I still have a big guilt feeling for not having attended my Cousin Charlie Kraihanzel's memorial service in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but it was probably a wise decision, considering my macular driving skills and Elaine's illnesses.
I always thought that Charlie would outlast me by many years. It's a shame we don't have a method to retain brilliant brains, like Einstein's or Mozart's.. if so, I think that Charlie's brain would qualify.
By the way... the Physics procedure that Charlie and a co-worker developed, is called the Cotton-Kraihanzel method (I think.. look it up).
Today is when Elaine and I file for Tax extensions. Our usual returns are a nightmare.. especially Elaine's... and just when I needed them, my figures locked up inside of my old Satellite laptop (you know, the one I ran over with my Toyota in New Bedford).. At the moment, I can't figure out how to recover.. it's not related to a virus because only input from me goes into the PC.. no email or downloads at all. Just those damn money amounts that I need to do my 2014 Income Tax. Oh well, with the extension, I will have an extra 6 months to work on the problem.
How about... today: Just for "fun": I will go through our local newspaper (The Carroll County Times) and comment on some of it.
Robbery Hearing May Use Skype
A Panera Bread store in Westminster, Maryland was robbed last September by a masked man. Employees were not hurt and told the police that the robber seemed to have inside knowledge of the place. They also said that they recognized his voice, and that he was someone they had worked with. So that person was arrested
The lawyer for the defense wants to bring in an expert witness to testify if the employees' voice recognition is reliable. Since time is important, the defense lawyer wants to use Skype as a communications link to the expert.
Of course, you realize that what I write here may not be completely accurate.. but you get the idea.. here is a case where plans are to use the modern Skype technology in Court. Sounds good to me, but I would not bet that it will happen.
Rogue Oriole "Fan Bird" Sighted in Westminster
An unofficial "Oriole Bird" has been sighted here and there in the city of Westminster. Sometimes it is seen dancing, singing and twittering. While it's coat of feathers is not as classy as that of the famous Baltimore "Oriole Bird", or even as classy as that of a real Baltimore Oriole bird, it has been adopted as a Westminster institution.
Several years ago, the Sons of Italy in Reisterstown invited the original "Oriole Bird" to a meeting. They also invited all of the members' kids to come and see him. Well, he came on strong, and danced around and tried to tell some bird jokes... however, after two minutes, the kids ganged up on him.. with the littlest ones hitting and kicking him (in a good-natured way of course)... some of the kicks caused real pain in the bird's shins and groin, and he became a grouchy bird. Parents of the kids just stood around laughing.. I guess they thought that it was ok for their kids to beat someone up. (Sound like the Lord of the Rings?)
After 5 minutes of this killing abuse, the Oriole Bird got himself up off the floor and limped quickly out the door, yelling: "To hell with this job!"
Viva Socrates!
The Reverend Doctor William, Louis "Lou" Piel, pastor of the Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Finksburg is a neighbor of mine at the Village) He wrote one of his periodic columns.. this one was titled: "In the Light of the Empty Tomb". As usual, there's a lot of meat in his columns. He isn't too happy with "Sunday only Christians". He dislikes the ideas of the "I want it now" advocates.
I would like to quote him now, because, in my opinion, he has uttered brave words to put out in our Conservative County.
"For me, discerning the will of God means dealing with issues like loving our enemies when they want to kill us, death with dignity, health care for all, faith conversations about abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage and people, especially children, who go to bed hungry when our food stores are full of available food."
I have lived in this County for 40 years, and have been involved directly with Carroll County groups of all kinds for over 20 of those years. I love my Carroll County neighbors and would do anything to help them.. but, my philosophy of life is sometimes quite different from theirs. I've learned to respect their views on all of the subjects mentioned in Lou's statement above.
I am labeling Lou a Liberal who has come out of a free-thinkers' closet, and now has a wonderful chance to convert those Conservative Finksburg parishioners or at least to get them to "continue the dialogue." As always, Lou asks us to "think on these things."
.. Finally: Headlines to consider:
Westminster Man Charged With Allegedly Biting Woman
Carroll (County) Designated Medically Underserved Population
Body Found in Burning Car in Rosedale
Bicyclist Injured in Rosedale Hit-and-Run
Alleged Mumbai Attacks Mastermind Leaves Jail
3 In Custody after Guns, Device, Found at (Middle) School
Head-on Collision Kills 33 in Southern Morocco
Do these headlines depress you? Unfortunately "Good news" isn't sexy enough for newspaper readers.
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