our idea. Hill's Hall did a lot of chest beating, but nobody was touched except me. The guy who was wrestling champ took me down in half a second. I gave up, but when he wouldn't let up, I used the same technique that I used when they tried to give me a swirly, pinching extremely painful pressure points (nuts, ears, Achilles heels, solar plexus) The wrestling guy jumped away like a scalded cat and said I cheated. I saw Michael, Joe, (from Gary) and Phil all surrounded, but after the wrestling guy walked off, the event dissipated.

Thank you, Jim German, for that recollection. It confirms that Tim Dittmer was on the stick shift. You left out the part where we all lined up beside the car outside the Dunkin Donuts while two Sheriff's Deputies counted (we could read their lips) as the 9 of you guys got out, then scattered before we could be arrested. The deputies were laughing so hard they almost fell of their chairs. The average weight of the 10 guys was 178 pounds. It was 4 in front. I like math. (boys and girls, do not try this at home!)