Thursday/Friday

Yesterday, Thursday, all was well with the world.   The weather was warm and sunny, in the 70s.  Went to Communion then six of us went to lunch at the Brick Town Brewery - how Roy would have loved that place.   I ordered a turkey pot pie, and I kid you not, it came baked in a 6" pie dish.  Someone asked why I was surprised when I know that Americans always serve huge portions.   It looked so nice with a golden flaky crust, I thought I'd take it home to eat, and there I dined off the side dishes of potato salad and mashed potatoes (the waitress couldn't remember what I had ordered so brought both) 
 

Things started to go downhill when I realised I needed a new battery in my camera and can't get one in Shawnee.   It is was suggested I go to a battery shop in Mid West City, but as you might know, I don't drive out of Shawnee, so I will try and find it online.  

 

I was in Terry's vicinity so asked him to check my fluid levels, and explain the problem with the car. He said it is something called the timer belt - it looks perfectly alright but he said these things have to be replaced at a certain mileage, rather than when they break down and  becom problematical. 

 

Wednesday evening was another Republican Debate, I didn't see it as I was at Emmanuel, but from all accounts it was a total debacle, the moderators had no idea of what they were supposed to be doing, and asked all sorts of stupid questions about Fantasy Football and the like, instead of the political issues they were supposed to be addressing.   I think another factor is that the network running the Debate is very left wing, and the Republicans are to the right of Genghis Khan.   The fallout from all this was still going on Friday afternoon when it was announced that the Republican candidates are all going to have a get-together on Sunday, and they will never again have anything to do with the left wing network.   It seems the debacle of the debate has bonded them all together in a camaraderie they didn't have before.  So, silver linings and all that.

 

Today, Friday, I have just been to the hospital.   For one reason or another, Bill and I haven't been able to have lunch together for a while - usually because he gets a call to go to the ER - but today we were able to do so, and that was very pleasant.   We lingered over lunch and chatted.

 

So, this is my 'letter from America' which someone was kind enough to say was more entertaining that boring old Alistair Cooke's.

 

 

ps.  I started off saying how lovely the weather was on Thursday.   Today, Friday, it has been very heavy rain all day.  

Wednesday 28th

I had an invite this morning from Fr Peter to join them at the monastery in Beaumont for Thanksgiving.   But even if I were to hire a car it is too far to drive, it is over 500 hundred miles and 10 hours (10 hours that is for an average person, it would take me a lot longer and I'd need an overnight stop) and now that I am pushing 80 I just can't do it, I become too stiff and cramped driving for that length of time.   But I appreciated them thinking of me and asking.   I heard Michael once telling someone at Beaumont that there is a Benedictine monastery in Shawnee, but I drive all the way down there.  

 

Hospitality is a Benedictine 'thing'.   I drive - or did - all the way down there to visit them because of the warmth of their hospitality, but I just don't know the monks at St Gregory's in Shawnee.  Maybe I would if I drove there from the other side of another state but can hardly turn up from a couple of miles down the road and expect a red carpet welcome.

 

This evening was the 3rd Presidential Debate, but I went instead to the meal at Emmanuel.   I didn't need to do anything about a dessert because team Mexican, responsible for the meal this evening, do their own (Mexican) dessert.   After the meal we go into our little groups and discussions,  I'm in a small group with Fr Bill and three others.

 

I haven't really got much else to write about.   I went to the hospital yesterday and miss Bill's friendly presence, but he is going to be tied up on Tuesdays for the next few months.

 

I think I need to replace the battery in my camera, I tried charging it when it didn't work, but it wasn't effective.   And what is a blog without pictures.

 

I forgot..................I had this picture on my desktop.  Yesterday was the 134th anniversary of the Shoot Out at the OK Corral, between Wyatt Earp and his brothers, who I think represented law and order, and a gang who were up to no good.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday/Monday

We've had some rain, and chilly mornings but it has not been too bad.  It was 70 as I went through town today.

Yesterday, Sunday, I went to Emmanuel in the morning, and in the early afternoon to see a movie with my friend, Donna.   It was 'Steve Jobs', and I thought it was the most boring film I have ever seen - in my life - it just went right over my head, I couldn't understand it, and couldn't tell you today what it was about - apart from, obviously, Steve Jobs.   But Donna thoroughly enjoyed it.   So there you are, if you're thinking of seeing it, it is all a matter of taste.

In the news..........or in the Presidential campaign, Donald Trump is not happy, ha ha ha.

In fact he is spitting feathers......

and here he is  railing at Jeb Bush - who is slipping in the polls so I don't know why he should be the subject of Trump's ire - but he says Jeb is meeting with his donors, and with "Mommy and Daddy" to discuss his campaign.   "Daddy" is a former US President, and they are parents of another US President, and Trump is sneering at their credentials to advise Jeb!!!

All the candidates are going around promising this, that and other thing, but if I were an American with a vote  I would vote for the candidate I most trusted to be woken at 3am with the news that the world is in danger, and Donald Trump who would be bristling with outrage, is not that candidate.

This is an awful item in the news over the weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State University had a big parade, there was a large crowd of people and a woman driving her car  went around a barricade, ran a red light, drove over a police motor cycle  and ploughed through the crowd of spectators.     4 people died and I think 47 injured, some of them critically.  Witnesses said bodies were flying in the air like rag dolls.   

The investigation is still ongoing, but the driver apparently has a history of mental illness, and it is believed at the moment that it was an intentional act, and not an accident,

She is being held on a million dollar bond because the judge said she didn't want her leaving the court house and getting back in a car.

With all respect to any American reading this, I have to say I have long thought that the mental health services in this country SUCK.   They are abysmal.    And I don't know why the politicians who are always saying this is the greatest country on the planet, don't do something about them.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

Update on Saturday.

This morning, after posting last entry, I visited my friend Donna, on the other side of Tecumseh and that was very pleasant.

Last night - Friday - I went to an event at the Museum.

A Mummy from the Roman era had a CT scan at the hospital - I seem to recall Bill mentioning it at the time, but I didn't pay attention - until I received my invite to the Reception where an anthropologist from Tulsa gave a talk on it.  

 It was quite interesting but I have to confess that by the time of the interval I had seen enough of it and slipped away.

 

 

Even the nibbles at the cheese and wine part of the Reception had a theme.

I don't know how Hilary Clinton is sleeping at night.  The results of the Hearing on Thursday are going to take some time to be known.  There are still documents to go through, and more e-mails.  I even heard it said that - if elected - she might be impeached on day one of her Presidency.  

But I really doubt her chances of election.   I think a Republican, Ben Carson or Marco Rubio, has a better chance.    Capitalism is so deeply entrenched here - socialism is practically a dirty word - I can't see Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, making it.  And I don't suppose it helps that socialism isn't working in Britain.   Our health service is collapsing.   And a friend told me that Britain may be hit by massive power cuts because the EU have ordered the closure of all coal fuelled power stations.

I'd like to know who thought it was a good idea for us to join the EU, she says bitterly.  But I seem to be going off at a tangent.  I'm just musing.

Saturday Morning - from my laptop

I'm back (sort of) thanks to technologically savvy son, Tim, but there are still some wrinkles to iron out.   I can pull up the page on my desktop pc, but can't  access the dashboard for a new entry there, because in my frustration I thought I'd try and create a new blog and got halfway there, but now I don't want to proceed, I want to delete my attempts and stick with this one, but can't.   It doesn't give me any opting out, or deleting options for my half created new blog.

I prefer to use the desktop for this because it is easier to post photos.  

Anyway, to try and cast my mind back to what I have been doing.

Last week - or it might have been the week before - I went with Sally, another chaplain, to a chaplain's conference in OK City.   It was quite interesting but would have been better with handouts, I am better at taking in written words. 

It was held at the hospital in the City which I hadn't seen before, and it was beautiful, and HUGE, I thought the biggest hospital I have ever seen, and  I enjoyed spending time chatting with Sally in her lovely car.

This fountain is in the foyer of the hospital.

As I mentioned in the temporary blog I saw Hillary Clinton facing the Benghazi Enquiry into why four Americans, including the US ambassador, were killed in a raid on the Consulate in Benghazi.
I don't know myself how she can win a Presidential election.   She'd had numerous requests from the ambassador for extra security, which he didn't get.  She knew all the time that it was a terrorist attack, but told the American public that it was a demonstration, a protest against a You Tube video about the Prophet.   And lying under oath is a Federal offence, that seems to me the bottom line, and how is she going to survive it.    We shall see.  The Clintons seem to be fireproof.


There's been a change in the weather, it is now damp and bit chilly, I think in the 70s.

Monday 12th

I am beginning to find it quite hard going writing this up every day, as so many days are routine, going to the hospital on Tuesdays and Fridays, and I am not doing very much out of the ordinary.  Yesterday, for example, I was reading at Emmanuel at 10.30 but then I really did not do anything to write about.  Perhaps I will write every three or four days, and drop an e-mail to my followers when I have something to comment about on the news.

Saturday 10th October

Goodness, Tuesday was my last entry.  What have I been doing the last few days.  Mostly knitting, crocheting and watching endless debates on who should be the next President.  On Tuesday the Democratic candidates are having their first televised debate, which I shall watch with some interest.

I have finished reading The Perfect Summer, 1911.   One surprising thing I learned was that when George V and Queen Mary were going on a foreign tour the Queen was very disappointed to learn that there was an Act of Parliament passed in the 18th century which decreed that the Crown Jewels should not leave the country, so she couldn't wear them on her foreign tour.  I didn't know our monarchs ever did wear them, I thought they had always been locked up in the Tower of London.   I think I might do a bit of research on that.

Something else which caught my interest today - there is a National Toy Hall of Fame which typically inducts three toys each year, with last year's honours going to miniature green army men, the Rubik's Cube and bubbles.  Bubbles - is that the thing you dip in soapy water and blow through? 

The 2015 finalists are American Girl dolls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, spinning tops, Twister (?) Wiffle Ball(?)  Battleship, puppets, Jenga(?)  coloring books, Playmobil, Super Soaker(?) and scooters. Those with question marks beside them I have never heard of.

The National Hall of Fame said the toys are judged based on icon status, longevity, discovery and innovation.

I've just had another look at the website and it says "To be considered, the toy must meet certain criteria. It must have survived multiple generations. It also must be widely recognized. Finally, it must foster learning, discovery and creativity through play".


 

Tuesday 6th October

It has been pleasantly warm today, one thermometer said 81 degrees as I drove through town.   I am reading a very interesting book "The Perfect Summer, England 1911" by Juliet Nicholson.     It was the Coronation year of George V and Queen Mary; the first half of the book focuses on the life of the upper class, the aristocracy.   The second half is about the working poor - I thought I'd learned enough history to know what life was like for the working poor, but I was very shocked.    Anyway, the point I am making is that it was a very hot summer, and the temperature climbed to 81 degrees, and they thought that was very HOT!!!   I consider very hot to be 103.

 

Another interesting aspect of the book is that the young Winston Churchill features in it quite a lot.

 

I mentioned that Bill is doing something else for the next few months on Tuesdays, so I got to the hospital early and had breakfast, and spent most of the rest of the day watching the news, which at the moment seems to be all the latest poll figures.

 

Bernie Sanders is doing quite well, bless him, but I can't see him being President.  Hillary's poll numbers are dropping, and Joe Biden isn't even in the race.  He is going to make an announcement at the end of the week.  If he does run I think that will really  throw Hillary Clinton under the bus.

 

She is still being dogged by her e-mails.  She's signed a form to the effect that they have all been handed over, but there are still some missing, I think she is headed for a federal prison rather than the White House.   And the FBI must all be working overtime to get through them all.   One e-mail has revealed that President Gadhafi's son approached her for Peace Talks and she refused, and no one seems to know about it.  It is said that even in her autobiography, where she devoted a whole chapter to Libya, she didn't mention it.

 

I have recently finished Marco Rubio's biography.   He writes very touchingly of how his parents came to America from Cuba and struggled so that their children could have a better life than they did. He is very, very patriotic and talks sincerely of how wonderful America is that the son of a Cuban immigrant can work hard, achieve success and ultimately run for President.   Since I am not required to have any political biases I'm hoping - at the moment anyway - that he will win the Election.

 

His book has only just been published but I bought it for a knock down price, so I think he obviously wants to get it out, and has timed its publication very well.

 

Sunday 4th October.

Managed to make it to Emmanuel this morning in spite of my back pain.   Spent the rest of the day quietly watching the news.

The major news story is the weather in South Carolina which apparently has had the worst rainfall in 1000 years.

Look at that - the rain caused the side of the road to just break away.

The other news story is the cargo ship which disappeared a few days ago off the east coast, and now debris is appearing.   A very sad and anxious time for the relatives of all those on board.

This looks like a pretty purse but is actually the lunar eclipse a friend took on her cell phone.

I don't know if you remember me writing about this silly woman who worked in a maximum security prison and helped two inmates escape.   She was going to run off with them but got cold feet at the last minute.   She has been sentenced to seven years.   She looked very shocked at the sentence, I don't know what she was expecting, but the manhunt to find them cost over a million  dollars in police overtime.    Her husband is going to wait for her.   Very touching.

Friday 2nd October

The Tylenol is helping the back pain and I have been a little more active today, I went to the hospital this morning for my chaplaincy round.   Bill had been there since he was called in at 2am, so he went home to catch up on some sleep and I had lunch by myself, and was just watching television this evening.

 

You must have heard the dreadful news of the mass shooting at a school in Oregon, and everyone from the President down immediately starts talking about guns and gun laws.  They don't get it.  They just don't get it.   It is not guns which kill, it is people.  And unless - and until - they establish some mental health services in this country I can't see it stopping any time soon.     It certainly seems to me - the foreign bystander - that the mental health services here leave a great deal to be desired.

There have been 152 school shootings since 1990.   A figure I found very startling.

The intense summer temperatures seem to have dropped and it is now more comfortable, in the 70s.

Thursday 1st October

Have not felt too well today, I've been suffering from  back pain so just went out for some Tylenol, and been dozing.

 Will be back soon.