Category: Life with Pratts

Gas-Powered Movie

The power is back on, after 15 hours. And Internet access is working, too. Whew!

Yesterday afternoon we were hit by a sudden and violent thunderstorm with some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen, and hail to boot. Carol, Eric and I were watching the storm when we heard a thunderclap that was so loud it sounded as if it were next door. Well, it was. Lightning hit a large tree, the tree hit the utility wires, and out went the power on our street.

We ate out with friends from across the street, then we all watched a movie at our place. No, we didn’t gather around a portable DVD player. My portable generator came to the rescue.

Coleman Portable Generator

It has two household outlets, 110V/15A. I bought it over five years ago in case we ever need the sump pump running during a power outage. That situation hasn’t happened yet, but it did fine last night powering the 32-inch TV and DVD player.

Our neighbors brought over Bridge To Terabithia. It’s an enjoyable family movie, with a surprise plot twist. The gas tank on the generator isn’t very big, but it ran for two hours and the movie is only 90 minutes long.

Pratt Porch Project – Day 2

Not a whole lot is different today, because our contractor could work only in the morning. He ripped out all of the wall board that was projecting into the porch. He called it a “70’s-style flare-out.” The building code requires that the exhaust vent from the over-stove microwave oven, to the left of the sliding glass door, be re-routed to the roof.

Pratt Porch Day 2 Pratt Porch Day 2

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That’s fiberglass on the porch roof, by the way. We’ll be getting a proper roof, with a skylight on each side. See that other dated decoration, inside of the house? The geometric room divider? We’ll get rid of that in a future remodeling project.

A Porch There Was – Day 1

This year the pollen was rather late in arriving, but when it did it came with a vengeance! For most of my life I’ve been allergy-free, but no longer. The pollen not only made us miserable, it kept leaving a dusting of yellow on the back porch.

So we decided to remodel the porch into a 3-season room, with casement windows, electric baseboard heat, and a through-the-wall air conditioner. Today was Day 1, and what a difference a day makes! Every day that something gets done, and there will be gaps, I’ll try to post some pictures.

Pratt Porch Day 0 Pratt Porch Day 0
Pratt Porch Day 1 Pratt Porch Day 1

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The Name is Pratt. Doug Pratt.

There’s an absolutely fascinating paper (yes, I’m being sarcastic) called “Message Format Standards,” that in 1999 was presented to the Department of Health and Human Services National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. What’s interesting about it is that the paper was written by Doug Pratt, who happens to work at a leading competitor of the company where I’ve worked for 26 years. He’s a systems integration specialist and, well, so am I. Although to be precise about it, Doug specializes in the medical application layer, and I work below that, dealing mostly with LAN/WAN/SAN issues. Still, I think it’s a remarkable coincidence.

Pratt Attack – 9

Mitt Romney is no longer governor of Massachusetts. Now he’s running for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.

Being a resident of the state (or, like Virginia, “Commonwealth”), I feel Romney did one thing worthy of note. He forced Billy Boy Bulger, brother and protector of the infamous crook Whitey, out as president of the University of Massachusetts. Other than that, I’m inclined to agree with Mike Dobbs‘ opinion of Mitt Romney.

What does this have to do with my family name? Romney’s great-great grandfather was the infamous Mormon leader and polygamist Parley Pratt. Yes, the very same Parley Pratt who had 11 — no, 12! — wives, and was murdered in 1857 by the former husband of one of them. Whew!

Here’s the story of the Romney-Pratt connection:

Polygamy a prominent feature in Romney’s family tree

By Jennifer Dobner, Associated Press Writers | February 24, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY –While Mitt Romney condemns polygamy and its prior practice by his Mormon church, the Republican presidential candidate’s great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12.

Polygamy was not just a historical footnote, but a prominent element in the family tree of the former Massachusetts governor now seeking to become the first Mormon president.

Romney’s great-grandfather, Miles Park Romney, married his fifth wife in 1897. That was more than six years after Mormon leaders banned polygamy and more than three decades after a federal law barred the practice.

Romney’s great-grandmother, Hannah Hood Hill, was the daughter of polygamists. She wrote vividly in her autobiography about how she “used to walk the floor and shed tears of sorrow” over her own husband’s multiple marriages.

Romney’s great-great grandfather, Parley Pratt, an apostle in the church, had 12 wives. In an 1852 sermon, Parley Pratt’s brother and fellow apostle, Orson Pratt, became the first church official to publicly proclaim and defend polygamy as a direct revelation from God.
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