Povey Prattle

I bought a packet of Lay’s “Classic” potato chips (crisps) this morning. The prose on the back side of the packet was stunning, viz: “It all starts with farm grown potatoes, cooked and seasoned to perfection. So every LAY’S (r) potato chip is perfectly crispy and delicious. Happiness in every bite (r)” Wow – the potatoes are “farm grown”.  What a shocker!  Wow – there is Happiness in every bite (r)”.   Now I know why I am sometimes unhappy. It’s because I do not eat sufficient amounts of Lay’s “Classic” potato chips (crisps).

On Thursday evening, May 2nd, I was with my dear friends Ron and Charlotte Thompson who live in the Gulf Gate area of SRQ.  I met Ron and Char five years ago  through the agency of my St.. James's Cambridge secretary Judy Beers. Judy knew them in Wakefield, MA.  (I often bless Judy for this introduction).  Also with us was Ron's sister Karen and her husband Den who moved to SRQ about a year ago. This morning I had breakfast (and a long and fruitful conversation) with Tom Dillon from Pittsfield MA. Tom, a Roman Catholic, would often attend liturgies at St. Stephen's (Episcopal) Parish in Pittsfield where I was Rector.  He now has a second home here in Bradenton, FL and we try to get together when he is in the area. This afternoon I had along Skype conversation with one of my very best friends Joe Schorge. Joe hails from Cheshire MA.  He and his parents and siblings were part of the St. Stephen's community.  Joe has lived and...

For my sins I have used a few afternoons to watch the “scandal” T.V. shows on American T.V.  Truthfully, I need to know what folks are watching, hearing and reading if I wish to get out of my elitist cultural bubble and get some street cred. in my ministries. (Lord above - that sounds pompous!). These cheaply made shows specialise in paternity tests, in cheating husbands or wives, and in the abuse (physical or sexual) of minors.. Everything gets resolved with a polygraph or DNA tests. If only life were so simple and uncomplicated! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon T.V. has the infamous Maury Povitch and Jerry Springer shows which should not be taken too seriously. Both Springer and Povitch specialise in the salacious aspects of life (but I think that Jerry Springer has his tongue firmly in his cheek). Then there is Steve Lycos (former Marine and Policeman) – who now has his own show, though he w...

Hip  hip hoo RAIN!

  Penne had her annual check up this morning. As we entered the “Animal Medical Clinic” she began to tremble all over, even as she wagged her tail.  When we went through the door leading to the examining room she bounded up to the scale at the end of the corridor, and hopped on it as if this were an everyday routine.  She weighed in at 36.9 lbs, “perfect”: said the vet, for her age and size.  Our regular vet, Dr. Steve K. is very sick so we had a locum, Dr. Barbara McN.  I must say (even though I like Dr. K) I felt that Dr. McN had more simpatico for Penne   Penne had her three years Rabies Vaccination, her annual Leptospirosis and Bordetella Vaccinations, and her two years Parvo Vaccination.  She did not flinch as the Doctor administered these shots, and she retained her dignity and poise when the Veterinarian did something rather inelegant at her south end.  The Doctor determined (thank goodness) that my fabulous dog ...

Toll in Bangladesh building collapse climbs to 290 Print JULHAS ALAM, AP Fri Apr 26, 9:21 AM UTC   Bangladeshi rescue workers carry a garment worker who was pulled alive from... SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Crews bored deeper Friday into the wreckage of a garment-factory building that collapsed two days earlier, hoping for miracle rescues that would prevent the staggering death toll from rising much higher, as angry relatives of the missing clashed with police. Some of those trapped under fallen concrete in the Rana Plaza building were still alive, rescue workers said, but they were so badly hurt and weakened that they will need to be extricated within a few hours if they are to survive. Rescue workers had to cut off Mussamat Anna's mangled right hand to pull the 18-year-old garment worker free from the debris Thursday night. "First a machine fell over my hand and I was crushed under the debris. ... Then the roof collapsed over me," she told an Associate...

At long last I discovered why the current Congress and President induced fiscal crisis is called “sequestration”. It means that funds which have been approved in a budget (and God knows when the USA had a budget) could be sequestered by the treasury, and thus not released for spending, in effect making huge cuts in government expenditures. This mad cap idea was agreed in the Budget Control Act of 2011.   The thought was that the sequestration idea was so crazy, and the automatic  ($85 billion) cuts so unthinkable, that the Senate, House and President would come to agreement for a budget for 2013. (It was a bit like the President Obama, House Majority Leader Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Reid saying “we’ll get into a car together, set the cruise control to 85 mph, but there will be no hands on the steering wheel or foot on the brake until we are about to drive over a cliff, and at that point one of us will grab the wheel and step on the brakes”) ...