Was pleased to hear from Florida brother Larry that he, Helen, and their daughter, Nancy, will be here today. They're coming for Helen's BIL's funeral in Pennsylvania and will stay with me. (I'll probably go to the funeral with them.) Spent the day cleaning and buying groceries. Their plane gets in at 11:00 and they'll rent a car.
Invited sister Betty to come for lunch and she will. Also invited Jack B., Larry's lifelong best friend, but he has a commitment during the day and will stop in about 7:00 instead.
Went to Shop-Rite and got some stuff. Made my usual onion/pepper/garlic mix in the crock pot and will serve that along with cold roast beef, green salad, crystal pickles, and a variety of breads. A simple meal, but good.
The visitor from the north was here when I got home from shopping and helped me with some things. She invited us to her house for lunch on Saturday. I was glad to see an e-mail from her this morning, telling me how I can track her progress during the marathon in D.C. on the thirtieth.*
Still have some things to do to get ready for my company. Putting the married couple in my room, Nancy in the guest room, and I'll sleep on the pull-out in the study. This will be a good dry run for when the London contingent visit in December.
* WIDER: The marathon is sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps--so you can see, how torn a pacifist can be. I signed in to track the visitor's progress with e-mail alerts, and was taken aback to see the very prominent Nissan logo on the top of the site, with other companies represented on the botton. It's depressingly clear that there is NO way we can escape from corporatism. The companies own us and their increasing juxtaposition with government entities, even the military--or maybe especially the military--is profound, on-going, and inescapable. The post office is already a partner of Lowe's and others, and the schools (notably in Bucks County, PA**, but here in Little Egg, too) are now happy to corrupt children's minds with ads. As I recall, there was some trepidation from some parties years ago when "channel one" was introduced to schools. They were shouted down, though, by the administrators who saw nothing but educational benefits from the practice. Naturally, the companies would include some kind of commercial message, but what harm is there in that? Now it's just understood that we must indoctrinate ourselves from our earliest days with the acceptance--in fact, embrace--of consumerism, just as we do with militarism. They go hand-in-hand, as wiser minds than mine have known for years.
WIDER STILL: Backpack drones; horror piled on horrors:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20122608-503543.html
** I lived across the Delaware River from Bucks County for years and know residents of the area are notably affluent and well-educated. Can't understand why they allow this corruption of their children--but maybe they own the companies being advertised.