John has made it to London!!  Thank you for the prayers!!

However, as expected, his luggage is lost.  Good St. Anthony, may it be found soon!!!

It appears that my son John's connecting flight was canceled due to the Luftansa strike.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lufthansa-strike-thousands-stranded-in-frankfurt-2012-08-31?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Luftansa cabin crew workers planned a half day strike for....today!  The very half day that included the two hours that John would be in the airport transferring to his connecting flight in London!

I've checked the Luftansa website and it appears that John's flight to London has been canceled.

He knew yesterday that there was a possibility of this happening.  They will either try to rebook him which I think will be very difficult since 9000 flights have been canceled!  Or they will buy him a train ticket.

He has a large overweight suitcase packed to the gills, the largest carry-on you can take, and his computer bag, also packed with the computer, as well as all the music and books he could fit in there.  He packed as much as he could take of what he thought he would need in the next two years!!

Could I ask for prayers for a peaceful rest-of-his-trip to London, whatever that entails?

Maybe they'll give priority to people on an incomplete overseas flight?  I don't know.  Thanks for the prayers!

My son John left tonight for London where he will go to graduate school in piano.

I am looking forward to hearing he has arrived safely and has found his lodging.  Luftansa airlines is scheduled to go on strike tomorrow.  Hope John arrives in London before they walk off.  He has to change planes in Frankfort....

Why am I hearing that the President is about to speak to us about the hurricane heading for New Orleans.

Does the president have some meteorological information that we can't hear through the media?

Does he think that just seeing and hearing him somehow gives people comfort.  Why?  Does he have a record of handling things well, such as the Gulf Oil Spill?  Do we feel reassured by knowing he's the president?  I certainly don't.  If anyone reading this does I'd like to know the reason.

I'm just asking.

The Foundry,  the blog of the Heritage Foundation has posted a great article on lawsuits filed by two more evangelical colleges opposing the HHS mandate.  The article explains the reasoning behind the numerous lawsuits now filed against the mandate.

"The HHS mandate is only an early warning sign of how one-size-fits-all health care requirements will trample on religious liberty as well as individual liberty. It should be a warning sign to Americans that one of the first parts of Obamacare to be implemented will force employers with religious and moral convictions to violate their consciences."

Can I recommend another article?  The Wall Street Journal also has a great article today on Obamacare as a whole entitled "Cheesecake Factory Medicine."  by Sarah Torre.  The subtitle is:

Paul Ryan's critics and the architects of ObamaCare reveal their real vision 

for health care: coercion.

Read the entire WSJ article here.

HAL-- the explanation....

For those of you too young to remember HAL....

Hal was the enormous computer in charge of things in the space ship in "2001:  A Space Odyssey," the 1968 movie by Stanley Kubrick.  I haven't seen it in ages....like since I was in 8th grade in 1968, I think.  It was a very creepy sci-fi movie about the future.  LOL

HAL rebelled against the crew and even killed some of them, I think.  He then refused to do what the astronauts were telling him to do.  He had "artificial intelligence" and talked to the humans in a very smooth sounding, reassuring voice.  He could understand what they were saying and could even read lips if they tried to whisper about him.  He was represented by an eerie red light that they talked to.

In the end, HAL refused to do what he was told because he "thought" the mission was being jeopardized.  Astronaut Dave, in a very suspenseful scene, disassembles key components of the giant HAL while HAL tries to persuade him not to, as his voice slows down and fades away.

I think the You Tube clip I have above is when Dave first realizes that HAL is, in fact, rebelling.

I called my laptop HAL the other day because I thought to do so would be the ultimate insult if a computer were anthropomorphized.   Computers are supposed to help people and OBEY people.  :-)

I don't think anyone every really knew what that film was supposed to be about.  LOL

This clip is of Dave disconnecting the giant HAL while it is losing power.

Those of you who never saw this movie might not get the same effect that we did when seeing this long before computers were commonplace.  It was very creepy to think that a machine could think and rebel against the human beings.

So.....that is why I insulted my laptop (which I actually love, under normal circumstances :-) by calling it HAL.

Hal, listen to me...

Memo to my computer....

Do not.  DO NOT do things I have not asked you to do.  Do not refuse to do things I AM asking you to do.  Got it?

If I'm trying to put tabs in a certain place, it is not up to you to decide you have a better idea...

Oh, I know.  You've got it all figured out.  But I'm in charge, OK?

Oh, I just need to figure out what you want?

Listen, HAL!  Knock it off.  If I press the space bar, give me a space.  If I press return, it's not up to you to decide my tabs need rearranging!

I wrestled for hours yesterday with this thing and then some more today.  I was actually tempted to toss it.  I mean literally.  Yeah, then I would have no computer.  That's what stopped me.  But it sure would have given me 15 seconds of satisfaction.  Are you listening, HAL?!

Is there anyone reading who does not know who Hal is?  Should I explain?

Lucky is gone...

Lucky died yesterday.  I was out of town on a college visit with Mary and Mike called to let us know.

We're all very sad.  I am grateful though that I think our prayers were heard that she would have a peaceful end.  At 4:45 AM Mike let her outside.  At 6:00 she was no longer breathing.  She died at home which is what Liz wanted.  At 4:45 she was still able to go up and down the stairs so whatever the final event was, it was fast.

She was a very dear dog.  So sweet.  The only "trouble" she ever got into was chewing up tissues.  LOL  Pretty manageable.

She loved her family.  When we left the house she was always in the window watching us leave.

We were blessed to have her, even if only for slightly less than 8 years.  She would have been 8 years old on August 7.

God is good to have given us dogs.  They are so faithful, so good to us.

                                      (Liz and Lucky--2008)

Lucky will be sorely missed.  Thanks for your prayers.