Author: Rev. Joe Dirt

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #8,089

yeah I know you did not ask!

Florida is the American state with the highest percentage of retirees.  While folks can retire from the work-a-day world at an early age, most commonly do so in their 60s.  This obviously implies that there are a lot of old geezers in the Sunshine State.

There is an Oscar Wilde quote based on the venerable adage, “With age comes wisdom.” The complete Wilde quote is “With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.”

Given the gawd awful politicians that Florida voters keep electing to national and state offices, I do believe Oscar had it right.  There is not a lot of wisdom in Florida’s selection of politicians.  I frequently wonder what is in the water down there, or what they are smoking.

And so it goes.

 

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YouTube Video: Pete Morton at The Focal Point

Pete Morton is one of Señora‘s and mine favorite folk singers.  He is British and gets over to the States only on rare occasions, and fortunately for us that is frequently at the Focal Point. We have seen him three times. Señora may be up to five times now as she “discovered” Pete before we were the hot item that we are now.

Pete made me a hero a few years back. I had taken a picture of him and Señora together when he was playing a house concert here in St. Louis.  I sent to him, in England, an 8×10 copy of the photo, along with money for postage, and asked him to autograph it as I wanted it for a Christmas present for my wife, the esteemed Señora.  He was gracious enough to do so.

Señora and I have this fantasy about going to England and seeing him in a club there. Some day.

Enjoy.  We did.

Señora who is Jewish with more of a Chicago accent has this thing about doing accents.  She has several that she does.  Among them are New York Jew and Southern. I will admit, as a Southerner,  her Southern accents sets my teeth on edge a bit, but then there are more than a few actors  who do Southern accents that do the same.

One of her accents is British. Once when Pete was at the Focal Point she went up to talk to him after the concert and dropped into her British accent.

Pete remarked to her in his natural accent, “Are you mocking me?”

Señora replied in her Señora British accent, “No, I’m not mocking you.”

Fortunately, Pete has a sense of humor.

And so it goes.

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Almost an Ace?

Yesterday turned out nicer than they had prognosticated, still a little chilly, definitely a little windy, but no rain.  I decided at the last minute that I would take advantage of the day and play some golf.  Not being nice enough for Lil Blu, I threw my golf clubs into my pick-em-up truck and headed off to the course.  I ended up playing by myself which was okay. I don’t always enjoy my own company, but most of time I find it reasonably acceptable which is more than most folks find my society.

Being early in the golfing season, having done a fair amount of yard work Tuesday, I was a little rusty and more than a little stiff.  I struggled a bit on the front side, but my game started to come around towards the end of that nine.  I arrived at the twelfth hole  after going bogey, bogey, par, par on the last four holes.  That is good for me.  The twelfth hole is Continue reading “Almost an Ace?”

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My Approach to St. Augustine

This posting is going to be a little bit about St. Augustine, but more about how I approached learning about this influential man.  Given that there are whole college courses devoted to St. Augustine and to the books of St. Augustine, anything I could add would be pure folly.  But fool I did play … just a little.

Who was St. Augustine?  He is also known as the Bishop of Hippo and lived from 354 to 430. When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410, many in the Roman Empire blamed the sacking and weakness of Rome on the Christians, and this, in part, was the impetus for his most famous book, The City of God. In total he wrote 48 books, many that are still studied by scholars and a few by lay persons.

Why I became interested in St. Augustine. While not a religious person, religion fascinates me.  One could make the argument that the history Continue reading “My Approach to St. Augustine”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #4,563

yeah I know you did not ask!

I am of mixed emotions.  There are rumors on the Internet – seemingly from Trump, principally – that Señor Trump is going to be indicted and arrested very soon.

Part of me would very much like to have a poster of his mug shot. The larger part of me cannot stand the thought of having to stare at his ugly mug, and thus does not want such a poster in my abode.  From the git-go, if Señor Trump was on television or radio, it has been channel or station changing time. My stomach could not stand watching or listening to this horrible waste of protoplasm. In a rational society, this man would be in an insane asylum… or, more properly, in prison.

What to do, what to do…

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Quote of the Day – Mark Twain

“But the truth is, that when a Library expels a book of mine and leaves an unexpurgated Bible lying around where unprotected youth and age can get hold of it, the deep unconscious irony of it delights me and doesn’t anger me.” ~~ Mark Twain in a  letter to Mrs. F. G. Whitmore, 7 February 1907

This was prompted by the removal of his book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the shelves of the children section of the Brooklyn Library – as I recall the story.  It might have been a different library, as it was banned from many.  The Brooklyn Library took issue with the use of sweat instead of perspire and from Huck itching and scratching all the time. Okay…

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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After 3 Years – Medicare Success

It only took the freak’n government – well, Medicare – three, count ém… 1… 2… 3… years to find the ‘i’ that they lost.  Perhaps if it had been a capital ‘I’ they could have done it in two years.

For reasons completely unknown to either one of us, Señora’s last name became misspelled in the Medicare system when she became Medicare eligible.  Somehow it went from Weinhaus to Wenhaus.  It was correct in the Social Security’s system, but wrong in Medicare.

No biggie, right? Wrong.  This has caused claims from doctors, hospitals, laboratories, etc. to be Continue reading “After 3 Years – Medicare Success”

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Thinking About Your Ex

Guten morgen, Herr Doktor Freud,

This morning, flipping through the news on my phone as I drank my morning dose of caffeine, I came across the following article: Why Thinking About Your Ex Can Actually Be Beneficial, According To Research

It was really a fluff piece to allow the insertion of ads, but their bottom line summary was this:

“The bottom line is, if you fondly recall times with your ex, it doesn’t mean you don’t love your current partner. And in fact, it might actually benefit your relationship now. Of course, there’s a line between the occasional nostalgia trip and unhealthy preoccupation with your ex, but rest assured it’s A-OK to reminisce once in a while.”

Yup… you got it, it started me reminiscing about exes. Having one or two, I have described Continue reading “Thinking About Your Ex”

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Types of Vanilla Ice Cream

Señora had a dental procedure that left her less than 100% and made food choices a little problematic.  The obvious solution was ICE CREAM, plus it always nice to receive a treat after such things.  Being the wonderful, dutiful helpmate of a spouse that I am, off to the supermarket I went. Well, Wally World as I had to pick a few things that were not to be found at Schnucks.

Looking in the frozen food case at this epitome of the Continue reading “Types of Vanilla Ice Cream”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #4,415

yeah I know you did not ask!

As you are cruising around your day, have you ever looked at person and thought, “This person has completely given up… on themselves, on life, en todo?” But then again, you never really know what journey someone has been on.

While, on occasion, I have felt that way for brief periods throughout my life, I have generally snapped out of it.  Most of my adult life I have exercised in one fashion or another.  Especially the last  two maybe two and half decades I have Continue reading “Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #4,415”