Pilot's Log

For the price of two Shillings (I have some weird terms for mundane money) and some legal fees, I am now officially Stephen R. Bierce, Esquire for acquiring 49.44% of Rather Manor. Dad arranged to have my name on the property deed in place of my mother's to save me the possibility of estate taxes if anything happened to him.

I'll need to get together with my siblings, my niece and my nephew about further redistribution of stupf. The problem with such family get-togethers is of course some people exercize too much EQ and do too good a job of entertaining for much to get done.

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My brother is now a Blackjack dealer at the Harrah's casino in Cherokee, North Carolina. They had no shortage of applicants but how he told me he must have been one of the best ones. I wish him all sorts of success.

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Yesterday I wasted a lot of time watching the movie THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK on TH¡S network. It was about a young man who is the illegitimate son of one of Napoleon's generals, and his travels in French high society as the post-Waterloo Reformation begins to implode. And the ghost of Napoleon himself hovers around, giving advice that eventually gets him killed. (I'm spoiling this because it is far too long a movie and so slowly paced you're better off finding the Russian version of WAR & PEACE.)

If you had a famous ghost giving you advice, would you always obey it? Or would you tell him to go to blazes and try to break the cycles?

As if to throw an exclamation point on my previous post, this hot air balloon set down on my next door neighbor's yard at dusk this evening. My mother the novelist couldn't get away with writing this. I believe she's trying to tell me something...

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They say a pix is worth a dozen tweets.

I am rooted in the reality of my situation, but there is a part of me who just wants to wake up from the nightmare, go downstairs and greet Mum as she walks back in the house from her garden.

I'm not ashamed of being a Mama's Boy. I can stand on my own two feet...but I still love her and I'm going to miss her.

[Previously posted on my Facebook webpresense:]

It's Publisher Clearinghouse Sweepstakes time. I get a mailing teasing me about a $3 Million Dream Home--but somehow I think I'd be happier with a dozen $250K homes, scattered about the nation/world. What would $250,000 US get a fella where you are?

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Miss Ruby is a permanent resident of Rather Manor. Tho' I think she's finally decided to Rest In Peace.

The Dull Thud of Autumn came; dreary, misty, overcast skies and a turn to chilly air.

Our Mail carrier's SUV had a flat tire when she came to our driveway, so she spent a couple hours in our hospitality while Dad removed the flat tire and I helped him retrieve and mount the spare on the hub. The Mail carrier told us that she had two flats this week, and was thinking that maybe Fate was trying to tell her to find something else to do. She's been a good Mail carrier, and we'll miss her if she decides to retire, but I wouldn't blame her if she does.

Overday the neighbor gave Dad and Mum half a watermelon.

Diplomacy reigns.

AT&T has the best customer service system in the world. I mean it. They hire terrific people and you can reach some of them 24/7.

But that nice, ardent, professional woman and her good work is lost on me today because her phone makes her sound like she's way in the back of a shipping container she shares with a stepdown power transformer.

Still, in spite of this difficulty and others I've endured over the last few weeks, I was able to on this day:

*) Pay the first Wireless Internet bill for Rather Manor (although it was past due)
*) Correct the billing information for the Wireless Internet account (so it wouldn't bounce back like the first bill did)
*) Link the Wireless Internet account with the Landline account for Rather Manor so
*) We might be able to BUNDLE services and save some moolah

And I did it on ATT.com, whose veracity measures are needlessly difficult for legitimate users while still leaving gaping holes for cyberfraudsters. Tho' I doubt there can be a lot gained from the information available to the phone company and the individual endusers.