Morning AB, All.
As always, thank you AB for doing this thread so reliably.
Couple of items this week might make you smile.
Oh, and thanks Bray for weekly wisdom and yon commenters for fleshing it all out for me.
Let us begin by announcing, proudly, my claim to fame as regards the olympics and that is I ONCE DATED MICHAEL PHELPS’ FATHER!
Okay, I didn’t exactly “date” him. But I was in high school with him in Towson, Maryland. I knew him but barely. Still, many years ago when Michael Phelps arose in the Olympic scene I initially thought it was Michael Phelps my classmate and, of course, I was amazed. Goodness, I thought, how on earth did one so old get into the olympics. At the time I think I was in my 50’s when I first noted Michael Phelps but I didn’t know it was my classmate Michael Phelps’ SON.
Or something.
Anyway, my questionable Olympic claim to fame.
Next….guess what I did last week? Yes I did. I JOINED A GYM!!!
It was meant to be folks. I do exercise every morning, walking circles around my yard for almost a mile. But these legs of mine, with my sludge for blood, are losing blood flow and I figure I am young enough now to do those exercises.
This Friday I will be joining a Zumba class! DANCING! Lord I was meant to dance!
And my health insurance, a Medicare Advantage Plan which Obama let Delaware and Florida keep despite Obamacare cause we are filled with old people. Cigna it is and they paid for every penny of my gym membership, even my dance classes!
Man I got on that bicycle and with my playlist going on I was one happy guy! I also did upper torso exercises for no mind the legs, the upper half of my body is strong and healthy.
Finally I went to mass yesterday and this morning I read the Pastor’s Pen.
Wow. Seems Father Thomas Flowers, pastor of a church on TULIP drive, has issues with the pope. Oh, and homosexuals. Let me post a few excerpts
“Natural law is the basis for almost all standard moral intuitions. Original Sin predi8sposes us to lie, to steal, to be selfish, even to hate, but the predisposition never justifies giving in to the temptation. Nature teaches us what ought to be. The natural sexual partner for a human being is a person of the opposite sex. Therefore, homosexual coupling is sinful”
He began this missive with a sharp but kind slap at Pope Francis, a pope WHO DOES NOT SPEAK FOR ME PEOPLE, JUST SO YOU KNOW THAT!
I happen to know that Father Tom has issues with the pope. Trust me, I know this.
He goes on to warn us that we must love and treat homosexuals with respect because, well he’s got to say that number one, but number two, who treats homosexuals badly? Sure, there are rude and rubes everywhere but most homosexual deaths last year was caused by some nutball Muslim.
But here’s the big surprise, bearing in mind that my church sits solidly in one of the largest homosexual communities on the east coast, Rehoboth Beach, look it up. In fact, that so-called “Conservative Writer”, David Brooks, lives smack dab in the middle of Rehoboth Beach.
“At the request of some parishionsers, at 6:30 pm on the 4th Wed. of each month, we are going to meet under the auspices of COURAGE, a Catholic organization who encourages and assists homosexuals to live a chaste and holy life. There is a strong preference that a priest always be present, so I am making this commitment.”
Wow. Well I just don’t know what the hell to think.
But I will tell you all this if you don’t tell nobody. Father Tom is a heterosexual.
Don’t ask me how I know this but you can smile.
Anyway….will begin talking about politics and the Sunday Talk Shows because I am a political junkee and not necessarily proud of it.
Ha! I joined a gym this week, too.
Too hot in Alabama this time of year to walk/run outside. Plus, mosquitos and chiggers have been eating me alive.
So my little town had one of the last old-style Wal-Marts around, but now they just opened a new Super Center; groceries and department store goods in one building, so they closed the old Wal-Mart.
However, this forced the local Winn-Dixie, which was part of the plaza the old Wal-Mart was in, to close. Couldn’t compete with Wal-Mart’s prices. I’m not upset, because basically it’s the same stuff, just cheaper. A lot of folks complain about Wal-Mart doing this, but my wallet just likes paying less for the SAME thing (e.g, Del Monte canned corn, Winn-Dixie 88 cents, Wal-Mart 72 cents).
Anyway, now the Winn-Dixie is being made into a Tractor Supply Company, and the old Wal-Mart is an air conditioned gym. So I joined the gym, and can’t wait to buy stuff I need from the Tractor Supply.
Life is good.