Povey Prattle

Behold my shiny new kitchen faucet which was installed today by my favourite handyman. He trades under the moniker "Meyer Makes House Calls" "Behold" I thought, but for reasons which are beyond my ken I have been unable to upload pictures to this blog since I upgraded to Windows 10. But please imagine a shiny new faucet, made by Glacier Bay, and putting the rest of my kitchen to shame. David Meyer is personable and skilful. He installed the new faucet, replaced a broken aerator in my bathroom sink, and fixed a wonky drain plug in said sink. The materials cost $108. His labour charge for 1.5 hours was $65. I am well pleased. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For reasons which are not entirely clear (in my mind) - I decided to buy a "Tablet" on Tuesday this week. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought that I might be traveling soon, and that a Tablet would be useful. (...

He describes himself as a "Master Tinkerer". His name is David, and his 'phone # is 941 993 9756 He was recommended to me by a St. Boniface Church, Siesta Key, FL parishioner He has tinkered for me, e.g. he has fiddled around to take care of those fiddly home-owner tasks/ repairs, for which I do not have the skill, tools, or knowledge to put right; but for which I do not need a contractor or even a specialist handyman. (An example: The pull chain for the overhead fan in my bedroom snapped, and the short end retreated into the housing. David knew how to take care of this, and he went one better. He suggested, and I agreed to the retro-fitting of a gizmo in the casing, so that the fan can be turned on and off, or the speed changed, with a remote control. That's particularly handy during the wee hours of the night, when the air being blown around gets too chilly - I can turn the fan off without leaving my bed.) [Now, if only there could be a device to ...

Don't let this happen to you! I was preparing a light supper meal at about 8:00 last evening, Tuesday 4th August 2015. It was to have included a Morning Star Brand "Spicy Black Bean Burger", a few "heirloom" cherry tomatoes, and some Paisley Farms Brand "Five Bean Salad". That was the plan. It was the plan until I dropped the glass jar containing 35.5 fluid ounces of the Five Bean Salad. Oh woe. Oh misery. There were shards of glass, hundreds of beans, and an indecent amount of fluid all over my kitchen floor. I was too tired to effect a complete clean-up, so I swept up as much of the glass shards and beans as I could, and covered the rest of the mess with some old towels. The real clean up took place this morning. My entire kitchen floor was covered with a sticky mess. After walking the dog (twice); feeding all three animals; and having a bit of toast for breakfast, I set to work with an old fashioned mop and pail. I had to make two...

Grace, Mack and I left the Austin, TX Little League "Banditos" team party at about 10:15 p.m. last Saturday. We managed to get back onto Interstate 4, at junction 60, a miracle in itself since I, the navigator, failed to see the entrance. We got off I-4 at exit 62 and headed towards the town of Celebration, where our Hotel was situated. So far, so good - until we came to an intersection at which the two passengers opted for a right turn, but the driver was sure that we should turn left. After a mile or so, said driver conceded that we were heading in the wrong direction. She took an apparently legal U-Turn, whereupon we saw the lights, and heard the siren from a Sheriff's Deputy's Car. We stopped, and waited for the worst. The Deputy approached our car. It did not look good. Two African-Americans in the front seats, and an Anglo-American (me) in the back. Were we under suspicion for some nefarious drug deal? NOT A BIT! The gracious and polit...

Regular readers know that I went over to Celebration (the Disney inspired "Perfect community") last weekend, to see my friend Grace Jones and members of her family. The journey was via Interstate 75 and Interstate 4. As I drive north on I-75 my body and mind tensed up. There was heavy traffic. And there was those 10% of drivers who believe that it is their right and duty to weave in and out of the three lanes "to get there faster". I was very tense (and that's not conducive to wise driving). Then it was time to drive east on I-4. Oh hell! I-4 is not the road to hell, it is hell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (I have two definitions of hell. One is an eternity of being on I-4, with next to no gas/petrol in the tank, and NEVER being able to get off. The other is an eternity of being at Miami International Airport and NEVER being able to find the correct terminal or gate.) ----------------------...

For reason which are beyond my ken, I could not upload the photo's from yesterday's reunion to Blogger. I have posted five of them (individually) on Facebook.

I will, for as long as God gives me breath, be grateful for the friendship I have with Dr. Grace Jones. I met Grace, (and her former husband Chauncey), with their children Elizabeth ("Libby") and Derrick when I became the Rector at St. Stephen's in Pittsfield, MA. At that time Grace was the Assistant to the President of Berkshire Community College. When he resigned (under pressure) Grace resigned too. She then worked in the School Department in Pittsfield - it was not a happy match, so she quit. She came to see me and said that since she planned to take time-out to re-assess her career choices she would also have time to serve her church - St. Stephen's. Thus she became the Junior Warden of the parish. She and I found a common purpose in our service at St. Stephen's. Grace went on to bigger and better things! She was appointed as a vice-President for multi-cultural affairs at the State University of New York at Oneonta. I visited her there. N...