Povey Prattle

This is not typical weather for Sarasota even on October. .  It's raining, it's chilly, and it's gloomy. I am making the best of it on my lanai, by reading a book about the Basque people. From somewhere near by I can hear a band.  Is it from  Faith Presbyterian Church,  or is it from  S. Jude's Roman Catholic Church.  It matters not. St. Jude's R.C. Faith Presbyterian -------------------------------------- The Band is playing some of the Beatles' Classics.   It's a good sound.  My mind has drifted back to those days when the Beatles' Music was considered to be avante-garde and a bit risky. Now it is recognized as brilliantly classic. Their music was a feast for my ears on this gloomy day.

I have been engrossed in this book (Pantheon Books 2017). It's a gripping tale of the Kellogg brothers -  John Henry (1852-1943), and Will Keith (1860 - 1951). John Henry was spotted and destined for greatness  by Ellen Harmon White ("Prophetess" and founder of the Seventh Day Adventist) and her husband James White. They mentored him and sponsored his education at Bellevue Hospital Medical College.  They prepared him to be the Director of their Sanatorium in Battle Creek, MI. J.H. Kellogg emerged as a masterful surgeon, a brilliant diagnostician, and a powerful advocate of meat free healthy diets. Brilliant as he was , JHK was an arrogant despot. He eventually wrestled control of the San from the General Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and it became his fiefdom.  He was excommunicated by the SDA's for his pains. Brilliant as he was as a Surgeon, Diagnostician, and far sighted dietician, JHK also has some quirky and dangerous ideas. ...

Since my 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe could no longer be trusted (sudden and uncontrollable acceleration problems - very dangerous ) I bought my first new car since about 1981 . It's a 2017 Kia Forte -  $5,000 off for an end of season model. A bargain?  I hope so.  The bank and I will own it for three years, then it will be all mine. ( I rented a Forte a few years ago when I was in Connecticut for the ordination of Ian Douglas as Bishop of Connecticut. I liked the car then, so it was my obvious choice now). No bells and whistles, but it will serve me well. The Sunset Kia (Sarasota) Manager asked me if I was excited to get a new car.  I replied "no".  He countered "then a car is no more than a means of transportation for you". He got it right. One the other hand the AAA Auto Insurance man in Tampa was bursting with enthusiasm about my choice.. He also  had once rented a Kia Forte and said that I had made a good choice. Of course I wish that I co...

Some will remember that I had a scary incident last month whilst driving my 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe. I was driving west from Beneva on Bee Ridge Rd when the car developed a malevolent mind of its own and began a uncontrollable acceleration. At a bit of a risk to myself and to cars being driven east on Bee Ridge I shot left into Nelson Ave, and then into the Church of the Palms parking lot where I turned off the ignition and applied the emergency brake.  I skidded to a halt, with no damage except to my rattled nerves. This sudden acceleration has happened three or four times since, but it was not until my return from the U.K. that I was able to have the car checked at my local and totally reliable Sam's Auto Repairs on 17th St/Lockwood Ridge Rd. The Manager (a really decent bloke) check various auto forum sites and discovered that this problem has happened to other Hyundai Cars; that there is no known fix; and that Hyundai has not ordered a recall, suggesting that this is ...