Talkin about religion and politix at the gas station - third day of Cowbell power outrage

9:45 PM ELECTRICITY IS BACK ON. Thanks, neighbor Linda, for calling me at Donna's.

How long does it take Ruth Deming to fill up at the Giant supermarket gas station?

TWENTY MINUTES b/c I had to keep going inside. Twas there I met Ken Schroeder - which is possibly how you spell his name -  who asked, "Can I get $200 worth of gas?"

"You must be the guy who's getting $200 worth of gas," I said to Ken. He owns a landscaping company in Bryn Athyn, PA.

Are you a Swedenborgian? I asked.

Yep. Been one all my life. Lived in Bryn Athyn all my life.

So, you believe in an afterlife, I said.

Yes, don't you?

Nope. I believe this is IT!

He's absolutely positive there's an afterlife.

What a comfort that must be.

Just yelled upstairs to Donna for her answer.

I'm on the fence, she said. I need proof.

Isn't any, I yelled back, remembering Houdini ("Harry Weiss" who promised he'd give everyone a sign after he died.....by a punch in the abdomen w/o warning and hadn't had a chance to flex his muscles).

Then I ask Ken the Landscaper if he was for Ron Paul. Many signs in Bryn Athyn advertised Paul.

Yes, he said, less government is better.

Well, I think we've turned the tide, I said, and those days are gone forever. He said it's never too late and it can be done little by little.

Dream on.

Let's get a nice photo of the gardens at The New Church in Bryn Athyn.

We talked about the great cultural venues on the grounds such as Cairnwood - read my awesome blog post about it here - and the original home of John Pitcairn - is it Cairncrest - thank goodness I just remembered the name in the nick of tine- Cairnwood Estate - dig this, I've never been inside.

Bought Halloween candy for the little beggars

Twenty dollars worth of candy and then I get an email from the township commissioner and the police department suggesting we celebrate Halloween on Saturday due to the dark streets.

My son Dan wrote on FB:

I have mixed feelings about our municipal government rescheduling Halloween. What's next? Postpone Easter due to low egg harvests? Fat Tuesday on a Friday? The line between order and tyranny is a thin one indeed.

Sorry, Dan, but I think it makes sense. I left the candy at home. No way I'd bring it to Donna's, me with my "Diabetes Rules my Life" situation.

But it's not a death sentence!

The fellow I wrote about last nite, Jimmy, who is 62, is fighting throat cancer and a tumor in his brain stem. The man seriously does not care if he's gonna live or die.

"I should've been dead a long time ago," he told us. He is a man of a million stories and I do hope to write about him anonymously.

He is a very good man.

I asked him what the doctors thot the cancer is from. They usually have a theory about this.

I don't care about none of that, he said. My wife goes with me and takes notes, but I don't need to know. I just wanna move forward.

He goes in the PET scan but never brings his dog with him.

I stopped home today for my mail and my male.

Scott was freezing in his house. He left for work at SEPTA at 6 pm last nite and drove. Broken branches all over necessitating re-routing himself and traffic lights were out.

He knows the route so he'll leave home tonite at 8 oclock. What the hell is he doing at home in the dark? "I have flashlights," he said. "I'll figger it out."

When I left for Donna's, I checked the fallen trees on Terwood Road.

Good news....

You can see that the huge tree at Terwood and Greyhorse has been cleared to the side. Verizon trucks are also working in our neighborhood to fix downed wires.

Am gonna watch Love Free or Die on PBS tonite, a documentary about Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal Archbishop who, at his consecration in 2003, wore a bullet-proof vest.

God loves everyone, including YOU and me!