Was able to get to Home Depot for the furnace filters, then stopped at BJ's. Found frozen chicken strips that I'm hoping Pat will like. Somebody was offering samples and they tasted great--very tender and moist.
Ray came over about 12:30, after calling first. He stayed 45 minutes or so, chatting with Pat at the kitchen table. I'm sure he thought Pat was finishing lunch, but it was actually breakfast. He brought Pat a lottery ticket, good for five thou. Well, good if you win, that is, which he didn't. Pat enjoyed his visit. however. Ray is a neat guy.
I really dislike Comcast's latest e-mail "improvements." It takes more "clicks" to get to the inbox and it's much more laborious to delete messages, unless I'm missing something. Similarly to the much-publicized change to digital T.V., it's more complicated, it takes longer, and there seems to be no reason for the change except to benefit the corporation. (So what else is new?)
Wider: There's a very long article by Chalmers Johnson about the stupendous and crippling over-spending by the Department of "Defense" (read "War" or "Aggression") and how it got that way. It's mind-boggling and needs to be read:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/