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Beware Green Orbs!
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Month: December 2007
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Beware British Airways
We live in the boonies – no straight flights here. Lost luggage is not uncommon. One day two pieces arrived at our door from two different airlines – our son-in-law and my husband had lost pieces on separate flights from separate countries that week. Another time, my husband wasn’t allowed on a better connecting flight because he wouldn’t be traveling “with” his luggage which had not yet arrived – understandable in terms of home land security, perhaps, but the piece did not arrive with him but days later.
This Christmas my son-in-law’s parents, eager to see their grandchild, missed a series of connections and ended up quite late. Not surprising. And then, inevitably, all four pieces of luggage were missing. After hurried runs to stores for toiletries & wearing their son’s shirts for a day or two, three appeared at the local airport. My son-in-law spent the next ten days phoning & e-mailing British Air Ways (whose system apparently consists of looking around when hassled and promptly forgetting the problem after hanging up.)
As luck would have it, this piece had gifts for their grandson, knitted caps & scarves for their daughter-in-law, heirlooms to be presented and gifts from German friends – all gone. Most irreplaceable was the baptismal gown that matched Heidi’s skills as a seamstress with her love as a grandmother. If it appears – increasingly unlikely – it will be too late for the ceremony this weekend in St. Louis.
Sometimes it Takes a Marxist
…to really appreciate capitalism.
(link via Five Feet of Fury)
Hillary & Human Nature
The predictions are that the Democrats will win the presidency in the coming year. The money seems to be on Hillary Clinton, though that may change. The second prediction may be more iffy than the first. Some of her words, however, are likely to haunt us – and therefore, her chances.
Jim C quotes Hillary Clinton in a comment at Roger’s Rules; googled: Anna Quindlen’s columm appears. Since October 1993, surely our definition of “courageous” has had a reality check. Then, Quindlen reported from Texas about Clinton’s “courageous speech about America’s greatest crisis,” the “sleeping sickness of the soul.” Clinton’s thesis was “Let us be willing to remold society by redefining what it means to be a human being.” Feeling comfortable in our own skins is harder than it sounds – and little is on view in her Christmas ad. Christmas makes me aware of my inappropriate comfort in my sloth. But liking ourselves, liking others, liking what it means to be human (accompanied as it is by our fallibility) doesn’t seem to come easy to certain political agenda. And so, they are less likely to prize autonomy and integrity and a sense of humor. These, however, wear well – and give several other candidates charm.
Stuffed
The Holidaze are my time for eating, and this Christmas Eve feast I ate like a king. Actually, now that I think about it, I probably ate much better than most kings of long ago. Here is a shot of the buffet we laid out for our guests. We did a smorgasbord this year – much easier and more mellow than the formality of a sit down dinner. You will have to click to enlarge the photo if you want to follow along with the menu.