Happy 4th of July

(Lyrics (originally a poem) by Katherine Lee Bates.)
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

Did he get a watch?

Yesterday the third richest man in the world, Bill Gates, (lower left in the photo) retired from his 33-year job at Microsoft and moved on to philanthrophy. Question: Did he get a gold watch?

Slicing your banana

This is the results of an unscientific study over a period of years and my final conclusion:

Based on my personal research involving the use of many knives and bananas and careful involvement in such activity, it is my contention that it is highly unlikely and practically impossible for a man to slice a banana into a bowl without putting at least one piece of the banana into his mouth during the slicing.

George Carlin dies

The media are reporting this morning that George Carlin the standup comedian who pushed the envelope for more than 50 years has died following health and heart problems. I enjoyed George's adult humor over the years and will miss seeing his occasional HBO specials. His case over the "seven words you can't say on television" went to the U.S. Supreme Court who ruled the words were indecent but not obscene. He delighted in doing a monologue on that subject and those words. One of his recent amusing, sarcastic comments was: "Doesn't it strike you as mildly ironic that most of the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to fuck in the first place?"

Good for health and pocketbook

Walking is good for my health and today it was good on my pocketbook. At a yard sale I bought an almost new walker and transporter chair for use by my wife Mary. The walker comes with a seat she can use if she tires and it has a basket beneath the seat to carry things. The chair is lightweight, has folding handles, removable food pads and will go in the trunk of a car quite easily. The seller started at $80, I came back at $60 and we settled on $70 for the two. Each of these aides for handicapped people easily go for somewhere around $200 each.

500

Hoist a glass for Manny. He hit #500 Saturday night in Baltimore and joined a short list of only 24 men who have hit that many home runs in their careers.

Suite Dreams?

I believe $30,000 for a night's stay in any hotel room is evidence of mental instability, and $47,000 a night - even in Cannes - ought to be grounds for immediate involuntary commitment to a rubber room. Yet there are such places, and people who pay to use them, according to The Wall Steet Journal today (May 28, 2008, pg D1).

One of these places, in the Waldorf Astoria in New York, is called the Presidential suite and has been temporary home to very president since Herbert Hoover. Our prez, however, negotiates a "government rate" for each stay. Does this mean he pays some eighty dollars a night, like a Army corporal on temporary duty somewhere?

What makes a hotel room, even for a President or a mogul from some oil-rich country, or some celebrity not known for trashing premises (known trashers are excluded), worth that kind of money?

Suppose you simple want to impress some chick, or some guy, do you take her/him to Cannes in the expectation that sex will be that much better at $47,000 a night than elsewhere for a grand or two, or even a toss in a nearby Ramada for two hundred bucks?

There are lesser accomodations, some in the $5 to $12 thousand range, all the way from Dubai to Washington but if once you stay at some $30,000 dig these might feel like Motel 6.

Yesterday I looked at some old family pictures. One showed our young daughter sleeping on a blanket on a carpeted floor in a motel more than 30 years ago when we were on vacation. She had been sharing a bed with her sister but went to the floor during the night. It was customary to have the girls and boys double up when we travelled to cut expenses. I wonder if for $5, $12, $30 or $47 thousand dollars a night, there would be separate beds for each family member. If you get to check it out, let me know.

Memory trigger for Alzheimer's patients

I was thrilled yesterday when the keynote speaker at the Alzheimer’s Association 7th annual Elks educational conference in North Charleston asked me to write up my son’s “great idea” to trigger memories for his mother, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Jolene Brackey, author of “Creating Moments of Joy,” and leader of her organization, Enhanced Memories, made the request after I described for her and the several hundred people at the conference my son’s accomplishments. “I want to remember this great idea and pass it along,” she said.
Last week Patrick came to my apartment and carried away nine medium sized boxes of family photos and 35mm slides going back almost sixty years. Some of the photos, packed in shoe boxes, were taken before Mary and I ever met. We joked this was a five-year project he was undertaking.
I underestimated Patrick’s interest and skills. By Sunday he had taken a sampling of the collection, digitized them with a scanner into his computer. From there he loaded them onto an Apple TV box which he bought as a Mother’s Day gift earlier in the month.
The box he hooked up to the TV in Mary’s room at Skilled Nursing at Franke at Seaside. We have shown the aides how to use the source button on the TV remote to trigger the show and bring on memories for Mary.
Some of our other children and a grandson have watched these images with their mother, as have I, and laughed at the memories and the times. It is amazing how clothes, hairdos, and appearances have changed. Birthday parties, summer trips, our wedding, Christmas celebrations, etc. are all in this collection and more will come in the future.
These converted photos and slides may be seen at: http://picasaweb.google.com/patrick.archibald Look for “FXA Batch, etc.” There are ten batches currently digitized.
The conference was held at Charleston Elks Lodge #242. Alzheimer’s has been the Elks major state project since 1997. Their slogan is, “Elks working for those who cannot remember.”

Bad news about a friend

The news about Senator Edward Kennedy's malignant brain tumor saddened me tremendously. It is as if it were an intimate and close friend about whom the sad news rolled over the world.

Jesus is Coming - Look busy

Today four adventurous souls living/working at Franke at Seaside walked to the high point on the Ravenel bridge between Mt. Pleasant and Charleston. This is a monthly event offered for residents. I took some digital photos along the way and you may see these the site listed below the picture. I am the man in the black shirt- - which I bought at a George Carlin performance. (If clicking on the URL does not take you to the web site, cut and paste it in your address box.)
http://picasaweb.google.com/archinsc/BridgeWalk05142008 .

Looking to the future

"A few years ago the National Science Foundation put out a scary and much- discussed statistic. In 2004, the group said, 950,000 engineers graduated from China and India, while only 70,000 graduated from the United States. But those numbers are wildly off the mark. If you exclude the car mechanics and repairmen - who are all counted as engineers in Chinese and Indian statistics - the numbers look quite different. Per capita, it turns out, the United States trains more engineers than either of the Asian giants."

"We are living through the third great power shift in modern history. The first was the rise of the Western world, around the 15th century....The second shift which took place in the closing years of the 19th century, was the rise of the United States....During this Pax Americana, the global economy has accelerated dramatically. And that expansion is the driver behind the third great power shift of the modern age - the rise of the rest."

The foregoing are from the upcoming book "The Post-American World," by Fareed Zakaria, a regular contributor to Newsweek magazine. His book is excerpted in the May 12, 2008, issue and the article is well worth reading. I am looking forward to the book itself, due soon in bookstores everywhere free men and women think for themselves.

Hoisting the banner

The banner hung on the Green Monster in Fenway Park at the opening of the season commemorating the 2007 World Series victory may be bigger than mine but mine was hung with the same pride and joy felt in Boston. My banner is on the wall outside my apartment door in the Trailside Building at Franke at Seaside, Mt. Pleasant, SC, where it has already received a couple of compliments. Two of my sons gave me this during last weekend. A friend suggested a cafe curtain rod (instead of a dowel) and I added a light gold chain to the rod.

Wachovia

I believe KEN THOMPSON,Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wachovia Corporation, who has been in his current position for the past eight years ought to take a 40 percent cut in his annual compensation - since that is the amount Wachovia cut stockholders' dividends today.

All in a row

On my exercise walk this morning I watched a band of ducks, approximately 20 of them, paddle two abreast across the lagoon in our subdivision. When they reached a certain point they switched to single file and made a looping turn and went down the length of the waterway. It was a classic manuever that would have made a drill sergeant at Parris Island proud. It was an enjoyable moment.

An Irish Tale

I got the following from my sister who got it from a friend who passed if on from a friend, etc. etc. With St. Patrick's day around the corner it seems appropriate to be telling Irish tales. Hope you enjoy:

IRISH BIRTH CONTROL

Mrs. Donovan was walking down O'Connell Street in Dublin when she met up with Father Flaherty.
The Father said, 'Top o' the mornin' to ye! Aren't ye Mrs. Donovan and didn't I marry ye and yer hoosband 2 years ago?' She replied, 'Aye, that ye did, Father.'
The Father asked, 'And be there any wee little ones yet?'
She replied, 'No, not yet, Father.'
The Father said, 'Well now, I'm going to Rome next week and I'll light a candle for ye and yer hoosband.'
She replied, 'Oh, thank ye, Father.' They then parted ways.
Some years later they met again. The Father asked, 'Well now, Mrs. Donovan, how are ye these days?'
She replied, 'Oh, very well, Father!' The Father asked, 'And tell me, have ye any wee ones yet?'
She replied, 'Oh yes, Father! Three sets of twins and 4 singles, 10 in all!'
The Father said, 'That's wonderful! How is yer loving hoosband doing?'
She replied, 'E's gone to Rome to blow out yer fookin' candle.'

New Phone #

Some people cannot organize a two-car funeral. That's an old, worn thin bromide but it applies from time to time. Case in point, my new cable TV, Internet and telephone provider said they would capture from my old provider (who does not cover my current area) the phone number we had for over 40 years at our home in Hanahan. Today, they admitted they failed and shifted the fault to failure to follow procedures, although they never revealed the procedures when they connected the three services. Case of one hand not knowing what the other one is doing. Anyhow, they apologized, threw some dollars my way and the temporary phone # they gave me at hookup is now my permanent land line. So if you would like to chit chat you may reach me at 843 388 7576 (old girl friends, bill collectors, and those wishing to borrow money should continue to call me at the old #.)

Farewell to Hanahan

An 0pen Letter (The Hanahan, Goose Creek, and North Charleston News, February 27, 2008)
Farewell to Hanahan

Dear Editor:

Forty-eight years ago, fresh out of the Air Force, Mary and I and two sons came to live in Hanahan. Now we are leaving and could not just slide out of town without expressing what these 48-years in Hanahan have meant for us.

There could not have been a better place to live and raise a family; (three additional children were born during these years.) This is not an idle statement made by uninformed people. Mary and I were blessed to be curious. We traveled around the world and lived temporarily in Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. Always we came back to Hanahan happier than before.

The Hanahan schools and our church prepared our children for life’s challenges, college work and exciting career opportunities. Religious education, local sports and activities, high school sports and band programs, each contributed to making our family’s lives richer in so many ways.

Mary’s involvement in community, school, church and social activities provided some of the most pleasurable moments in her life. Her contributions helped to make Hanahan the best of places for us. She was proud early on to be dubbed, “Frankie’s mother.” The title stuck forever.

I could not have asked for more than the friendships, love and trust given to me. I was privileged to lead the Exchange Club to its first Big “E” award, to be elected to city council, to serve as city judge and to win three terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives.

Recently our son, James, told me he looks around his world and sees spouses and children passing each other like ships on the high seas. He said, “They all eat dinner at different times and spend hardly any time together. I recall how all those years at five-thirty every day we sat at the table, seven people, and ate the evening meal. The day was reviewed. We were congratulated and corrected. Advice, wisdom, humor and love were dispensed. Those were the greatest days of our lives. That is the reason nothing is more important to all of your children than the concept of family.” This concept of family was made possible by life in Hanahan.

Now we start another adventure. Mary lives in Assisted Living at Franke at Seaside and I am taking an apartment there so we can be on the same campus and together daily, as we have been in Hanahan. Physically, we leave – emotionally, we will always be a part of Hanahan, the best place to live and raise a family.

Francis X. Archibald

E-mail.address/phone update

Hello Friends and associates:
I have changed my e-mail to: arch@archibald99.com.
My address has also changed after 44 years. It is now: 1700 Franke Drive, Apr 105, Mt Pleasant SC 29464-3986
Phone: 843 553 1607 (May not connect for 10 days. Being "captured" from previous service provider.

Push polling against Hillary

Got a push polling telephone call this morning alleging that some former FBI agent said Hillary Clinton in 1993 yadda, yadda, yadda. I hung up before I could determine if the push polling favors Barack Obama or John Edwards. I would lean to Edwards' benefiting because African-Americans are unlikely to cite FBI agents as paragons of truth, justice and the American way. The push poller and who paid him are unknown but in the end the question is, "Who benefits?"

PsyOps in Green Bay

PsyOps, long thought as the domain of the CIA and military intelligence, are part of the Green Bay Packers bag of tricks. In the first quarter of Saturday's game against Seattle, temperature 31 degrees and snowing, the Green Bay employee who drove the cart used to take injured players off the field was wearing short pants as he drove an injured Seattle player to the clubhouse. Seattle players and sideline personnel stared at him as they stood shivering in the cold.