Povey Prattle

I visited the ATM  (Cashpoint ) at my local Bank this morning to withdraw some greenbacks. An older  woman was ahead of me in the  line,  but it soon became  clear  that the ATM  could not  give her the cash she needed. I heard her mutter "why will this machine not work for me?" I offered my help, which she readily  accepted.. Thereupon I asked her to re-insert her ATM card (which again did  not work). As this I began to grin , for  with all  the grace I could  muster, I had noticed something.unusual So  I  said: "Ma'am  you are inserting  your driving licence, not your ATM card" That indeed was  the case. The woman was entirely embarrassed by her mistake, But she was able to relax (I hope)  as I assured her that these human errors are very  common,

My brother Martyn is making slow but good progress after his major surgery last Sunday.  For this we are very grateful. Please continue to pray for him and be grateful for his fabulous wife and children. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- We've had three days in SRQ in which it has been humid and overcast - leading us to believe that it might rain. No such luck until this afternoon,  when it rained heavily for about an hour.  It's not enough to soak our parched earth, but it is a step in the right direction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was dive bombed by a crow as I walked this morning, then the wretched bird did the same to Penne. It scared the living daylights out of both of us.

I preached at my home parish, St. Boniface, Siesta Key, FL this morning.  It's Trinity Sunday, a day on which I delight to preach. Even as I was preaching I realised that the second half of my sermon might be in the nature of a "Povey Rant", so I omitted it at both services. Depending on how things go (see below) I may post the whole darn thing tomorrow. Then at noon I gathered with seven good friends for a "celebration of birthdays" brunch at http://www.halfshelloysterhouse.com/index.php/menu/sarasota-fl-menu I ate Crab Cakes Benedict -  they are superb. "We" were: -   Ron and Charlotte Thompson (Char's birthday was in early May); Barbara Dunne,  Kay Dohoney (whose birthday is on 7th June); Ben Morse (whose birthday is 22nd June),; Bob Lewis, German Rodriguez, and me - my birthday is  today! What a wonderful celebration,. But I had some deep worry My brother Martyn underwent emergency surgery this afternoon/eveni...

In about 1915 it was estimated that in New York the working horses deposited 2.5 million pounds of manure, and 60,000 gallons of urine on the city’s streets each day. (Source   “Victorian America – Transformations in Everyday Life”   by Thomas. J. Schlereth, HarperPerennial, 1991)

According to that brilliant scientist Sarah Palin “It snowed in Alaska in May, so there is no global warming”  In response to sister Sarah   "Palin confuses weather with climate, a mistake frequently made by climate change deniers." Palin's statement and the response via Huffington Post)  ---------------------------------------------------------------- In a similar vein Kai Ryssdal (what a wonderful name!) the host of the (USA) National Public Radio programme “Marketplace” often reminds us that “The (stock) market is not the economy, and the economy is not the (stock) market.”

PART ONE   From early morning today:   (some have already read this). Such excitement! I thought that I heard voices outside my bedroom this 3:30 a.m., and then I decided that it must have been a dream. Heard the (two male) voices again, and I yelled out "hey get away". One man  replied "it's OK, it's the police". I then foolishly said "are you sure?? (I am sure that burglars would have said "yes, we are the police"). Went outside and there were two police cars and an ambulance outside Ed Bellon's house. (three doors away). Not sure what was happening. Oddly enough  Penne did not bark .  PART TWO  1)      Turns out that my neighbour Ed Bellon had called for an ambulance because he was enduring excruciating back pain. He was taken off to Doctor’s Hospital (and released later in the day). 2)      I still can’t fathom why Ed’s emergency call necessitated the arrival of two police cruisers, or...