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Post by revmichael on Dec 14, 2007 7:38:48 GMT
lol Carl - you've seen my gaff then! Gotta brag here Glen, no 1 son came back from Oz with a digerry wotsit and can play it! a bit! Wow Rev - you've got some stamina, I feel jet lagged just reading about it. Take care out there and have a wonderfull time. xx But this time we're going to take it easier Sarah. Instead of spending the month with every, or every other night in a different bed (or tent) as we have twice done in Oz. On 28th December we fly to Bangkok for three nights (including a visit to the Bridge on the River Kwai) then ten days in New Zealand - the first eight days with my No.1 son and his wife and my grandchildren (including a two night stay further north in some snorkeling centre - near Kiwigirl's home) then the final two days with my No.2 son in Auckland. Then we fly to Tasmania via Melbourne. We are meeting some young friends who are flying over from Perth to spend ten days with us on that island. The final three nights are in Sydney (for Australia day, with the coathanger lit up) staying with couple whom we met on an outback tour to Cape York (the Australian peak) some years ago. They won't let us stay in a hotel when we are in Sydney. We are hoping to worship in my No.1 son's church at Snellsbeach and then in my No.2 son's church in Auckland (he's the business pastor there). I don't what church we will be in on Tazzie but we plan to be at St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney: I know the Dean. We are due home on 28th January - but please don't tell our local burglars. So, you see it will be very restful this time.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 13, 2007 22:10:53 GMT
What are we going to do without you Rev? Please don't forget to bring me a diggerey what's it. You mean a Didgeri Don't - as in "Don't bother!" I can get a note out of one... I can do the breathing thing (in though the nose and out through the mouth at the same time)... Can I do them both at the same time? Can I ***********! Anyway, have a great time Rev, and watch out for the grumble-bums*. Glen * Drop bears to Pratchett fans, Koalas to everyone else. We're off the Tazziland this time - and then Sydney. That's after we've had three days in Thailand and ten in New Zealand. I gather the biggest bugbear in Tazzie is a little midgy.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 13, 2007 14:12:17 GMT
aw you are going on my burpday, have a wonderfull time. (whispers - I like your jokes) happy christmas. xx And to you Sarah - and I hope you have a really great birthday.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 10, 2007 17:27:19 GMT
Alleluiah! Who says prayers are not answered??? Amen to that - let's be grateful for small mercies. But never fear. I may possibly be able to think of some.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 10, 2007 8:44:59 GMT
If the bugle boys know you're not there Michael, they probably won't play outside your house anyway! I knew it was a mistake to go sounding off my own trumpet. But thanks for the reassurance anyway. (N.B. Must look more carerfully at the spell checker before I click 'replace')
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Post by revmichael on Dec 10, 2007 7:35:25 GMT
... because my wife's computer is linked to the internet and I'm now on this. However, I cannot get into my huge collection of jokes. This means that you will be blessed by their absence.
But I am back from time to time.
Thank you for your best wishes but we are off on our travels (God, and BAA workers willing) on 28th December until 28th January. (Please do not inform any local buglers). We will be 'down under' vising many friends and my latest Southern Hemisphere grandchild who is just over one year old.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 10, 2007 9:49:59 GMT
Love it, it is always funny how grown ups can still be children. ;D I agree Shem. But what a huge difference there is between being childlike - and being childish. I fear that far too many adults are too childish in their selfish desires.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 10, 2007 7:29:40 GMT
Every Christmas, composer Giacomo Puccini would have a cake baked for each of his friends. One year, having quarreled with Arturo Toscanini just before Christmas, he tried to cancel the order for the conductor's cake. But it was too late the cake had already been dispatched. The following day, Toscanini received a telegram from Puccini: "Cake sent by mistake."
He replied by return: "Cake eaten by mistake."
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Post by revmichael on Dec 19, 2007 16:37:05 GMT
The recognition of civil partnerships was a huge step in the direction that you seek. Before that gays did not have the same legal rights as a husband and wife - now they do. Since the issue of gay marriages threatens to break up the Anglican Church, there is no knowing what will happen next. However, it's worth noting that the marriage of our future king to his mistress was a civil ceremony, not attended by the groom's mother because of her role as Chief Governor of the C. of E, followed by a blessing. That's probably a fairly reliable sign of what can be expected in the near future. Remember, anyone can make vows before God to one another - The church building and vicar are hangovers from the time, before the Reformation, when it was taught that mere mortals could only approach God using a priest as an intermediary. I thought that the Anglican Church did not allow divorcees to remarry. That is one of the reasons Princess Anne remarried in a Church of Scotland church. I could well be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that some bishopd allows the incumbant to remarry divorced people if he/she felt the circumstances were in order.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 10, 2007 7:29:12 GMT
Yes Fi. I knew someone who was a high official in a Surrey Council area and he refused to remove the 'Huband or Wife' category from forms. I don't know what happened to him but I suspect he was found other work where he couldn't interfere with the polictically correct proceduce which seems to have tried to take over our lives
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Post by revmichael on Dec 8, 2007 18:06:59 GMT
... because my computer is playing up.
Sorry, but I will try to join you when I can from another machine until I get this one fixed.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 8, 2007 13:14:28 GMT
Yep, it's good to get out of your comfort-zone. After all you cannot inspect it properly from the inside. Every day should include at least one mild challenge and at least one little frightener of a challenge. Meltemi, the bus, sainsbugs, shopping and all on my own... Treated an unknown oldie to a coffee... helped on old dear with a bit of top & bottom shelf shopping-in return for a could you read this for me...? Chatted & bagged up for yet another oldie at the check out... Heaven knows how many people I managed to terrify... Hey ho coffee & ouzo happiness is...now where is the cake I thought I had bought? Thanks Mel. But I've been thinking about that coffee and ouzo. Are you sure all that coffee is good for you?
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Post by revmichael on Dec 8, 2007 8:39:07 GMT
The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.
(M. Scott Peck)
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Post by revmichael on Dec 7, 2007 19:27:52 GMT
I know it's an old one Carl, and I've been sitting on for a long time. It reminds me about those Hoffnung letters - especially the one from the German landlady offering her holiday accomodation and explaining that there is a widow in every room. Not just any widow Michael........... A French widow in every room Of course Paul. Thanks - that's much funnier.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 7, 2007 18:32:01 GMT
I know it's an old one Carl, and I've been sitting on for a long time. It reminds me about those Hoffnung letters - especially the one from the German landlady offering her holiday accomodation and explaining that there is a widow in every room. Ah memories he was excellent. And died far, far too young. What a good thing much of his material was recorded. I love the bricks and the hod one. I believe that was given at the Oxford Union.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 7, 2007 11:08:35 GMT
I know it's an old one Carl, and I've been sitting on for a long time. It reminds me about those Hoffnung letters - especially the one from the German landlady offering her holiday accomodation and explaining that there is a widow in every room. Ah chestnut season me thinks... Can you cook them in barbecue coals? If you do then don't let them pop up on to the beach so they end up in the sea. We don't want the North Sea to be contaminated.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 7, 2007 9:17:26 GMT
Groan. Have you been listening to the beloved Sarah again Michael? Worthy of a another airing anyway - *lol* I know it's an old one Carl, and I've been sitting on for a long time. It reminds me about those Hoffnung letters - especially the one from the German landlady offering her holiday accomodation and explaining that there is a widow in every room.
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Post by revmichael on Dec 7, 2007 7:39:18 GMT
A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly cold winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon forty years earlier. Now, because of their very hectic schedule, it was difficult to coordinate their travel plans. So the husband left Minneapolis and flew to Florida on Friday, and his wife was going to fly there the following day. The husband checked into the hotel, but unlike when they were there the first time forty years earlier, there was a computer in the room and he decided to send an email to his wife. As he typed out the address, however, he accidentally made a one-letter mistake in the email address.
Meanwhile, in Houston, Texas, a Baptist pastor had just had a heart attack and died. His wife returned home from the funeral and decided to check her email, thinking that there might be messages from relatives and so on. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted dead away. The widow's son rushed into the room and found his mother on the floor. He then saw the computer screen, and here is what it said:
"To my darling wife, I know that you are surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you're allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and checked in. I see that everything's been prepared for your arrival tomorrow, and I look forward to seeing you then. I hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
"P.S. It sure is hot down here!"
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Post by revmichael on Dec 12, 2007 8:43:11 GMT
A mother and baby camel are talking one day when the baby camel asked, "Mum, why have I got these huge three-toed feet?" The mother replied, "Well, son, when we trek across the desert, your toes will help you to stay on top of the soft sand." "OK," said the son. A few minutes later the son asked, "Mum, why have I got these great long eyelashes?" "They are there to keep the sand out of your eyes on the trips through the desert." "Thanks, Mum," replied the son. After a short while, the son returns and asks, "Mum, why have I got these great big humps on my back?" The mother, now a little impatient with the boy, replied, "They are there to help us store fat for our long treks across the desert, so we can go without water for long periods." "That's great, Mum. So we have huge feet to stop us sinking, and long eyelashes to keep the sand from our eyes, and these humps to store water, but Mum..." "Yes, son?" "Why are we in the London zoo?"
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Post by revmichael on Dec 19, 2007 7:38:37 GMT
This is one where I tend to agree with Hugh's position on this Many people who could not pass an exam are very capable of doing jobs that employers look for people with a degree or other qualifications to do. Too many jobs, I feel, are advertised requiring paper qualifications that are not what is needed. I have over the years met many highly qualified people doing jobs badly and I have met very successful people with no formal qualifications. It sounds in this case as though the person in question was an 'examophobe'. An example of the opposite is the PMZ who passed her physics exams with a very good score. She had memorised the formulas and everything she needed to know to pass the exam. But she is the first to admit that she didn't understand the subject. Based on her test scores she could have been offered employment in a job she would have been totally incapable of doing. The fact that this girl was offered a three month contract would have been enough to show if she could do the job or not. Leaving the employer free to try again if she had been incapable. I wonder why a test was thought necessary at all? How true that is Paul. I have to admit that for most of the things I have done I have not have any paper qualifications. In the field of the Christian ministry I have known a number of people who have, apparently, passed all of the exams and been recommended to do that job yet they have proved to be pretty useless. Sometimes they have been bone idle (and not prepared to go the extra mile) and/or they have had little or no caring nature. These kinds of qualities aren't usually assessed by a paper exam.
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