Question Of The Day

Is it lying to speak untruths to a disembodied voice at technical assistance?

Our Charter internet cable service is down. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with a disembodied voice that asked me to take several actions to try for a fix to solve the problem. I had already done all the things she asked me to do, so I lied to the voice. Have I sinned?

Charter's customer service by phone is terrible. Once you get a real live person on the line, they are usually kind and helpful, but by then, I'm pretty annoyed, and I'm afraid that the real live person sometimes bears the brunt of my annoyance with the voice and the whole damned company. The lines in the tiny office here are long, with people spilling out the door at times.

Story Of The Day - Beautiful People

I have a friend who reads people's
auras. He sees all sorts of colors like
green & red & purple. He says anyone
can do it. All it takes is forgetting
everything you think you know & just
looking. I've tried it & even though I
haven't seen any colors yet, everyone I
meet looks so beautiful when I stop
knowing everything, that it's pretty hard
to go back to the old way.


From StoryPeople.

Update On Kay Rohde

from Kay Rohde on Facebook --- "Celebrate each step! Today I stood up straight, from a sitting position, using my legs to push, no hands pulling up! Children's choir of Casper came and sang carols at dinner - beautiful music. Learning that those foundation pieces are soooo important."

Thanks to all who have prayed and continued prayers for recovery -- Ann

Where's Waldo?

 

An Insider View From The Diocese Of Upper SC

Two candidate "walkabouts" in November gave Waldo the edge.

Waldo was not particularly well-known in the Diocese until two meet-the-candidates "walkabouts" sponsored by the search committee in November. Delegates attending those sessions - mocked as "beauty contests" - said his low-key, approachable manner and traditional Episcopal theology easily made him a favorite.

A former professional musician, the Bishop-elect was ordained a priest in 1989. He and his wife, Mary, have three sons in their twenties.

Delegates contacted by SC Episcopalians said they were clear they wanted to continue the course set by Henderson, but not until the walkabouts did they decide Waldo was the best choice to do that.

In Louisiana, I'd say the same for the walkabouts. The opportunity to meet the candidates gave Morris Thompson the edge.

Read the full account at South Carolina Episcopalians.

Ann Fontaine mentioned "Where's Waldo?" to me in referring to the new bishop-elect, but we concluded that the words may be misconstrued as irreverent, but, in this context, I think the question fits well.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

A Wasted Day

I've spent a major part of my day trying to find a way to view YouTube videos, including the video of LIEberman on my own blog. I tried several fixes that did not work and messed up my computer, with the result that I had to do a system restore to get the rest of the functions on my computer working right again.

I can see the videos in Internet Explorer, but not in Firefox. I posted the video this morning, and it was fine, but later in the day, I could see only a blank square where the video should be. Any ideas from you computer experts out there?

I can see the videos on my laptop, which runs on Vista, in both browsers. My desktop runs on Windows XP.

Eeeek! A Mouse!

I bought a Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000 for my laptop. Shoulda done it long ago. The mouse is much easier to work with than the little pad.

Wireless from my house runs slowly. Unless, I'm in a hotspot, it creeps along. We use At&T, which does not have its fastest service in our area. I'm told that it's on the way, but I can't find out when. I'm wondering if we should look into another company for service.

Welcome To The Hall OF Shame, Joe

Joe Lieberman just three months ago.

Joe Lieberman now.

From Ezra Klein at the Washington Post:

The Huffington Post and Roll Call are both reporting that Joe Lieberman notified Harry Reid that he will filibuster health-care reform if the final bill includes an expansion of Medicare. Previously, Lieberman had been cool to the idea, saying he wanted to make sure it wouldn't increase the deficit or harm Medicare's solvency (and previously to that, he supported it as part of the Gore/Lieberman health-care plan). That comforted some observers, as the CBO is expected to say it will do neither. Someone must have given Lieberman a heads-up on that, as he's decided to make his move in advance of the CBO score, the better to ensure the facts of the policy couldn't impede his opposition to it.

To put this in context, Lieberman was invited to participate in the process that led to the Medicare buy-in. His opposition would have killed it before liberals invested in the idea. Instead, he skipped the meetings and is forcing liberals to give up yet another compromise. Each time he does that, he increases the chances of the bill's failure that much more. And if there's a policy rationale here, it's not apparent to me, or to others who've interviewed him. At this point, Lieberman seems primarily motivated by torturing liberals. That is to say, he seems willing to cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in order to settle an old electoral score.

Joe, what you do is despicable. If the Democrats don't strip you of your committee leadership positions, then they are even more craven than I believed. You are of absolutely no use to the Democratic Party - none, zero.

Story Of The Day - Ancient Kings

My grandmother kept a box of old
photos in her attic & we used to go
up there on rainy days & sit on the floor in
the dusty light & go through them & she
would tell about witches & broken
hearts & how we came from royal blood
& it was all there in the pictures, she
said & then we'd lose the light & we'd all
go downstairs for dinner & in our secret
hearts we sat taller knowing once we
had ruled the world.


From StoryPeople

Please Pray For Samantha

Dear Grandmere Mimi,

I am requesting prayers for my dear Samantha, a.k.a. Sammy Cat. In the period of just four to six weeks she has lost 30% of her body weight. Two weeks ago she had blood work and x-rays which showed no abnormality. She is eating, but continues to lose weight. She was weighed again this morning and lost an additional fourteen ounces in just two weeks. She will go to the vet tomorrow, Dec. 15, for more blood work and then will most likely have an ultrasound once her doctor sets up an appointment with a radiologist.

Sammy is only six and a half years old and is a most special cat. I am devastated at the possibility of losing her. Her vet is very concerned.

Thank you so much for all the good work that you do.

Sincerely,
Whiteycat

Isn't Samantha a beauty? And from what Whiteycat says, she is as good as she is beautiful, like a princess. Of course, many prayers.

WHAT IS A GRANDPARENT?

(Taken from papers written by a class of 8-year-olds)

Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of their own. They like other people's.

A grandfather is a man, & a grandmother is a lady!

Grandparents don't have to do anything except be there when we come to see them. They are so old they shouldn't play hard or run. It is good if they drive us to the shops and give us money.

When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars.

They show us and talk to us about the colors of the flowers and also why we shouldn't step on 'cracks.'

They don't say, 'Hurry up.'

Usually grandmothers are fat but not too fat to tie your shoes.

They wear glasses and funny underwear.

They can take their teeth and gums out.

Grandparents don't have to be smart.

They have to answer questions like 'Why isn't God married?' and 'How come dogs chase cats?'

When they read to us, they don't skip. They don't mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don't have television because they are the only grownups who like to spend time with us.

They know we should have snack time before bed time, and they say prayers with us and kiss us even when we've acted bad.

A 6-YEAR-OLD WAS ASKED WHERE HIS GRANDMA LIVED. ''OH,'' HE SAID, ''SHE LIVES AT THE AIRPORT, AND WHEN WE WANT HER, WE JUST GO GET HER. THEN WHEN WE'RE DONE HAVING HER VISIT, WE TAKE HER BACK TO THE AIRPORT.''

GRANDPA IS THE SMARTEST MAN ON EARTH! HE TEACHES ME GOOD THINGS, BUT I DON'T GET TO SEE HIM ENOUGH TO GET AS SMART AS HIM!

It's funny when they bend over; you hear gas leaks, and they blame their dog.

Send this to other grandparents, almost grandparents, or heck, send it to everyone. It will make their day.

I send it to you through the intertubes.

Thanks to Robert.

"A True Story"

Our son, who now has his PhD in blowing sand and dirt, was not a standout English student in his undergraduate days. He was given a D in freshman English by a professor who was apprehended (later convicted) as a chainsaw murderer, soon after the close of the semester in which our son was his student. The son, being enterprising in ways other than English, applied to the department to have his grade quashed on the grounds of his teacher's spectacular fall from grace. His appeal was found to be without merit on the grounds that chainsaw murdering has nothing to do with proficiency in judging English skills. There are still some sacred things, one of which is a professor's grade.

Jim Wilson

For the most part, I believe this to be the case in the universities with which I have been associated.

From Ann.

Congratulations, Annise Parker!

Belated congratulations to Mayor-elect Annise Parker on her election as the first openly gay mayor of a major American city.

When Parker finally appeared at 10:30 p.m., resplendent in a gold pantsuit and pearl necklace, the room at the George R. Brown Convention Center jammed elbow-to-elbow with supporters erupted with a deafening cheer. Some were newcomers to political waters. Some had been with her a dozen years ago when she claimed her first City Council seat.

“Tonight the voters of Houston have opened the doors to history,” she said. “I acknowledge that. I embrace that. I know what this win means to many of us who thought we could never achieve high office. I know what it means. I understand, because I feel it, too. But now, from this moment, let us join as one community. We are united in one goal in making this city the city that it can be, should be, might be, will be.”

Once again, I look forward to the day when the election of a lesbian or gay person to an office in the realm of civic life or the church will not be big news. Barriers are falling, but there's no room for complacency, because we have a long way to go.

From the Houston Chronicle.

A Day Out And A Day Off

Yesterday, I took a day off from church and from blogging to take a walking tour of historic houses in the Garden District in New Orleans. Eventually, I'll post pictures and tell you about the tour. We planned to go on Saturday, but heavy rains and spotty flash flooding, both here and in NO prevented the trip. We headed out nearly on time (the time set by Grandpère) in his truck, because I did not feel like driving, and I don't want him driving my car in New Orleans.

Not long after we left the interstate and were driving on Highway 61, a state trooper pulled out and flashed his lights for GP to pull to the shoulder. If you recall, GP received a citation for speeding a few months ago, which resulted in a large fine. You'd think he would have learned his lesson. He was clocked at 16 miles over the speed limit of 45 mph. When the trooper appeared at the window, I put my hand over my mouth, because I was laughing, and I was not sure how the trooper would react to laughter from the passenger seat. I know how GP reacted to my laughter. He didn't care for it, but he couldn't help joining in just a little.

What does it take for GP to learn a lesson? Even when he pays attention to speed limit signs, the rules of the road seem not to apply to him. He asked the trooper, "What about all those other drivers who were speeding?" How many times do troopers and police hear that question? For a good part of the rest of the drive to Trinity Church in New Orleans, GP bitched and moaned about the ticket, until I said I'd had enough.

I know that some of you will ask me if I'm sure that GP should still be driving. For one thing, it's not my decision to make, and, for another, I must say that outside of New Orleans, I am quite comfortable driving with him. He doesn't usually speed. He doesn't tailgate or take risks in passing other vehicles. However, Hwy. 61 is quite familiar to us, since we travel the road frequently to get to my daughter's house, and he should definitely know better. It's just that GP didn't make the adjustment in speed from the interstate to the road through a rather heavily-traveled industrial district with a 45 mph speed limit in good time. What can I say?

The houses were lovely, with beautiful Christmas decorations. Today, my poor knees ache from walking the many uneven brick sidewalks in the Garden District, but still, I love the bricks. Where I grew up the banquettes, as my grandparents called them, were paved, but there were occasional patches of brick, which made skating interesting, as we suddenly went from smooth concrete to the uneven clack-clack and jolting of skating on bricks.

In spite of the speeding ticket and the hurting knees today, I'm glad that we did the tour. GP says he is NEVER going back to New Orleans. Heh, heh.

Update On Wolf

For the blog, I wanted to report that my friend's brother, Wolf, came through the procedure to put in a stent, TBTG, and he will probably be going home on Tuesday or Wednesday. He himself is a doctor, though, and the archetypical bad patient, so prayers for his continued healing, and for the lifestyle changes he needs to make, are still in order.

Aitchellsee

We prayed earlier for Wolf.

Fort Worth - Bye-Bye ACNA?

In an interview conducted by Michael Heidt and David W. Virtue, Bishop Jack Iker said that the Diocese of Fort Worth may withdraw from ACNA if women are ordained bishops.

Bishop Iker:

We have begun formal conversations with the local dioceses of both the Orthodox Church in America and the Roman Catholic Church. At the present time, these dialogue committees involve only priests and their bishops as participants, but we hope to include laity at some point in the future. Our initial approach is to define "what we have in common and what differences continue to divide us."
....

Essentially the ordination of women as priests and bishops is schismatic. It continues to be the major cause of division among those who consider themselves to be orthodox Anglicans. As long as the ordination of women continues, we will be in a state of impaired or broken communion. It is a barrier to unity.

Posted without commentary.

Google "iker withdraw acna women ordained" for the link to the entire interview.

Thanks to Lapin for the link which I did not include in the post.