Of Harvey, Kilarney, Scammers and more

A great storyteller has died. I'm betting there are few Americans alive who have not heard a Paul Harvey story or two. May he rest in peace, and may good storytelling continue in his honor.

Here's a story. Maybe not a good one, but as Bill says, there's always a Sandpoint connection. In this case, it's a little almost 88-year-old lady, just two years shy of Paul Harvey's age.

Throughout our lives we heard the story of how, back in the early 1940s, our mother rode the same city bus in Kalamazoo, Mich., as Paul Harvey and how he'd changed his name from Paul Aurandt---because of ethnic prejudice and because, as was stated in an article this morning, it was hard to spell anyway.

So, my mother knew of him and saw him often in his younger days. I can also remember when my son, Willie, now a sports storyteller, loved to listen to Paul Harvey in his younger days. Willie, there's a standard for your aspirations, for sure.

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The note read: I am here! We got in 45 min early. It's beautiful...at least from
what I saw on the plane.

Love,
Annie

Dude. This was sent from my iPhone.

Well, we're anxiously awaiting photos. Today Annie is driving from Dublin to Killarney. She plans to stop at Rock of Cashel, Blarney Castle, Cork and stay the night in Killarney.

For first-person accounts and photos, keep checking her (www.rainergirl.blogspot.com).

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And, while Annie is traveling through Ireland today, my thoughts will be diverted to a very special Irishman in all our family's lives. In the next few hours, dear Fr. O'Donovan will officially receive his title as "Monsignor." And, he told me he wants to be addressed from now on as "Monsignor Tim."

I'm writing my next column about this event, so I'll be getting last minute details and taking a few photos at the Mass where the Bishop will read the declaration from Pope Benedict XIV. There's a luncheon afterward, and, if all goes well, I'll post a few photos of the happenings on my blog tomorrow.

Maybe Annie can show the folks in far off Ireland the good news about one of their own---the priest who baptized her. Of interest is that Fr. O'Donovan's family are O'Donovans on both sides, and I pretty sure they come from County Cork where Annie will be today.

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On a final note, and this one isn't so upbeat, but I believe it's worth sharing. I have kept rather mum over the past few months, only alluding to my disgust regarding the aftermath of having a building constructed to replace our storage shed which caved in last winter.

First, I'll say we are more than satisfied with the final product because, at least, we have a final product to show for money handed over to the contractor. Along with the final product, however, come a few unresolved issues. The Coeur d'Alene Press printed a story about other "victims" of the same contractor today.

All I'll add is that we were fortunate enough, among the group, to have only two subcontractors contact us----for payment of the concrete and payment of the doors and their installation----we had already paid in full in August upon completion of our building.

I am including this article today because I believe passionately that there are a lot of trusting people like us out there who need to be aware that things like this can happen and, worse yet, that they turn into an ongoing nightmare. That said, the link to the article follows, and I'd like to thank Alecia Warren for writing the story. (http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/03/01/news/news02.txt)