Grade Z

NOTE:   

1.  The following isn't for the Easily Frightened or those Prone to Nightmares.  Unfortunately, that Describes Me Perfectly, but being a sucker for intriguing headlines, I've already read it.  

2.  I'm posting this article from today's Daily Mail (London) because it's so persistently timely.  We were just discussing declining professional standards this morning (could they possibly decline further, i.e., below current Grade Z-level?)   Daily fresh evidence, new examples, mount up on the doorstep, out into the street and down the avenues.  Occasionally, they phone you up, announce themselves without embarrassment, and say "I'm here to ruin your life."  Mostly, they leave you unpaid and/or on the hook for something, i.e., they neither phone nor return your call. 

Once, a long time ago, during my shoddy adolescence (which continued, as I recall, until I was about 28 or so), my mother said to me, critically, a little unkindly, but in retrospect, correctly: "I guess I'm just not a member of the casual generation."  

Thank heaven (and Elie Trichet) these divers were rescued.

Two scuba divers saved by passing yacht after charter boat left them to DIE at sea

Stranded: Paul Kline and fellow diver Fernando Garcia Puerta were abandoned miles from land when their charter boat left without them

By:  Richard Luscombe In Miami

Last updated at 3:33 PM on 5th October 2011

      Two terrified divers were left stranded in shark-infested waters when their charter boat disappeared.

      Paul Kline and Fernando Garcia Puerta had to cling to a buoy for two hours after surfacing from their late-afternoon dive in the Atlantic Ocean three miles from Miami and finding no trace of their boat.

     'We were in shock. We could easily have died,' Kline, 44, told the Miami Herald.

'If night had fallen, the situation would have turned into panic.'

     He said they kept talking to each other throughout their ordeal 'to try to keep up our high spirits'.

     Mr Kline, a married father of six fromTexas, told WSVN-TV that he could only think about getting back to his family while stranded in the water.

     He said: 'I wasn't giving up anytime soon.'

  

Horror: The terrifying ordeal has been compared to the 2004 film Open Water

     Mr Kline and Mr Puerta, a Spanish tourist, were eventually spotted by the crew of a passing yacht and brought safely to shore.

     'You could notice a strong feeling of relief,' said Elie Trichet, captain of the No 

Compromise which was returning to Miami from the Florida Keys when his passengers saw themen clutching their diving equipment.

     'They had been clinging to that buoy for two hours hoping somebody would rescue them.'

     The rescued divers each paid $85 for the four-hour adventure in Biscayne Bay, which was meant to include two one-hour dives at different locations.

    'We are the ones who facilitate the trip and connect A with B,' Mr Boulanger told the Miami Herald.

    'I must assume a certain degree of responsibility, but unfortunately, this falls on (RJ Diving),' he said. 'They are in control of the divers and their security.'  

    The captain of the dive boat, Mike Beach, refused to discuss the incident with reporters, saying only: 'Everybody is OK, no one is hurt, everybody is happy.' 

    Coast Guard spokeswoman Sabrina Elgammal said: 'The incident is under investigation.'

Rescue: The 'No Compromise' was heading back to Miami from Key Largo when it stopped to pick up the stranded divers

     She added: 'We got a call that the twopeople were picked up in the sea and there was no medical harm and theywent back to port.'

     Despite stringent safety requirements,there have been several high-profile episodes of divers being abandonedby boat operators. 

     One of the most famous incidents was made into the 2003 film Open Water. 

     Americans Tom and Eileen Lonergan surfaced from a dive off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in January 1998 to discover their boat had gone.

     The couple, who were never found, scrawled a desperate plea for help on a diver’s slate later found at thesite. It is believed they drowned or were eaten by sharks.

     In 2005, British divers Louise Woodgerand Gordon Pratley were rescued in the same area after being missing for four hours.

     They were found suffering from exposure and hypothermia after currents forced them away from their boat.

Great save: The divers were plucked out of the sea by rescuers on the yacht 'No Compromise,' which was being operated by Elie Trichet

Esme, the Dowager Countess of Cromer, dies

Beauty: Esme Cromer, photographed by Cecil Beaton in 1940, led an active life and was an accomplished artist, author and gardener

By David Wilkes

Daily Mail, London, June 10, 2011

        Esme, Dowager Countess of Cromer, has died peacefully in hospital at the age of 88 after a short illness.

        A former Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen, artist and author, she was a co-chairman of  the Founding Council of  the Rothermere American  Institute, an international  centre of excellence at the University of Oxford for the study of the United States. 

        Her father was the second  Viscount Rothermere and she was an aunt of Jonathan Harmsworth, the fourth Viscount Rothermere and Chairman of The Daily  Mail and General Trust, which publishes the Daily Mail.

        Her first husband was the  third Earl of Cromer, who was born into the Baring banking  family. He was British Ambassador in Washington during  Edward Heath’s premiership  and achieved great success in the international financial community. This culminated in his appointment as the youngest Governor of the Bank of England for 200 years. 
 

        He is renowned for having single-handedly saved the pound during a major run on Britain’s reserves in the 1960s following  the election of the Wilson government. 

In her published memoirs, Lady Cromer recalled how her husband, known as Rowley, worked through the night dealing with the crisis, staving off disaster by arranging international loans of $3billion.

Young love: Lady Cromer, seen here on her wedding day to the third Earl of Cromer, revealed she walked barefoot down the aisle to avoid being taller than her husband

        They had three children and were married for 49 years until  his death in 1991. At his funeral at the Guards Chapel at London’s Wellington Barracks, which  was attended by more than 500 people, former foreign secretary Lord Carrington paid tribute to Lord Cromer as a man who had served his country ‘well, wisely and with much distinction’.

        Her memoirs, entitled From This Day Forward, also revealed that when she married she took off her shoes and walked barefoot down the aisle rather than appear taller than her husband. 

         Lady Cromer married for  the second time in 1993 to Gerrit van der Woude, who died six years later.

         She took up painting in the 1970s when Lord Cromer was ambassador in Washington, displaying a particular flair  for watercolours and flower paintings and holding exhibitions in aid of charities.

Generous: Lady Cromer contributed to Oxford University's development and helped pay for a library

        She was an accomplished gardener and chairman of the Orchid Society of Jersey.  She is survived by Evelyn, the fourth Earl of Cromer, and the Hon Vivian Baring, chairman of A&N International Media.

        In recognition of significant contributions to Oxford University’s development and strength, Lady Cromer and her brother, the  third Viscount Rothermere, then chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust, were admitted to the university’s prestigious  Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors at a ceremony in 1993. 

         A donation from family trusts helped pay for a library of American books and documents.

         In a tribute to his aunt, the present Lord Rothermere said: ‘Esme’s passing ends an era for the Harmsworth family.

        ‘She has been a tremendous support to me personally since I succeeded my father as Chairman of DMGT. I shall miss her wise counsel as the family matriarch.’

         A private funeral service will be held, followed by a memorial service in the autumn.

Motherly: The Countess seen here with her children Lady Lana Gray and Evelyn, Viscount Errington



READER NOTE: Coming across Esme's obituary on turgid, steamy Friday afternoon, I was immediately struck and enlivened (as anyone would be) by her extraordinary beauty, as shown in the Cecil Beaton portrait, and this led me to read the fascinating story of her life and that of her family and extended family. For many reasons, which I won't slow you down by tediously reciting, accounts like this make you take pause.  They also animate reflection.