Chris Hansen’s blog

HWMBO told me yesterday that the Sky satellite TV box was not working. The only thing on the TV screen was “No Satellite Signal being received”. I went through all the diagnostic stuff that their website suggested, and none of it worked. I then had the bright idea of going outside and taking a look at the dish, and it seems that the cable from the dish to my TV has been pulled around a bit, perhaps by someone throwing a rock or using a pole. It’s hanging off the dish rather than being fastened to it. So I called Sky and, oddly enough, got a very polite person who was helpful and only tried to sell me one thing (a Sky+ box, which is like a TiVo box). I declined politely. He actually wanted me to go to an independent installer, but I told him that I just wanted it fixed, didn’t want a service plan, and how much was it.

July 27, 2008 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sermon delivered at St. John the Evangelist, 10 am.
Readings: I Kings 3:56, 7-12; Ps. 118; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52

In the name of God, the one, the Undivided Trinity. AMEN.

Three priests were walking along a cold, rocky beach in England one day: a vicar, and his two curates. One of the curates stumbled over a bottle washed up on the shore and it broke.

Suddenly a great cloud of mist arose from the remnants of the bottle and a genie formed amid the mist. He looked around, blinked, and said to the three startled priests:

Last night I got back from Nuneaton having discovered, by chance, that it is at almost the exact geographical centre of England. W00t! HWMBO was seeing a departing co-worker off, and didn’t manage to get home until 9 pm! So instead of home-cooked duck we had Indian food at the shopping centre. Back home and to bed, warmly and with a fan.

This morning we had cereal instead of toast because we forgot to buy any bread yesterday…such an exciting life we lead. We went to Tate Modern this afternoon to see the Cy Twombly exhibition. We got separated inside it, and I thought HWMBO was behind me when he was actually in front of me. I sat there until I got a phone call in the middle of the exhibit (very embarrassing). I rushed through the rest of the rooms, which didn’t annoy me too much as I have trouble appreciating Twombly. I suspect I didn’t miss much.

We then had a drink at Starbucks, and walked to Waterloo Station so that HWMBO could get some cake for himself from Marks and Spencers. They didn’t have the exact kind of cake he wanted, so he got strawberry cheesecake. I won’t be having any…

Duck, corn-on-the-cob, and carrots for dinner. I then started ripping massive amounts of CDs to my new iPod and HWMBO is watching Ugly Betty. We have also discovered that there’s a problem with our Sky (either the antenna or the box). We don’t pay for maintenance, so I expect we’ll be paying a bundle for someone to come out. However, it should be less of a bundle than if we paid a maintenance fee.

Tomorrow I’m preaching at St. John’s, then vegging. Need to buy train tickets for Brighton Pride next Saturday, and for Nuneaton all week.

• 06:31 @boyshapedbox : getting your front or back buzzed might be dirtier still… #
• 06:32 morning tweeters….off to breakfast and get ready to face a virgin (train) soon… #
• 18:44 evening, tweeters! back from nuneaton..absurdly slow virgin delayed me and then tube train stood in euston for 5 minutes… #
• 18:44 now out to dinner with our friend robbie…w00t! haven’t seen him in ages! #
• 22:55 night night, all. i still need to write my sermon for Sunday, and time is getting shorter and shorter and shor and sho and sh and s…… #

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Have a look at this…not many of you will be familiar with the gentleman on the left; many of you will be familiar with the gentleman on the right. Which one has a global following of 300 million people? Thanks to Father David Heron for posting it and to MadPriest for drawing my attention to it.

• 11:28 @fonsus : WAP! #
• 21:06 @jspin : welcome back! #
• 21:09 @fonsus : that’s too bad…i was looking forward to watching your tooth brushing! #
• 21:48 back from the gym, fed and watered now, bed soon as it’s back to Nuneaton tomorrow… 🙁 #
• 23:01 good night tweeters…off to bed as i’m off to nuneaton tomorrow…don’t do anything i wouldn’t do… #

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When you’re looking to get to Gibraltar from Turkey, you would probably drive north then take a left turn somewhere in France. This gentleman trusted his satnav, and look where it got him!

If you are a user of Tesco’s online shopping service, you may end up splitting up with your partner, especially if you look at your favourite items list.

The part I remember best is sitting on a stage next to Tony Blair, who is going to introduce John Prescott (Note for non UKans: Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the UK, and John Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister, and a man prone to gaffes and verbal fuffle) who will be giving a speech.

So someone introduces Tony Blair, who goes on to introduce John Prescott. Prescott comes to the podium, talks for a bit about Blair, and then introduces Blair again to give a speech. Blair, puzzled, goes back, says a few more words, and says that Prescott will give a speech.

You guessed it: Prescott introduces Blair again who shrugs and gives a strange little speech. I left the stage at this point and went to the furthest part of the venue, way up in the rafters, to retrieve my luggage.

• 09:07 if your iTunes has songs not in proper albums and missing album art, try TuneUp: tinyurl.com/63dldg it rocks! #
• 09:07 oh, and good morning Tweeters. #
• 10:13 @fonsus : indeed it is. twitter away! we want to hear more! #
• 10:13 btw, TuneUp is only for Windows, AFAIK. #
• 11:00 just mowed the lawn as it started to sprinkle…very lucky as it hasn’t been cut in weeks. #

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I have been looking through the mass of papers I got from my uncle’s estate this afternoon, and came across again the letter that my great-uncle Hervey W. Child wrote to his parents from prison. I thought I’d transcribe it for posterity.

It is headed “Passed J. O’G.”

Date: February 16, 1930
From: Hervey W. Child
Box 00, Number 25406, West Concord, Mass

To. Mrs. Robert A. Child
Number 758 Allen St.
Springfield, Mass.

Dear Mother and Dad:

Well another week has gone and I hope finds us very near the end, feeling fine and everything all right.

I received all your letters last week and was glad to hear that the agent called on you and I hope everything is all right and my release comes up to morrow and I shall see you Tuesday. I am anxiously awaiting the letter I get to morrow, letting me know if you will be down after me.

It snowed a little last night and is blowing to day, but I hope you can make it all right.

Well, the year is almost done and to look back over it, it seems so short. The longest time has been this last week, but it will soon be over, I shall be home.

Home, that word, means to me a lot more than ever before, and I can hardly wait until I am there and I know that we all shall be happy.

I feel that I shall be ever indebted to you Dad and to Mr. Wilbur for getting me a job and I know, whatever comes up I shall make good.

I surely hope that Harold (Note: Harold was my grandfather and Hervey’s brother.) can get up over the holiday and we here will have a good time, am wondering if Hayden (Note: Harold and Hervey’s brother, my great uncle) is to be there to (sic).

Well I cannot think of anything more to write so will close for this time and I real (sic–probably “really”) hope I shall see you bright and early Tuesday morning. We will sure have a good ride home, and I hope it is a nice warm day.

Lots of love to you both,

Hervey W. Child, Box 0025406, West Concord, Mass.

The back has a printed notice:

During their first four months in the reformatory, prisoners may receive visits once in two months. After four months, providing they are promoted to the First Grade, they may receive visits once a month. Visits are allowed from immediate relations only, except that friends, not exceeding two in number may come with members of the family on any regular visiting day except Saturday. Prisoners will be allowed to write twice a month while in the second grade and each week after reaching the first. Correspondence will be restricted to immediate relatives and to business and family affairs; except that, once each month a letter may be written to a friend. No visitors admitted on Sundays or holidays. Visitors are not allowed to give to or to receive from any risoner any article or thing. A violation of this rule will cause the prisoner to forfeit the privilege of receiving visits. No confectionery, fruit or other articles from friends of prisoners will be admitted into the reformatory. Visiting hours one to four P.M. Visits limited to one hour. Persons coming from Boston should take a train from the North Station for West Concord. (198 11-1-’29 5M)

It’s touching letter. I was told by my mother that Hervey was convicted of stealing money from a church poor box. Apparently he got a year for it. He was nearly 31 at the time of his conviction (from his dates of birth) so it seems he was kind of a wastrel. His handwriting is a bit childish and not the copperplate handwriting we have been led to expect from people born in the 19th Century.

I am now wondering if I can get access to the records of his trial and conviction. I am presuming so, but don’t have any notion of how except by writing to the courts in Massachusetts. I will think about this.

We hosted the ever bubbly Chris-from-Trawna (aka ) overnight yesterday as he wended his way from Preston Lancs to Canterbury to serve as a volunteer with Integrity’s presence there. We then got in touch with , also Chris-from-Brixton, who after much Twittering and txting finally got in communication with us. We met at Holborn Underground station, but found that Belgo Bierodrome on Kingsway was crowded with lots of office workers trying to get leglessly drunk. So we ended up at ASK on Southampton Row, which was quite good.

So there is one picture, taken by HWMBO, of this Three-Chris-.con, presented for your delectation below.

Chris-from-Trawna is now en route to Canterbury, I have mowed the lawn, I don’t know what Chris-from-Brixton is doing at the moment, and it’s raining lightly in London. Greetings to the soc.motss .con attendees gathered in Providence, Rhode Island.

…and many happy returns of the day.

…but, thanks to the silly US Government, I got my $300 economic stimulus cheque this morning. This will stimulate the savings account (because that’s where I’m going to put it) but do nothing to stimulate the US economy.

I didn’t think they’d send money to expats who had to pay taxes, but this means that last year I made $245.00 from the US Government, the first time they’ve ever given me anything since 1994 when I moved to London for good.

…and many happy returns of the day (I think you’re on holiday and probably won’t see this, but it’s for the record!)

• 21:36 evening tweeters. another day in nuneaton, now working at home for two days. #

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• 15:30 On train earwigging a very sad conversation between an overbearing dad and timid son. London in 20 minutes. #
• 16:44 Back from Nuneaton…looks like I’ll be a frequent commuter for the next month and a half. #
• 20:30 back from diocesan board of finance meeting. trying to buy train tix for 2morrow and catch up with lj friends… #
• 21:52 nearly ready for bed…knackered like @danvesma #
• 21:58 @chrys : glad you’re better… #

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• 18:22 cheers, all. had a heavy day of meetings, and i think they’ll keep me on…off to the movies with +gene and ian! #

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The UK premier of “For the Bible Tells Me So” was at Queen Elizabeth Hall tonight, and HWMBO and I went. We met Chun and two of his friends at the door–Chun is an old mate of mine from Long Yang Club days (not bfs, just friends). We walked, and then separated as we were in row G and they were in row DD.

The movie was fantastic. There is no better testimony to the fallacies that people spout about the Bible than this movie. Everyone ought to see it. Bishop Gene Robinson was only a part of it; his parents were in it, as were many gay men, lesbians, and their parents. There were Biblical experts who carefully and correctly explained why the Bible says nothing about modern-day homosexuality but lots about ritual in Biblical times.

Then Sir Ian McKellen introduced Gene, who was resplendent in a white suit, purple shirt, and pectoral cross and collar. He talked about how the movie was made, how he knew that he really needed to be in it (after the filmmaker penetrated the layers of security around Gene before his consecration to talk to him about it), and the sentiments expressed.

I asked the first question: “I understand that after disinviting you to the Lambeth Conference, Archbishop Rowan actually sent the Diocese of New Hampshire a request for $4,000 to support the conference. Did you send him any money?”

Gene laughed and said, “That’s not true. They asked for $7,000. Why they couldn’t have removed the letter with the money request in it when they removed my invitation I can’t imagine. I didn’t respond.”

There were other very respectful question, some very moving (such as the person who asked about transgender and bisexual rights within the lesbian and gay community).

We met Chun and friends again at the door and ended up at Pizza Express talking about all sorts of things including the North Shore of Massachusetts, since one of his friends had lived in Salem for a year and a half.

What a pleasant and inspiring evening.

• 18:11 @besskeloid : i enjoyed it… 😉 #
• 18:13 chilling this afternoon. actual work tomorrow, unfortunately. then “for the bible tells me so” at southbank with +gene and ian mckellen w00t #
• 22:02 hope everyone is enjoying the fleeting end of the weekend. i’m ready to call my brother then turn in… #

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• 07:52 morning, tweeters. surprisingly, slept well even though jetlagged. #
• 11:42 jetlag now returning…i’m off to rest before the bishop’s reception for Lambeth bishop attendees this afternoon at 6. #
• 16:31 off to see the bishops Southwark is hosting for the Lambeth Conference. Free food AND bishops, w00t! #
• 22:30 back from the party; didn’t meet any bishops as the crush around them was too tight. lots of torontonians including a woman bishop. #

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Usual stuff up to the signature at the bottom of the email:

MR LEX LUTHOR
Special Adviser To The President
Federal Republic Of Nigeria

And I suppose that Superman has something to do with this as well…

…courtesy of The Register, suggests necrophilia in reverse, and would also suggest that headline writers on Web news sites whould be cautious about what they put on their title bar…

• 00:23 ‘night tweeters. i hope the melatonin works! #
• 09:07 morning tweeters…off to have some blood taken shortly, then I can have breakfast. #
• 09:07 @fonsus : does bowling with women equate to castration, then?? 😉 #
• 10:08 back from the vampire, and breakfasted, now have to tackle a week’s worth of email. #
• 10:29 @fonsus : i’m sure you’d rather do many more things with ns boys than _bowl_ 😉 #
• 20:13 evening, tweeters. just dined at nando’s at the elephant. 1/2 hour wait for food…bleagh. am now wide awake, drat. #
• 23:57 well, tweeters, off to the land of nod (I hope). #

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…and many happy returns of the day!

• 00:58 about to close down my uncle’s computer and go pack my bags for tomorrow. CU in London Thursday night.. #
• 00:59 night night tweeters! #
• 22:27 hi tweeters. back from the US with minimym hassle, but HWMBO is out pubing with an ex colleague 🙁 #

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• 12:33 @urbanbohemian : we still have cubes in the UK. Come and visit and load up on some cubes sometime! #
• 12:35 @urbanbohemian : all the cute mormon missionaries do some bedroom wrestling to keep fit, i think. #
• 12:36 @urbanbohemian : well, try it out. hair is (for most) a renewable resource. ever shaved your head? that’s HAWT! #
• 12:37 morning tweeters! Day to start cleaning up uncle’s apartment. will try to check in occasionally. #
• 16:37 finished packing up my uncle#s music and papers and books. signed updike 1st editions, w00t! #
• 16:38 also lots of family pictures. have packed them away for examination in the fall when i return. #
• 19:20 getting to grips with my uncle’s effects. I think that it’ll be ok. tired and hot though (no, not HAWT). #
• 19:50 My uncle’s eulogy: tinyurl.com/5ce3s4 #

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I am Chris Hansen, Dick

• 11:56 morning, tweeters. wake went relatively well yesterday. funeral in a few hours, then cleanup begins! #

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I would love to see someone do this in London: twins take the subway in New York and make a splash.

• 14:26 morning tweeters. trying to embed an mp3 file i have into live journal. anyone got an easy method without fuss to do that? #

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Had a good evening yesterday. My sister Ruth, our friend Linda, and I went out to dinner and then to the barn so that Ruth could take care of her horses. The restaurant is called Not Your Average Joe’s, and when we were seated a good-looking black man came up to our table as our waiter and was camp as tits. This was quite entertaining, as I had my first alcohol since the antibiotics ended (a margarita) and decided to flirt shamelessly. He knew what was going on, and we were all amused. I tipped him $10 in cash, saying that I knew that tips which were put on credit cards never reached the server, and winked at him when I left. This is the kind of thing that keeps older guys alive, I think. There’s no penalty for it either, as we both know that we’re most unlikely to meet again (I said that I was from London).

I was absolutely zonked out as soon as I got back to Marblehead, so went directly to sleep.

This morning, I sent a copy of the music I’m going to play during the eulogy to my uncle’s close friend in Florida, so that she could hear it too. She sounds really nice (from her emails) and will probably get together with Harold and Ruth when she comes back up here at the end of July on holiday.

Today I have to convince Harold that ordering things like replacement lamps for his TV and replacement batteries for his cordless phones is better than traipsing all over the North Shore looking for them. As the prices are right, I think it might work.

I am going to try to take all of my uncle’s music off the computer onto my memory stick, and leave the hard drive. I have discovered that his license allows you to install the software on two computers so I should be able to install it on mine in the US. When I get back I’ll set this computer up for him upstairs and show him how to use it.

• 11:23 arrived in boston on time. was unexpectedly upgraded to premium economy. w00t! spooky sitting at my uncle’s computer #
• 11:24 Happy Pride Day, all you Londoners! Fourth year in a row I’ve missed it 🙁 #
• 13:46 @fj hope you see HWMBO and our friend Mark. I do wish I could be there this year in my kilt. #
• 16:32 my tummy is still on London time. I got hungry so had some hot dogs. it’s only 11:30 am here. #
• 17:46 @tug no, i was frugal in the hot dog department. only having three small ones. they were my uncle’s, as my bro had no food in the house #
• 17:47 just finished writing my uncle’s eulogy. it’s about the same length as my sermons are…first time i’ve done one. #

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I went to work yesterday to have a meeting with my new boss. I was pretty short with him, in that I’ve been mismanaged for most of the time I’ve been with them. I told him of my strong desire to stay near London, for medical and social reasons. He said “Have you read your contract? What would you do if we sent you to Leeds?” I replied, “I have, and I’d quit.” When I get back he has some material for me to look at and critique, and we will see how that goes. He doesn’t seem to be unreasonable, but sometimes forthrightness on my part will go a long way.

I rushed home after the meeting, changed and gathered my things, and headed for the airport. I wasn’t aware that the Heathrow Express no longer calls at Terminal 4! You have to get off at Terminals 1, 2, and 3 and wait for a Heathrow Connect (the slow local service) to go to Terminal 4. I’m glad I wasn’t pressed for time, or else I’d have been eating my fingernails down to the bone.

Got to Terminal 4 finally, and tried to check in at the kiosk. No luck. An assistant helped for a bit, then referred me to the desk, where after a while I got checked in. She got me an aisle seat, and I thanked her and said “It’ll be a blessing, as it’s not a joyful trip, as I’m going to a family funeral.” She wished me condolences, and sent me on my way. Security was (oddly enough for a Friday evening in July) a breeze, relatively speaking, and I emerged into the waiting area, where I shopped, had a coffee, and got ready for the flight.

When it was time to board, I figured it would be simple. I gave them my boarding pass, and when they scanned it it went “Thunk” instead of “Beep”. They puzzled over it for a minute, and finally printed out another pass. With a smile, the attendant said, “Oh, I see now. You’ve been upgraded!” And so I had, to premium economy, with more room to stretch and a better seat. The food was the same, however. I will have to write to BA expressing my gratitude for the arrangements–I had been meaning to write compaining that I couldn’t check in online, but I’ll leave that aside. It’s nice to have help like that when travelling for such a somber reason.

The flight was pretty smooth: the seat-belt sign didn’t go on once. Disembarking in Boston was also interesting as for the first time I could see the privileged First-Class passengers leaving first. No hitches, and I got here in good time. It was interesting flying over Boston and seeing the fireworks from above! They were quite spectacular, and we saw several displays from various places on the way in.

Didn’t sleep much, and had a dream in which my other foot got infected. Ugh! Now dogsitting while my brother goes to a fireman’s muster in Maine (I was looking forward to going, but dogsitting is more important!). Collecting my thoughts for the eulogy I’ll be writing tomorrow.

I was looking through my uncle’s papers, and found not only my great-grandparents’ marriage certificate (I think I’d seen that before), but also a couple of things that made me think:

First was a letter from my great-uncle Hervey to his parents. The thing was, it was in pencil and it was written from prison, where he was doing time for theft. I haven’t transcribed it yet, but I think it’s worth it.

Second was a letter from my grandfather to his parents, i which he talks about his education, his work (I think it must have been in the late 1920’s, after my uncle was born and in the midst of the Great Depression). Very touching.

I don’t think there’s much more to discover, but as he wanted me to have his books and papers, I’ll see what I can do to preserve and use them.

PS: My uncle’s phone just rang, and I answered it with a bit of trepidation, as I was dreading having to tell someone else that he’d died. Fortunately, it was a wrong number. Narrow escape!

• 06:01 morning tweeters. busy day ahead as i have a big meeting at work then have to rush for the airport. #
• 06:13 been one of those days already…sigh! #
• 07:55 at work now…the office is mainly deserted and they’re cleaning the coffee machine…argggggh! #
• 07:56 @soveren people have been asking that question for centuries. all i can say is that it is as it is, and we must be as good as we can. #
• 09:10 twittering from work through computer at home. LogMeIn is pretty good for such things… #
• 09:43 @tug : i guess imaginary friendship is not confined to imaginative children. What is FF?? #
• 13:15 @tug thanks for that. have parked it for when I get back from the states. #
• 13:29 off to a meeting now, then to the airport. next twitter time unknown. #
• 18:28 At Heathrow waiting for BA239 to be ready. Will check into Twitter tomorrow. Cya tweeters! #

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• 08:16 morning tweeters. i looked at identi.ca — wonder if it will be the twitter-killer as twitter is committing technical suicide all by itself. #
• 12:39 @fonsus : snack? looks like dinner to me. I hope it was good. #
• 12:40 just had lunch, more tortellini. nibble from work for an assignment possibly but otherwise still at leisure. #
• 12:55 just took the last of the antibiotics. let’s hope that all the bugs are dead. #
• 13:08 just received the post…passed the Intermediate Certificate exam with 19 out of 25 correct. W00t! #
• 13:55 @fonsus : i’ve been here for almost 15 years, so i have british sensibilities when it comes to portion control… #
• 13:55 @chrys : i’ll be in the US for the funeral during pride. will ask HWMBO what he’s going to be doing. #
• 13:56 @juzzywuzzy : ic. thanks. haven’t quite gotten my mind around it yet but will continue to try. #
• 15:37 @soveren : what kind of business do you want to start up? #
• 16:19 @urbanbohemian : that’s nuthin: i once found my tester’s printout of his Gaydar fuckbuddy’s picture on the office printer. #
• 19:31 i hate BA…they would not allow me to checkin with my confirmed flight details and now i will have to ckeck in at the airport #

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Super-cute pictures of pandas who I assume are your close relations are in this blog.

From the Salem News:

Louis R. Child

MARBLEHEAD

…which I talked about in this previous post, and, luckily, I passed. You can tell as it comes in a cardboard-stiffened envelope, whereas a fail comes in a regular envelope. I got 19 out of 25, which is not shabby but just short of a distinction. Oh, well, I’ll take what I can get, because before I thought I might be likely to flunk.

I have put it on my CV, and we’ll now see whether it helps any.

• 09:55 morning all. another gloomy day in london, rain expected. i still have nothing to do at work. Argh! #
• 12:45 lunchtime. sky still grey and it’s raining. i want to get a better job where i have something to do! wah! #
• 23:00 @soveren : hump day? you only get laid once a week? #
• 23:06 almost ready to turn in… #

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A few days ago our friend Eth and I were bemoaning the fact that in all the newspapers, TV, radio, and internet news, every item seems to be bad news. Then you come across this story in the Daily Mail, which newspaper I wouldn’t even use to wrap fish in the normal course of events, and you think, “Hey, there IS some good news after all!”

A medical doctor (who shall remain nameless, of course) asked me to connect on LinkedIn. I am a member of various lists that encourage linking, so I accepted his invitation. His business was around healthcare with an emphasis on healthy living, so I enquired about it, thinking that it was some sort of motivational method. I got back an email which made it plain that you had to buy some food from him to do this method, and that since he couldn’t ship it to the UK (for some unspecified reason) I would be able to get some by having it shipped to an address in the US and then reshipped here.

I thought to myself, “That’s more complexity than I want to handle,” and emailed him to that effect, and said that when and if he shipped to the UK I would revisit the subject.

In return, I got this email:

I got that. Just let me know when you decide that a fortune robbing, premature, painful, prolonged death is, indeed, more complex than the simple details of shipping to you the solution to your health problems.

Gobsmacked, I replied:

Goodness, your bedside manner leaves much to be desired. Please don’t communicate with me any more, thanks.

and proceeded to delete him from my LinkedIn contacts list.

I suppose that he was sick the day they taught bedside manner in medical school.

• 08:24 @soveren : National Geographic Channel here in the UK. #
• 09:05 @soveren : what, where, or who is “great barr”? Enquiring minds want to know! #
• 11:29 back from the foot clinic. i do wish there was a joined up NHS #
• 12:19 got a call from an employment agency. a job i’m not suited for and is 5K less than i make now was perfect for me, according to him… #
• 13:01 @tug : don’t know yet, haven’t gotten the results. #
• 23:11 @soveren : employment agents are just pimps, without the suave, debonaire mannerisms. but, i need a new job so i need to consult the pimp! #
• 23:12 night night all…another boring day to come tomorrow… #

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…like me? Read this article about some alternatives/ It’s the New York Times, so may require login (I’m not sure any more…)

• 05:57 @besskeloid : if i did have a tail, would you like me even more? 😉 #
• 05:58 morning all. i think i need to get more newsy in my tweets rather than just greeting everyone. will think about this today. #
• 07:23 @juzzywuzzy : no, i need to say more than just “good morning” and “good evening.” i’ll get there, just will take a while. #
• 07:24 We owe business computing to this man and Lyons Corner Shops; he died earlier this month: tinyurl.com/4caulf #
• 11:46 @tug : i agree. what with risk assessment and ROI these days, it’s hard to launch anything truly amazing today. #
• 11:47 @fonsus : calories? too many! too much sugar, salt, fat. If you want to end up like me eat lots of this. occasional treats are ok. was this? #
• 11:48 back from the foot clinic. they seem to think i’ll live though they pushed antibiotics for another week. i couldn’t drink at the funeral! #
• 18:08 just watched Air Crash Investigation; I don’t know why it’s so fascinating just before I get on a plane to the US… #
• 22:43 off to bed shortly. nighty-night to all. #

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Few people are aware that one of the first business computers was built to help run a chain of tea-shops here in the United Kingdom. The designer of that computer, which was (according to the article) 100,000th as powerful as a desktop PC today, has died at the age of 92. Those of us who work in computer-related businesses owe him a lot. Next time you have a cup of tea or coffee, raise a toast to David Caminer and Lyons Corner Shops.

• 07:45 @thecliffy : glad to hear you’re so happy. i was happy when i lived on Castro… #
• 07:46 morning all. listening to Sunday on Radio4 and reading my lj friends list…thinking about trip back to MA this week for uncle’s funeral. #
• 12:32 back from church…was the rector’s 62nd birthday so the home stretch is near… #
• 21:50 travelling to Boston on 4th July and returning to the UK 10th July. Funeral is a week from Tuesday. #
• 23:55 @urbanbohemian : nothing is too vulgar for moi, darling. bring it on! #
• 23:56 done my pills for the week, so time for bed. c u all tomorrow, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. #
• 23:57 @mkrigsman : someone said that bad technology doesn’t kill of a project, bad management does. #

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When I was a kid I was not very popular, and I was often not invited to parties and after school events. But I didn’t go crying to the teacher about it, and I certainly didn’t think I was being discriminated against. No one thought in those terms in the 1950’s. Well, a school in Sweden thinks in those terms now…

• 10:03 morning all. no plans for today except to veg and hope that i snap out of this after the antibiotics are finished. #
• 18:36 just got word my uncle died in Marblehead. will probably return for the funeral end of week. #

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