Where's The Glue?

Several years ago I worked in new home construction. I worked in several new homes with many of the same contractors. Many of the homes had the same tile setter on the job.

I do not remember his name but I do know that he considered himself quite a thinker. He would wax philosophical for hours on your time if you were not careful.

He told me that he was going to write a book some day. The book would be about laying tile and then expand into many other life lessons.

He said he would begin with this premise. He said there are only four things that hold tile in place.

The first line of defense in holding the tile in place is glue. The glue is designed to hold the tile firmly, right where you put it.

He said that sometimes, for whatever reason the glue fails to hold the tile in place. If the glue fails then you have the grout around the edges of the tile.

He said that often the tile is held in place only because it's grouted to all the other tiles are around it. Everybody working together. That makes sense to me.

Next he said sometimes both the glue and the grout fail in their task of holding the tile in place. Then he said that he depends on gravity to hold that tile in its place.

He told me that as a tile setter he depends on all three of those things to hold those tiles right where he puts them. First the glue, second the grout and third the gravity.

As he finishes the job he told me that he always says a little prayer over the finished product. He liked to say that since he spent most of his day on his knees he might as well be praying anyway.

That was the final ingredient to holding the tile in place. If all else fails, he was trusting God to keep the tile in place

I have always loved eat breakfast early in the morning. Most mornings I'm up pretty early and I let Kelly Jo and Odie rest as long as they can or will.

It is very difficult to fix breakfast for myself without completely disturbing Odie. Her bunk is directly across from the kitchen counter and right next to the refrigerator.

Because of that, I have been out of the habit of eating breakfast for several years. I know that my metabolism functions better if I eat breakfast so I have been trying to get back in the habit of eating breakfast every morning.

I still do not cook anything in the microwave or on the stove. But I have Kelly Jo layout all the things I need for cereal, and I can prepare that without making much of a disturbance.

I noticed something about cereal boxes that is different from what it used to be. When I pour the cereal from the box into the bowl, the bag is loose in the box and tries to fall out in the bowl.

I thought that maybe I was remembering things wrong. I remember pouring bowls of cereal as a kid and the bag was stuck to the bottom of the box. Kelly Jo assured me that I was recalling correctly.

In fact, when the bag was empty you had remove the bag to get to the toy in the bottom. Today, if there was a toy the bag, the Corn Flakes and the toy would all fall out in your bowl and all over the counter.

I just have one question. What happened to the glue? No, I do have a second question. How much money did Kellogg's save by eliminating one drop of glue for every box of cereal?

I met a man a couple of years ago that works for the company that makes the machines that manufactures plastic water bottles. He had some great inside information.

He told me how many millions of dollars per year that one company saved by switching to a shorter thread on the bottlecap of plastic water bottles. They also save multiplied millions per year by going to a thinner plastic.

I can understand that. I suppose it's also less plastic for the environment. So they are going "green" as they say and also making more money for shareholders. That's all good.

I suppose that Kellogg heard about this at some type of corporate get together, and decided to save a little money themselves. I am all for saving money, the Lord knows we could all use a little more.

But it seems like the cereal boxes are already about half the size they used to be and five times the price they used to be.

I might be willing to pay about five cents more per box for just a little bit of glue.

Just a little glue would keep the fat guy from pouring cereal all over the counter in the dark. Come on, please bring back the glue.

Glue is the only thing we have in this situation. There is no grout involved and gravity is working against me. What about God?

Although I believe God is interested in every area of my life, I am not so sure He is going to keep cereal from pouring all over my counter and floor if I don't have the sense to do it myself.

It is nothing a little glue on the bottom of the bag sticking to the bottom of the box would not fix.

Davy