When Marriage Has A Term Limit

From the Washington Post

As an ordained minister of 44 years in the United Church of Christ, I have performed hundreds of weddings and have reached this same conclusion. I fully support what I prefer to call “term marriage.” Couples should have the opportunity to be legally married for a certain time period, with a contract that would expire unless they renew it. As a spiritual guide, I affirm that a couple should stay together not because they have to but because they want to. In my premarital counseling with couples, I encourage them to write their wedding vows. Some years ago I was taken aback when a couple asked that their vows end with the words “as long as love lasts.” But the more I thought about it, the more I came to agree with the concept.

Written by - Jim Todhunter, Bethesda

Harry's Note - This makes perfect sense to me. Like Term Insurance - when the policy runs out - it is over. To extend the term requires a new contract.

FSU's New Indoor Practice Field

Time Sequence by Brandon Mellor

To the tune of $15 million in booster cash - yesterday FSU opened up practice in their new indoor practice field. In August - Tallahassee gets lots of storms and lightning. This often caused practice cancellations. Now - practices will go on as planned. 

The new building can be seen from the football and baseball stadiums. It looks like a giant airplane hangar. 

FSU hopes it will be a big winner in the recruiting wars when blue chip high school athletes come a calling. We will see. 

1,200 Miles Journey in an Electric Bicycle-Car

Story in the NY Times Today

Benjamin Preston Mark Stewart is a school psychologist, and said he is taking advantage of the summer lull to undertake his epic bike trip.

Mark Stewart is a bike guy. But Mr. Stewart, a 65-year-old bicycle enthusiast, likes his car, too. By his way of thinking, he can keep his beloved yellow 1998 Saab convertible for a longer time if he rides his bike more. Simple math, he says: drive the car less, and it’ll last longer.

New York Times Company Sells Boston Globe - Check Out The Price Drop

It sold for 1/15 of what they paid for it.

From the NY Times Today

The New York Times Company said on Saturday that it had agreed to sell The Boston Globe and its other New England media properties to John W. Henry, principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, returning the paper to local ownership after two decades in which it struggled to stem the decline in circulation and revenue.

New Web Page For Our Home Construction - Seminole View

Seminole View - 1818 Seminole Drive

Bellevue - the Catherine Murat Plantation

We are starting construction on our new home this week. Lulu has gotten sick of saying in our last 3 Christmas letters that we would be in our new home the next Christmas. 

Lulu and I designed our new home to be a simple Florida Plantation structure. After we finished our design - we noticed that Bellevue - the Catherine Murat Plantation was very similar to our home design but smaller. So we have incorporated a few design features from it into our home. 

You can follow along here - 

Seminole View

Tamaqua Summer Concert Series

It's never easy when the love affair ends

by Gerald Ensley in Today's Tallahassee Democrat

Note From Harry - Gerald wrote this article and mentioned Lulu and I. It seems bloggers like to quote bloggers. Gerald writes a column for the Democrat for the last 40 years.

It’s not like I ever really loved the car.

It’s a 1994 Volvo 940 sedan. It was always too cramped for me. And it had no amenities. The Swedes put all their efforts into making crash-proof cars with good engines. They don’t worry about creature comforts like cup holders.

Harry Home From London - Lulu Will be Home Around 9 PM Tonight

I am safe at home. The house looks good - I have the laundry going - the grass is cut - the pool is clean. I am using my desktop iMac.

Lulu arrives around 9 PM if her flights work. Delta gave her $2000 credit for giving up her seat twice. She will end up arriving home about 26 hours later than she planned.

They put her up at the Hilton which was in the airport. She spent way too much time in the duty free shops.

Now it is time to start planning for the new house - the wedding - and next July in London.

Note Later - Lulu made it home at 9:30 Tuesday night. All is well.

Lulu Got a Second $1000 Bump

It is official. As I lie here on the terrazzo floor in Logan Terminal B - Lulu just was given her second $1000 bump voucher. This one is just for delaying her flight 2 hours. She will still get home tonight - $2000 richer - unless she gets another one. All this for giving up her seat twice.

From First Class to Wifeless to Homeless to First Class Plane Home

As I left London Heathrow - this guy gave me a hearty salute. I told him I would see him next year.



This is my alarm clock at the Boston Airport. It is a Zamboni machine. I feel like I am icing the puck.

I am sitting on some obscure corridor in Boston Logan Airport. It is 11 PM - I am not tired - I just slept 7 hours on the way to American from England. It is still July 29th - hard to believe. 

This morning we woke up in our apartment in London. We packed our bags and took the subway to the airport. After 20 subway stops - we were there. Lulu was supposed to fly at noon and beat me home by 7 hours.  I was scheduled to fly home at 7 PM - the long route from London to Boston to Miami to Tallahassee. When we got to the airport Lulu was informed she may be offered $1000 to give up her seat. We had to bid a speedy goodbye because security would not let me wait with her at the gate. I was going to go touring for 7 hours. 

Harry Going Home From London - Left Lulu Behind

This is a map of the London Underground made of Legos.

Today we are going home - after 23 days of London sunshine - it is back to reality. 

We had 9 guests - 13 if you count Jan and Dick - and Barb and Dennis - who were staying nearby.

We went to tons of shows - made side trips to Oxford - Malvern Link - Cambridge - Paris and Normandy. We saw several plays - Dirty Dancing - Let It Be - Billy Elliot - Bodyguard - Wicked. We went to a big air show and an MG car show. I watched them build Morgan Sports Cars. We were lucky we only had 2 rain showers the whole time. 

Lulu was bumped

$1000 voucher. Hilton for a night. Safe flight tomorrow! Yahoo!

Harry's iPhone

waiting for a bump

This is Lulu writing from London.  I am in the Delta Lounge at Heathrow waiting for a bump.  When I checked in yesterday they needed volunteers and also when I checked in here.  I will know after everyone boards.  I think it's looking pretty good. They checked my bags but put special tags on them

It Was a Roller Coaster on the West End - We Got To See The Bodyguard

This is a great video - right up to where I dropped the camera when "Whitney" grabbed my hand and sang to me - I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

This video is just to show our view from the front row - exact center - The Bodyguard. The cloud barreled down over the stage onto us. The camera was on my lap.

Saturday afternoon in the West End Theatre District it was like a roller coaster for us. We wanted to see the show - The Book of Mormon - but it is completely sold out through the month of August. For publicity - they do offer a lottery for the front row - 21 seats - 2 hours before the curtain. So we walked the mile from our flat to Piccadilly Circus - and the theatre. 

Mick Jagger, Birthday Boy

Sir Michael Phillip Jagger - once a knight is enough.

by Gail Collins of the NY Times

We interrupt our consideration of the profound political issues confronting America to point out that Mick Jagger just turned 70.

His birthday was Friday. Not much word on his emotions. Jagger did not twitter about it on his official site. So at least there’s that. Nothing is all bad if it avoids becoming a tweet.

Actually, it’s pretty clear that @MickJagger is handled by someone other than Mick himself. (“Our Hyde Park concerts have just gone live on iTunes! They were such such fun gigs, check it out!”) All his twittering is extremely dull.

For A Cheap Clean Fun Place to Eat in London - Try a Cabman's Shelter

Harry has his first lunch at a Cabman's Shelter - his new faculty room.

While walking around London - you often spy one of these cute little green houses. They look like some sort of guardhouse or restroom. Believe it or not - they are Cabman's Shelters - a little place for cab drivers to relax - have a spot of tea - and gab a bit. They remind me of the faculty room back at Panther Valley Middle School. Conversation was more important than eating. 

Walking home from the museum yesterday - Lulu decided we should try one. I was very wary of entering another man's mancave - but when I saw the sign out offering lunch - my mind was put at ease. You can buy food at the window - but the real treat is going inside. 

In the early part of the 20th century - a Cabmen's Shelter Trust Fund was set up to build 40 of these cute little restaurants. The rules stated that it could be no longer than a cab - that was when cabs had one horsepower. It is small enough that the cab driver can keep and eye on his cab - because in the old days cabs were stolen when the driver went to lunch. There are about 14 shelters left.

Inside - it reminds me of one of those Arabian tents - you know - they look small on the outside but really big inside. Can you imagine it seating 13 people? It does - you must flap the counter over to get into your seat. Once seated - your nose it about 3 feet from the person in front of you - and if you did not know him before you got in there - you will know him after a lunch. It reminded me of the old Texas Lunch in Tamaqua.

Scott served Lulu a nice ham off the bone sandwich and a spot of tea. Scott guessed her tea as plain - a little milk - Lulu complied. People sit in a U around the one end - the kitchen is a U around the other end. 

Dirty Dancing In London Was Fabulous But Not Too Dirty

The show opened with a small record player on the stage. This shot is taken from our seats.

     

Lulu was escorting her class to see a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre on the Thames River. So Lauren went along with me. Lauren is a graduate of the FSU School of Library Science. she is now a professor at the University of Rhode Island. She is visiting us after doing a presentation in York. 

The Last Dance - Dirty Dancing - The video is better near the end - I had to shield the camera and point it blindly. Maybe I should buy a pair of those camera glasses. The good part starts at the 3:30 mark.

This afternoon we walked to the box office at the Piccadilly Theatre on Piccadilly Street right by Piccadilly Circus. I did not see any animals - but we did see a fantastic musical - Dirty Dancing. We took the subway each way - it took about 20 minutes. There was still a bit of rush hour crowd on the subway at 6:30 when we left our flat.