No More Squinting

         BEFORE                                  AFTER

                My new 19" Samsung monitor

Sunday Seven? What is a Sunday Seven?

Patrick of Patrick’s Place has come up with a new weekly exercise for his journal keeping followers. You check out his Sunday Seven question, work out the answer, write about it in your journal, and then post a link to your entry in his journal.

 

.THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Rank the Seven Deadly Sins in the order that you most often commit them, one being the sin you're usually most guilty of, seven being the sin you're usually least guilty of.

Here, in alphabetical order, are The Seven Deadly Sins:

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.

Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.

Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work

And here is the way I ranked myself.

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Pride I am proud of my journal, my status at the Park, my intelligence, my activities. I think I do better than my peers in most respects. I am a show off.

Sloth I am lazy, a procrastinator. I often get help for things I can do myself

Lust I am a flirt, and I enjoy it.

Gluttony I keep a car I do not need, I cannot part with my “things”, even hiring a storage shed to keep things I no longer use.

Anger I have petty resentments at the landlord, my fellow residents, the managers, the State and National politicians

Greed I have enough, but rarely part with it, except to family. I support few charities.

Envy Mostly like who I am and what I have, but sometimes wish I could do this or have that.

I liked this little exercise into self analysis.

Age of Miracles

Is this a great age, or isn't it?  Soon I will be composing my journal and reading your comments on a NINETEEN INCH FLAT MONITOR. Bought it today and will be setting it up soon.

I first wrote Dribble in a high school newspaper, sixty four years ago. Now, here it is, in color, with pictures, available instantly around the world. Progress is wonderful.

My readership is about the same though.

 

Promises

The good part about operating an old folks home is that you can promise them anything, and being old, they will forget what you offered.

For example, we were told there would be a Labor Day Barbecue. Well, Labor Day is here, and what was dinner?  Steak? Ribs? Corn on the cob?

Well, no.

We were offered a choice of hamburgers or hot dogs, cooked in the kitchen. There was potato salad though. It was pretty much like every other day.

I shouldn't complain. Katrina survivors would probably have been very happy to have dined here today.

And I am old.  By tomorrow I will have fogetten what we were promised.

Cribbage and Pinochle

Cribbage and Pinochle are games for agile minds.  You have to add points in various configuations.

Nobody over the age of eighty should be allowed to play those games.

Friends tried to teach me Pinochle this evening, and it made my head hurt.  

Here at the old folks home we have taken a kids game, rummy, and dumbed it down until old folks, most of them, can play it.

Doesn't it get boring, playing a dumbed down kids game night after night? 

Oh, my Lord, yes.

Sam, the Giant

The United States is a slow moving giant, that can do anything, or crush anybody. But not quickly.

We put a man on the  moon, we overcame the awesome powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan combined, we ousted Hussein. But not quickly.  It took time.

We will relocate a whole cityful of people, house, and reestablish their way of life.  But not overnight.  Overnight we cannot even rescue them from the Superdome.

Maybe it is a good thing that we do not fly off in all directions when something bad happens.  After 9/11 we wanted to bomb SOMEBODY. Anybody would do. But big slow, moving Uncle Sam took his time, and then we annihilated Afghanistan.

But it would be helpful if we could move faster to help people with immediate needs. Katrina is not the last disaster we will experience. I am sure we will develop a disaster response plan.  But it will take time.

Irresponsible Media

I am curious about the televison networks. Last night regular programming was on. A whole city evacuating, tens of thousands homeless wandering looking for help, dozens, maybe hundreds, dead, and regular television scheduled?

They used to pre-empt the schedule to bring results of a local football game, but now, if you want to know what is going on, turn to  cable TV for CNN, or even C-SPAN.

The most powerful media, the networks, could be getting lost people together, directing rescue efforts, calming the paniced populace, reassuring, guiding.

Things have changed.