You’ve got mail

On a lark about six days ago I decided to count the pieces of unsolicited mail I received over the next week. Leading the way were 19 offers to sell me something, 13 requests for donations to charities and 7 offers to subscribe to publications. Clearly these 39 unsolicited mailings outnumbered the pieces of mail and magazines I already subscribe to.

My mail is not unusual, according to comments made in the lobby by other residents of my 35 unit apartment house. One lady said all she ever gets is “pay me, buy me, give me” mail and wonders how the senders got her name. I wonder the same thing. Did someone get a copy of the directory for our retirement community? If so, how? Holders of the directory are requested not to make copies nor share the contents with outsiders.

I have briefly considered writing “Return to Sender,” and adding either “Addressee deceased” or “Moved, left no address” but the next piece of unsolicited mail will simply be addressed to “Occupant.” I think I will just continue to toss the unwanted mail in the recycle bin and get on with my life.

(This is from my larger BLOG.)

God does not carry a 220 year old grudge!

The earthquake in Haiti is, according to TV evangelist Pat Robertson, God getting even for a pact Haitians made with the devil in 1791. Legend has it that 220 years ago some Haitians led by slaves revolted against French rule and made a pact with the devil to serve him if he got them out from under the French.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and possible anywhere in the world. Even an old testament vengeful God would consider this sufficient punishment for nine million people who today live in abject poverty and who have never known anything better. He would not have to send them an earthquake to make his point. On top of which none of these nine million souls were around when the alleged pact was made with Satan.

I do not believe natural disasters occur because God gets up one day on the wrong side of the bed and decides to even scores. It is not necessary to understand all the forces of nature which must come into play for disasters to occur. Suffice it to say they happen and they are called natural disasters, be they earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, plagues, landslides. These things are not, in my opinion, the messenger of the Lord.

 

Anyway, forget about the loony characterizations of the Rev. Robertson and find some way to send a bit of help to some charity trying to alleviate the terrible effect of this disaster in Haiti. The God I know will not punish you for being an accessory after the fact to a 220 year old pact with the devil.

(This is an extract from my blog.)

Some stars will be sadly added

Sometime later this year seven stars will be added to the CIA Memorial Wall honoring the men and women who died in Afghanistan this past week. Their bodies were returned to the United States on Monday, arriving at Dover AFB, the scene of the return of so many other Americans who have died in the line of duty. Following are some notes about the CIA Memorial Wall:

 

THE CIA MEMORIAL WALL – Langley, Virginia 
The Memorial Wall is on the north wall of the Original Headquarters Building lobby. This wall of 90 stars stands as a silent, simple memorial to those CIA officers who
have made the ultimate sacrifice. Above the stars, a simple inscription reads: "In honor of those members of the Central Intelligence Agency who gave their lives in
the service of their country." The Memorial Wall was commissioned by the CIA Fine Arts Commission in May 1973 and sculpted by Harold Vogel in July 1974.
Below the Memorial Wall sits the glass encased "Book of Honor." It lists the names of 55 officers who died while serving their country. The names of the remaining 35 officers must remain secret, even in death; each of these officers is remembered in the book by a star. This wall memorializes those men and women who served and sacrificed in silence.

Getting blog writer updated

This is an informational blog – I am using a new application to help craft blog entries and hope that you receiving this will not be an undue intrusion. I am including a picture taken in early December 2009 when one of our fine dining room staff was leaving to pursue her new career in nursing. Well done Tameka!

Archie

Life's little problems

On a Sunday I bought an overcoat in a large Southern chain store. Sleeves needed to be shortened a tad and the coat would “go to the tailor on Monday. Be ready after four on Thursday.” I could not get back on Thursday and Friday was New Year’s Day so I telephoned to see if the store was open. It was. And the lady answering the phone said she would check on my coat and call me back. Thirty minutes later she called and said the coat was ready to be picked up. “Come to the customer service desk.” I drove to the store and went to the customer service desk. My coat is not there and I have to go down the aisle, turn right and go to another customer service desk. Off I go. At this desk a clerk is closing a sale of three nylon panties to a rather large woman who wants 15% off as promised in some newspaper coupon she presents. That takes another minute or two and my mind wanders as to how this woman would look in those panties. I repress the image and present my claim ticket to the clerk. This is not the customer service desk that handles such and I must go back down to the end of the aisle. At this third customer service desk my ticket is presented again and the clerk disappears into the back room somewhere. Other customers arrive and want to check out but are dismayed to find the customer service desk not staffed. “She will be back in a moment,” I tell them reassuringly. “She went to get my coat.” The clerk returns empty-handed and says maybe it is in a fourth customer service station and she will go there and check. I say that I will do it and she should stay at her work station and help these other customers. (After all we are trying to cooperate with President Obama and get the national economy moving and every little bit helps.) On to number four I go. By now I have almost made a 360 degree sweep of the store. At number four a clerk is finishing up a sale and then he turns to me. I present my ticket and he ponders it for a moment and then reaches over to a large garment in a plastic bag tied in a knot at the bottom (a security measure so shoplifters can’t stick a second item in a bag). The ticket I presented matches the ticket on the bag and off I go with the sound of “Thank you, sir, and Happy New Year” ringing in my ears. I arrive home, hang the bag on a door hook and untie the knot at the bottom. I remove the coat from the plastic bag. I put on a casual sport coat and then don my new overcoat. Look at myself in the mirror and am pleased with the whole effect. After all, I got a greatly reduced price on fine coat. And then the perfect moment is shattered. The coat still has a plastic security (see picture) tag attached. This is supposed to set off an alarm if someone tries to leave the store with such a tag in place. But no alarm went off when I left the store. I examine the tag. It is a rectangular plastic tag on one side and a pin has been inserted through the garment and is secured with a plastic round button like tag on the inside. Tampering with this tag is guaranteed to ruin the garment. I tried to twist and pull the button off at the same time, which sometimes works but not for me. I thought about the problem for a minute or two and then reasoned there have been a lot of people between Adam and Eve and myself so this might not be a new problem. I Googled the question of removing clothing security tags and was shocked to find out dozens and dozens of people have had this stupid problem. There were young girls literally in tears who had prom dresses, men with suits, some who lived out in the New York suburbs and dreaded going back into Manhattan to get the tag removed. One earlier victim suggested wearing the garment with the security tag and starting a new fashion statement. People reported using hammers, flat head screwdrivers and pliers to deal with the problem, some of which resulted in damaging the garment. Another suggested going to a store close to your home and ask them to remove the tag. This approach is iffy because they might not have the correct tool and the explanation process could generate more questions and an extended hassle. So I returned to the store where I bought the coat to have the tag removed by the clerk who gave me the package in the first place. I was not a happy camper, not even when he apologized and informed me that the sales lady who sold me the coat last Sunday was the one who should have removed the tag.