The World of Grandpa Don  

 I can't help myself. I feel very strongly about this and when I read the letter from our Cardinal I had to pass it on to you. See Catholic Social Teaching & Political Life. It is not just his opinion, it is rooted in the theology of our church.  Yes, we are human and mistakes are made. But he doesn't mince words. It is not the mistake I would want to make.  Obama admits that he doesn't know when life begins. I have seen premature babies shortly after birth and not too long after held them in my hands. They were my own grandchildren. This is life inside or outside the womb. I have also seen A Picture of Life. No one can tell me that is not a life. I can not trust a person who would promote the destruction of this innocent and helpless life to use his judgment in the decisions necessary to guide our nation.  

I don't even know if this self admitted ignorance is honest ignorance based in a flawed mind or an attempt to pander to those who advocate abortion as the right of a woman to choose in an attempt to win their vote. That may be worse, indicating that he will sell his soul to gain the office. Obama claims to admire McCain's heroism but also claims that it has no bearing on his qualifications to be president. But heroism ... selflessness ... is indeed at the core of credibility and love of our fellow man. .Mr. Obama would have us bend to our selfish wants and desires.  I refer you to my thoughts on Heroes.

 Yes there needs to be a change in Government. That change should start in the Congress. They are the ones who make the laws. Which party has had control of the law-making recently? I rest my case ... for now.

 

The person who has a firm trust in the Supreme Being is powerful in his power,  wise by his wisdom, happy by his happiness. ~ Joseph Addison

Returning to the more mundane, ... Have you tried Google's new browser, Chrome? I have been playing with it mainly to insure that this website is compatible with it. It is. Beyond that, I like it. It sure makes it easy to return to web sites that you have recently visited. They are right there in front of you when the browser opens. At first I couldn't find the Search box and then I checked the "features" and found that if you type a name or phrase into the "Address" field it recognizes it as something different than a URL and instantly does a search for it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Marilyn Copeland. We won't reveal her age but I was in High School when she was born. In any case I am delighted to be finally able to wish my little sister health and happiness for many years to come.

It was in the low 50's Wednesday morning and I was prepared to conduct my morning meditations in the living room as I had on Tuesday but Mikey invited me out on the patio. When he wants me out there with him he simply goes outside a few steps, turns, sits and looks at me. So  I went out and sat in the chair in the sun and it was perfection. I went back in for my books, glasses and coffee thanks to the wisdom of my dog. There was no breeze to speak of and the sun's radiant energy was comforting.

Upon my return to the house a humongous  hodgepodge of  email awaited. Most of course was trash. One triggered the devil in me and I responded to the friend who sent it. It was an email warning of speed traps in the area along with descriptions of the innovative methods being used by police to entrap speeders. I responded by telling our benefactor that if we simply abided by the law and drove at or below the posted speed limits we need not be concerned about these things. I get some kind of perverse joy in pulling my friends' chain that way. Another email was from Ginny Gully, Anthony's "summer mom" (host family) when he played ball in Quincy some years back. She has become one of my cyber friends and has been sending some political stuff recently. It was the source of the "Blatant political message" above. I honestly intended to avoid politics this week but  I have never felt so strongly about an election in my entire life as I do about this one. My intended avoidance was based in the fact that I know some of my relatives do not share my views. My blatant political messages are not so much an effort to change their minds, although I wish they would, but maybe another manifestation of the perverse joy I get in pulling their chain.

I think it would be a wonderful thing if we had a black president. The right one could go a long way in showing that the fears and predigests  of many are unfounded. But sadly, Mr. Obama does not seem to me to be that man. Not that he would cause the utter destruction of the nation as some fear. I refer to my previous statement that a President of the US is like an ant climbing an elephant's leg with intentions of rape. There is little he can do himself to do much permanent damage. In addition, no candidate can know everything nor can he be completely competent in every aspect of the job. I am confident that Senator McCain would employ competent advisors and heed their advice. I do not have that same confidence in Senator Obama and therein lies the problem.

 

It often takes more courage to change one’s opinion than to stick to it.  ~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

I have been thinking of it for a long time and I finally did it! My friend Grandpa Frank Schober will be proud of me. I am cutting the wires from AT&T. In doing so, I will have unlimited local and long distance calling, including Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico and Canada, and more free optional services than I now have for the cost of less than $40 per month including all taxes. One of those services will be that "Private" calls and others with which the caller is unidentified will be rejected and my phone will not even ring. I will be able to receive phone messages on my computer. In the near future, if I am watching TV,  and there is a phone call, the name of the caller will appear on my TV screen.  This service will be provided by Comcast Cable and will be fully integrated with my TV and internet services. The cost for installation is $30 and will occur on next Wednesday. My phone number will remain the same as now and there will be no interruption of service during installation. (Well, maybe a few seconds) After that, a battery backup in the phone/internet modem will provide for about 8 hours of service in the event of a power outage. 911 service is included as well.

On the way to look for something else I fired up the new Google "Chrome" browser and noticed that one of the links at the top of the page was labeled "Internet Archive". Being a curious guy (You may interpret that however you like.) I clicked on it and found many of my earliest issues of this web site ... all the way back to October of 2001 all recorded and neatly indexed on the WaybackMachine

I set my alarm for 6:30 Thursday morning but kept waking up during the night in fear of being late. My sub-conscious mind held it as THAT important. Then I left early knowing that I had to stop for gas and having done that went down Harlem Ave, not my usual route. Sure enough, there was construction just south of 143rd and traffic was crawling. It took 20 minutes to go from 151st to 143rd and no way to escape it. I made good time after that until reaching the construction on 119th St. I was sure that they would be gone by the time I reached Tom's house. The plan was to go with them to avoid trying to park multiple cars at Marist High School where visitor parking was limited.  Well, Chico and Marilyn Marx drove separately anyway and I was there in plenty of time. Tom and Diane drove with me and when we got there we got the last two visitor's parking spaces. We made our way to the main gym where we were escorted to seats right up front. Soon all the seats reserved for the parents and grandparents were filled and the student body began to fill the room.

It was the first All Student Mass of the school year and the commissioning of the new school president and about 20 student Ministers of the Eucharist. Caitlin Plefka would be one of them. The Celebrant of the Mass was a former Marist student, Fr. Tom Hurley, now pastor of Old St. Pat's downtown. The celebration began on a somber note with a movie remembrance of the events on Sept 11, 2001. You could have heard a pin drop. At this event, which was a happy time, we started with a somber reminder of terrorist cruelty and total disregard for the way God wants us to treat our fellow man. We needed to be reminded. After the readings, Brother Pat McNamara was commissioned as the new president of the school. His address to the student body confirmed the wisdom of  choosing him for that post. He quoted an old African saying, "In the den of the hawk, there are no chickens". Of course it helps to know that the Marist teams are "The Red Hawks". But he also said the the hawk is a bird of prey and that is what we were to do ... Pray.  Well, you had to be there and I am glad that I was. The school, in my opinion, will be guided well in his leadership. Then the Student Eucharistic Ministers were commissioned and blessed.

At Communion time we parents and relatives remained at our seats, isle room having been left between rows, the newly commissioned ministers offered the Host of Communion, each to their own family members as their first act as ministers. I was proud to receive the Body of the Lord from Caitlin and as I told her later, she did it just as if she knew what she was doing. After Mass, the newly commissioned student ministers and their relatives attended a small reception. A St Julie parishioner, former Marist teacher of Tom and Religion teacher of Caitlin, Vince Andiorio  was there with several others of the faculty. We had a chance to talk. To learn more about Vince see ONE HEART ONE MISSION  Also there was Brother Pat McNamara and we found that he is a very good friend of Bro Frank Kelly and Bro Tom Long. Their story is found scattered in this web site.

The Marist people have been in our lives since 1970 and I count several of them as those who have touched my life and left me better for it. I am impressed by their dedication to God and to the education of children and young people. They are truly an example of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  I left feeling joyful and energized, having renewed and extended our relationship, not only with this great high school, but with the dedicated Marist Brothers  It was a morning not to be missed. Thank You, God. And ... Congratulations Caitlin.

 

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.  ~ Louisa May Alcott

It has been a busy and fruitful week. taking me in many directions. My family is incredibly busy, running every which way. This weekend is no exception for they will be scattered around the country or busy at home with things that must be done. My mind is drawn to my childhood when the most important thing for my dad, and mom and I with him was to go fishing. He would find a quiet lake or a river, sit all day with a line in the water, contemplating life and the world. It mattered little if he caught any fish, that would be a bonus. Mom sat in the shade and crocheted, while I played in the water or the sand, my imagination taking me to wonderful places.  It seems to me to have been a much less stressful world, you took it as at came, dealt with it as best you could and moved on. Oh yes, our afternoon was sometimes interrupted by advertisement in the form of a bi-plane towing a message  banner as it flew over the lake  The message was soon forgotten but the wonder of flight in an open cockpit plane remained in the mind. The ride home with the windows open to feel the cooling wind, was shortened by playing "My father owned a grocery store" in which we tried to guess what "G" or "N" or whatever represented on the shelves of a typical store of the day and the questioner was honor bound to acknowledge a correct guess and relinquish control of the game. The game only required the human mind to function and was always available, no batteries needed. Nobody went to practice anything, except maybe to piano lessons after school and we were always home for supper when the days events were told and commented upon. Afterward, mom washed the dishes, dad dried them and I put them away. OK. it is a lot easier to put them in the dishwasher and press a button, but ... I still have to put them away. It was a different world. Better? I don't know. In some respects maybe ... but it was different. That's what is the one thing sure, it was different ... and the world of the next generations will be different than anything anyone has yet to experience. One thing remains the same, ... you take what you get, make choices, deal with it, and move on.

Too blest to be stressed. Too anointed to be disappointed. Too overjoyed to be annoyed

Grandpa Don Plefka

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Links of the Week Following the link is ... the name of the person who led me to it. Hot Chocolate ... Thanks Bob Lewis Rain on the Windshield ... Bob Lewis See Ellen.  and LOL. Return to  Spotlight	Anne wanted everyone to be 'Nice'. This button was in one of her dresser  drawers I cleaned out in August of 2004