The Befouled Weakly News
17 February 2008 Good morning on another fine morning in beautiful, downtown Byfield. We’ve had some glorious weather this week – apart from one grey and dreary day on Wednesday, the weather in the first part of the week was simply gorgeous – after a sharp, frosty start Monday and Tuesday turned warm and sunny. And, after Wednesday’s dismal day, the rest of the week has, again, been gloriously sunny if decidedly on the chilly (i.e. freezing) side. Still, we can’t complain whenever the sky is bright and clear. The bright weather has brought out Ms Playchute’s spring-cleaning propensity; she has started on our bedroom and is busily applying white paint as an undercoat in preparation for some other colour still to be decided. To be fair, as well as the good weather, the moderate disaster we had with the shower and the “library” below also provided an impetus for some spring cleaning and decoration. On Wednesday evening Ms Playchute had been to the gym to jump around a bit and, when she got in, she showered prior to dinner after which we sat down to watch some television. About 10, when we got up to go to bed, she heard some running water and when she glanced into the “library” the sight was somewhat disconcerting – there was a veritable flood cascading down through the ceiling light. The carpet was soaked and it didn’t take a genius to recognise that the shower in the bathroom above must have malfunctioned in some exhilarating manner. Fortunately, when we put the shower in all those years ago we left an “emergency” panel which would allow us to access the pipe work in a hurry when/if necessary. The only slight flaw in this arrangement was that we spent several frantic moments scampering around the house attempting to locate a screwdriver with which to remove the panel and shut off the flood. Eventually, one was located, the panel was removed and the isolation valves shut down so that the flood was abated. Difficult to tell how long it had been flooding but potentially as long as an hour, I guess. The carpet was decidedly soggy although otherwise unharmed. Hence our surprise when the insurance adjuster decided to write it off – he must be on a commission. After drying it out for a bit it will do fine for one of the rooms down at Beryl and Oz’s and we shall have to choose something new for the “library”. The calamity with the shower has now been diagnosed – fatigue, basically (I know how it feels) and hopefully we’ll be back up and running shortly. In the meantime, however, it has served as an impetus for a re-decorating purge, if a somewhat excessive one. We had the delightful pleasure of watching a most enjoyable film on Friday evening – La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful). If you see it advertised on television or if you run across it in your DVD rental emporium grab it and prepare to be charmed. To be fair, the plot outline is, on the face of it, utterly grim but, in fact, the film is charmingly poignant and, at the same time, very amusing with some very, very funny moments. From the Internet Movie Database:
It won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1999 and Roberto Benigni won the Oscar for best actor – definitely worth seeing if you’ve not run across it before.
Finally, the portrait above is mainly intended as an addition to Sandy and Pam’s Powerbook but I thought the rest might enjoy a glimpse as well. I received it as a Christmas present from Sally next door who had taken a portrait-painting class in the village over the last year. While I didn’t actually sit for it (she did it from a photograph – also above just so you can compare) it’s pretty easy to recognise who it is supposed to be and she claims to have captured my “enigmatic smile” much like the Mona Lisa, I gather. We’ll let you be the judge of that. Love to you all, Greg In a small Midwestern conservative town, there wasn't a place to get a drink for miles around, so a local entrepreneur saw an opportunity: He started to build a tavern. Liking a "dry" town, the local church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers. The businessman was polite when congregants came to protest, but work continued on the tavern. But the night before the grand opening, a lightning strike hit the bar and it burned to the ground. The church folks were rather smug in their piousness after that -- until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the destruction of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise in its reply to the court. At the first hearing, the judge held up the paperwork and took in the lawyers and both sides of the lawsuit. "I don't know how I'm going to decide this," the judge said, "but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner that believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that doesn't." Winters are fierce in Northern Scotland, so the owner of the estate felt he was doing a good deed when he bought a pair of earmuffs for his foreman. One cold, blustery day, he noticed that the foreman wasn't wearing them. In fact, he couldn't recall a time he'd ever seen the man wear the earmuffs. Walking up to his foreman, he asked, "Didn't you like the earmuffs I gave you?" "Oh, they were a thing of beauty and kept my ears nice and toasty warm!" "Then why aren't you wearing them?" "Well, I did wear them that first cold day, but then, someone offered me a drink and I didn't hear him!" One day a mother was out and the dad was in charge. The little one was maybe one and a half years old. Someone had given her a little tea set as a gift and it was one of her favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when she brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, Mom came home. Dad made her wait in the living room to watch the toddler bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' Mom waited, and sure enough, here comes baby down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up, then says, 'Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the toilet?' We were thoroughly confused. While transcribing medical audiotapes, my co-worker came upon the following garbled diagnosis: "This man has pholenfrometry." Knowing nothing about that particular condition, she double-checked with the doctor. After listening to the tape, he shook his head. "This man," he said, translating for her, "has fallen from a tree." Back to Greg's Temporary Home Page
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