TJBM will give Mimi a big smile and say Thank You!”

BIG SMILE & THANK YOU!

TJBM will kick off with an interesting story about… ?

Thank you two :D
... why there are so many Vietnamese with Nguyen surname. In the 18th century a king with Nguyen surname started his reign, and it was one of the longest king reigns in Vietnam history, lasting until Ho Chi Minh declared the independence in 1945. During that time people started changing their surnames to honor the king or kings. Because the reign was so long, so many people ended up having Nguyen as their surnames.
TJBM has another story.

More interested in your story, I’m a big history buff. Thank you, that was fascinating. TJBM will break out his /her guitar, and we will sing camp fire songs.

Name that tune Nomore….

TJBM will name that tune.

Don’t know the name, but I will whistle few bars. TJBM will start this hoedown.

{Sings to guitar…}
“The Free Mexican Air Force,
”(Mescalito is riding his white horse)
“And the Free Mexican Air Force is flying tonight!”

TJBM is familiar with that song.

Maybe I is, maybe I ain’t. I’m heading for a bomb shelter. Hope I can find a spot next to a pretty senorita. Come and hide by my side if you love me, do not hasten to tell me adieu, just remember the Rio Grande Valley, and the cowboy who loved you so true. Se habla espanole? Never mind, the bombs are dropping. Damn that Chump. TJBM will go defend the Alamo. I’ll be along after a spell.

Flyin’ so high, yiii, yeee, ahaaaaaaaa!
...And the Freeeeee Mex-ee-can Air Force is Flyin’ toniiiieeeeet!

Good one, Strauss. Nice.

If TJBM hasn’t heard a song for long, long time, a song that reminds them of a special time never to be recaptured, it can bring a tear to their eye.

Sometimes yes, I do have a lot of fond memories.

TJBM has fond memories of their life thus far.

Don’t we all? But they don’t include being bombed and strafed by some Free Mexican Air Force. How long you think squirrel guns and muzzle loaders can stand up to that? TJBM will unload some more fond memories on us.

Free Mexican Air Force wss written by Peter Rowan, the same songwriter who brought us Panama Red.

I was on staff at a festival where he played. I met him at a campfire where I was playing my accordion. He started playing “Free Mexican Air Force”. That song had been one of my favorites for a long time. So I proceeded to “accompany” him…but forgot how wasted I was! I played all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order, and at an overpowering volume that was out of control!

TJBM has another story.

LOL @Strauss It’s ok pal, we’ve all been there, I’m sure you did your best. I belted out a karaoke version of this one night at a party – https://youtu.be/EhN2E4hRDKk TJBM will describe how they embarrassed themselves musically at one time or other.

“I played all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order” LOL.

When I was a teen, back during an ice age, I was to sing in my Church. My lips moved, but no sound came out. The pianist played the whole song, smiling sweetly, and not one note came out of me.
Everyone was sweet about it.
TJBM is having some candy now.

No, having a beer and some crunchy Cheetos. Sometimes ya just gotta have something that tastes good!

TJBM is enjoying Friday night with family/friends/etc.

I spent my Friday night sleeping early for work :(
TJBM has a busy life.

Lately, yes.
TJBM can draw.

I don’t know about that.
TJBM can draw.

Somewhat

TJBM has a pet that hates water.

I’ve barn cats and they hate water big time. They hate it so much that when a big tropical rain is coming, they suddenly hunker down and become invisible in the barn. THey are great barometers. They have a communal nest of straw with tunnels up in the loft and that’s where you find them just before and during a downpour.

TJBM has had a problem with a bank lately

No but I am having a problem getting an authorization for a medical test, freaking has been weeks, damn healthcare crap.

TJBM hopes they just randomly drop dead and avoid protracted medical needs.

Sounds good. I don’t trust my govmint to take care of my health. Hasn’t happened yet. Won’t happen in the future.

^ You might need memory care right now, LOL…you forgot TJBM.

TJBM is forgetful.

Today I am trying to recover from last night’s shopping. Ugh, darn near like a hangover. Well, I have banana Twinkies to help me through it.
Wait, what was the question?
TJBM would like to shoot JG Wentworth and watch them slow bleed to death. Damn commercials. If I am ever in an accident, and they try asking questions to test my mental acuity, I think when they ask my phone number, it will start with 1–877…

LOL @Coloma!

I think their commercials are well done, but they run the same ones too often. Still, it doesn’t bother me because I don’t watch much TV except under duress.

TJBM is @Strauss

You mean “877 Cash Cow?”

TJBM thinks there’s no difference between “psychic” and “psychotic”.

Hahaha! ^^^

A psychotic psychic. ” I see you dying in a small dark room with a, wait, I see a crystal ball on a table.” LOL

TJBM is feeling peachy after having a plum.

No, I’m “perfect” after having a handful of peanuts.

TJBM just had a snack too.

I did, actually a bunch of snacks as I missed breakfst. Fruit, chews, a yogurt and a few sun chips. Grazing.

TJBM has completed their daily stuff and is now hiding in the AC for the rest of the afternoon.

Slow start to my day, and I suffer from the heat easily. I’m sheltering in the AC to enable me to be productive this evening.
TJBM believes psychotheraputic psychics would be a great gig.

No, because it’s too much of a mouthful for me :D
TJBM will come to my graduation ceremony.

Wish I could @Mimishu1995 !

TJBM Had an accident in the kitchen recently. (I had a shelf come off its plastic pins last night ; had three one pint glass mini casseroles and one crystal glass land on my face and head, only lost the crystal glass).

Ouch! No, I have been especially cautious of my kitche activities since a chain of mishaps some time back.
@Mimishu1995, here is the best I can do. Congratulations.
TJBM will join the party.

Congratulations Mimi! Yay!

TJBM will play a song for @Mimishu1995 graduation!

Edit from my post a couple up. I had cashews not chews LOL

How about an accordion version of Pomp and Circumstances

TJBM thinks that might not be what TJAM had in mind.

LOL. I have no idea what is attractive to the Vietnamese ear.

Congratulations Mimi!

TJBM has a graduation story

Not really, I was home schooled so I didn’t really get a graduation ceremony for high school graduation, but I did have a party at a pizza place. (Congrats @Mimishu1995. HS or college grad coming up?)

TJBM was at the top of their class.

@CunningFox it’s the end of college.
Thanks all! I just came back from the ceremony. it was raining cats and dogs, and the ceremony was outdoor! We were all exhausted and wet but we laughed a lot. I’m going to miss my good time with my friends at school :(
And I wasn’t the top of the class, but in tge end who’s going to care?
TJBM remember their school time.

I do. I’d rather forget it.

TJBM is in fine fettle this morning, and they had to look it up to know what exactly was fine! Ha!

Too soon to evaluate, only been awake for about 15 minutes and only ⅔rds of a cup of coffee. Ask me again in an hour.

TJBM is knee high to a Giraffe.

If their knees are 6 feet high, or so, yes.

TJBM knows the many ways to use the leaves of the Aloe Vera cactus medicinally.

Some, maybe not all. I rescued a couple little Aloe plants at a yard sale last year. They were planted in little plastic cups only about 3 inches big and now they are HUGE, about a foot across. I call them the Aliens. haha

TJBM has a friend coming over today.

Nope.

TJBM has animals. Tell us about them.

I do have animals. Two dogs, a goat, and some chickens. One dog is very old, and the other is very young. Both are girls and both are well behaved pups!

TJBM also has animals/pets and wants to tell us all about them.

Oh my..well, I have 2 cats ages 8 & 11 and a 19 yr. old pet goose I raised from a gosling, but…I live on a 7 acre horses property and we have 8 horses here, a bottle fed pet calf, a red sand sheep, 30 chickens, 3 dogs and another 2 cats between the 3 houses here Quite the animal farm not counting the scads of lizards, snakes, frogs, gophers, mice, squirrels rattlesnakes and other assorted critters in the zone. LOl

TJBM has a pond in their yard or lives near one.

Not very near, but there are two ponds 5 minutes ride away from home. They used to be called “the nose killers” because they smelled so awful! Then somehow they lost the smell. At one point they became fishing ponds. Nowadays no one gives a shit about them anymore.
TJBM has a funny story associated with a place.

We took our new camper out to give it a shake down. But for some reason we ended up picking one of the hottest days in the year. Granger Lake Campground was a government run outfit on a reservoir. When we got there and got all set up I wandered around to aquatint myself with the place.

I noticed signs in prominent places all around cautioning water safety. “Oh that’s nice,” I thought. “They have a beach!” But there was no beach. They had several other campgrounds on the lake and maybe there was swimming there, but unless you wanted to go swimming in murky water in the bushes with the water moccasins (poisonous snakes) or on the boat ramp there was nothing where we were.

It was extremely hot there (104°F+) We noticed that many of our neighbors had brought kiddie pools, but sometimes they didn’t even have children! Either they lay in them with a beer or they used them to cool off their dogs. Other people brought a hose and sprinkler for their kids to run through. This put a whole new twist on water safety for me. We never dreamed we needed to provide our own water to practice water safety in!

TJBM has an unusual camping or water story.

All I have really, is one night when me and a bud were out driving around late one night, and ended up at LCRD Dam outside of Austin. We were drinking beer and bsing, when I heard a splash in the water, then my friend freaks out, says lets get out of here, and runs to his truck. I asked what happened and he said he saw something weird but wasn’t sure what it was. Kind of got me flipped out as well, even though I didn’t see what had caused the splash. He was a level headed guy too, we’d been buds since High School, and he wasn’t given to making up wild stories. Vey strange night. TJBM will tell us another strange tale of camping or carousing, or both.

When I was little, we had a small state park in our county which was fun to visit. There was camping, some great hiking trails, a beach set up for swimming in the lake, small boat rentals.
For a couple of summers my mom worked in the concession stand there. It was just under one hundred stone stair steps to get from the concession shack down to the beach.
My brother and I loved being able to spend our days there, all summer long.
One morning, during a particularly rainy season, we were driving the narrow, quiet, tree lined road which led into the park. There was some flooding. Ditches were filled, and in some places water glimmered clear across the road. As we approached a small bridge which crossed one of the many creeks to feed the lake, we could see the creek had swollen well above the road level. At a depth of six inches or so, the creek flowed rapidly across the road for a distance of at least ten feet either end of the little stone bridge. My mom stopped to gauge whether it would be safe to drive through all that water. It was a moot point, as there was nowhere to turn around, and backing out on the winding narrow road would not be safe. So, there we sat, for a little while watching. Then, a big fish, at least two feet long, struggled to cross the road with the current, the water not actually deep enough to cover its head. I saw its struggle, and knew this would be hella fishing story. Never mind the thing was big as tiny little me, I declared I was going for it. That was when my mom decided to drive, or lose a kid. She crept the car forward, and we made it.
TJBM has an impressive fishing story.

LOL – Well, I can’t call it impressive, how about annoying? I remember fishing down on the Gulf Coast of Texas once, not far from Galveston. My brother, my brother in law, and myself, had been fishing off of a pier, but I wasn’t having much luck due to the pier being crowded with people fishing. So I took off on my own, put on my waders, and walked off to find a more isolated spot on the beach. Big mistake, I got swarmed by stupid ass seagulls, swooping down to snag my bait every time I cast out. I finally got frustrated and just went back to the pier. TJBM will tale us another story about some dumb ass birds.

Waaay back in 1998 I volunteered for a local wild life rescue and was on the list for rescuing waterfowl and waterfowl advice. A woman had found this tiny, less than 2 weeks old, gosling wandering alone in the middle of nowhere and rescued him. she brought him to me through the wildlife group and since he was a domestic goose, a white chinese, I raised and kept him. He is super imprinted on me as goslings will be when raised by humans. ‘Marwyn” is no dumb bird, he is very smart and knows about 20 words and commands.

I have joked over the years that he is the best “dog” I have ever had. Marwyn just turned 19 this month. Long live the worlds coolest goose!

TJBM likes Crows and knows how smart they are.

Crows are smart alright. I would say I respect them more than like them though. Their problem solving is impressive.
A few years ago I unwittingly trained some which hung out near my apartment building.
Everyday, bringing my daughter home from school they’d be ravaging the picnic area, a cacophany of crow conversation would permeat the area. One day, I shouted, “HEY!” then pursed my lips, and sealed the gesture with a finger, I said ssshhhhh. The sounds had stopped when I shouted. My daughter thought it was funny, so I started doing it every day. One day I was tired, didn’t feel like shouting. I just did the ssshhh. They all fluttered upward quietly to roosts as they had the other days, waited for us to pass before returning to their picnic scraps. It was then I realized they were no longer being hushed because they were startled by my shout, but because they learned my daily ritual.
Silly damn birds.
TJBM has a trained animal story they can share.

I had a dog when I was a kid, that we had trained to “shake hands” and to stand up and “beg” for table scraps, that’s about all. Nothing spectacular and millions of other people have dogs who can do the same thing. It was fun to watch her doing though. TJBM will go on a rant that dogs can be trained, cats can’t. LOL

That’s why I like cats, they don’t take orders from anyone. haha

TJBM has cabin fever from being trapped indoors too much from a heat wave the last few weeks.

Hell I wish. Between working around my yard at home, and working all weekend on my “Part tine” job, I wish I could get a dose of cabin fever. Lock me in an air conditioned room and throw the key away. TJBM hates yard work.

I don’t mind some yard work, I actually like pruning and pulling weeds but not raking and shoveling.

TJBM has bushes shaped like circus animals.

Not me, I gave up on fancy pants plants when my wife’s rose bushes got eaten by a couple of horses and numerous goats, when we had a place in the country. And we were proud of our roses, we put a lot of work into them and they were doing well, and we had a wide variety. TJBM will discuss another case of crazy critters.

The new sheep here, “Piney”, which I call ” Retardo”. LOL
She escaped her corral the other day and the gate to the pool/patio was cracked. She barged in and started eating the rose bushes and I nabbed her just before she sucked up my pink morning glories that are just starting to climb the fence. Whew!

Baaaad sheep, baaaaad!

TJBM has a few derogatory nicknames for their animals at times.

Don’t get me to cussing. I do refer to my cat as shit for brains at night, when she claws on the bedroom door and wakes me up, so I can let her out to do her business. TJBM will now change topics away from animals. Pick a topic, any topic.

I hate storm. How about you?
TJBM will answer.

I enjoy a storm once in a while. Just sitting in my yard watching the sky get dark, and lightening in the distance. I hate getting caught in one when I’m driving though. Lightening is always a threat around here, and you can’t see out the damn wind shield. TJBM will describe what they like / hate about rain storms.

I love wild, crazy, thunder and lightening and downpours, I hate gloomy drizzle.

TJBM’s week is starting out irritating. Fuck, I just had to go to 3 different stores to find an item that was out of stock in the 1st 2. Grrr.

Irritating is going to come for me in two or three days.
TJBM knows that cats CAN be trained, but not usually in rain srorms.

Haha..yes, mine are trained to come running when I yell “Breakfast!” “Breakfast” is the catch all phrase for the Fancy Feast dinner at about 5 o’ clock when I want them pussies rounded up for the night before the Coyotes come out. LOL

TJBM lives in Coyote land.

We do have coyotes around this area, unfortunately a lot of them are in, or close to, residential areas. Particularly in Austin. TJBM will entertain us with stories of what wild critters live in or nearby their own area.

Everything except bears. They do wander down here now and then but are usually another 1–2 thousand feet higher in elevation. Foxes, Coyotes, Bobcats, Mtn. Lions, raccoons, Skunks, Opossums, all kinds of birds, canada geese, vultures, hawks, and, the most worrysome right now are the rattlesnakes. It’s been really hot so they are coming out after dark, really gotta watch your step and keep your eyes open if you’re walking around at dusk and after dark.

TJBM is a risk taker and wears sandals in rattlesnake land. haha

Nope, I always wear western boots or work boots in snake country. Don’t have time for hunting anymore, so rarely get out into the open country these days anyway. But I hate snakes, my niece was bitten by a rattler when she was a child, and almost died. Luckily she pulled through with no ill effects, other than having some minor plastic surgery on her leg to remove the scar, after she reached adulthood. TJBM will tell of a encounter they have had, of the venomous critter variety.

On a ranch in Texas, I went out to a tool shed to grab a pair of pliers. I had left them on the workbench within reach of the door, so I did not need to step into the shed. Opened the door, reached in to grab said pliers, went to close door, could not close it. Looked down at bottom of door, and then I heard the familiar sound of the rattlesnake trying to use the same door to exit! Luckily, there was a snake noose within reach in the shed for just such an eventuality…I put that tool to _good_use that day, and set the snake free about 1000 yards away from the shed in a thicket of mesquite.

TJBM has a wildlife story to tell (no, not your sorority/fraternity tales!).

About 15 years ago one of my pet geese had a bobcat try to run off with her. I was JUST getting ready to go out and lock them in their barn about 6 pm on a winter night when I head them shrieking. Ran out to see a Bobcat trying to haul my big girl goose over the fence. When i ran out yelling it dropped her and I rushed her to an emergency vet.

She has a spinal cord injury from, literally, having her neck wrung and was put on all kinds of medication and we had to gavage feed her for about 3 weeks while she regained her balance. She couldn’t tip her head up to eat and drink without falling over. She made an almost full recovery but always walked with a list after that. She also survived having a 3 legged Coyote try to drag her off another time, right in front of me while the geese were out in the yard and I was washing my car.

I ran after the Coyote and hit it over the back with a big stick and it finally let go of her. She had sat down and dug her feet into the deep pine needles on the hill and the Coyote couldn’t drag her easily. She survived again and lived another 8 years. Lucky the Coyote only had 3 legs or he might have made off with her.

TJBM will tell us what the temp is in their zone today.

Poor little goose… temp is at or about to crack 100 F. I’d run around in hillbilly mode if I could, but seems the won’t let you in any stores now days shirtless. So if I have to go somewhere, I just sweat like a hog. TJBM will torment us with how cool and pleasant their area is today.

Heh. It’s 100 here too, I hate it. LOL

TJBM likes cooler weather over hot.

100 Degrees everyplace, it seems. Old Man Summer is on a roll. Yup, I do like fall, such as it is down here. Cool weather is much preferable, but when one of those northers blows in, with that freeing ass wind chill, I’ll probably be waiting for summer again. LOL TJBM will continue this weather preference thread. All I can say, is 100 % chance of weather today.

No, the weather is what it is, even when its shitty LOL

TJBM tell us what they have in their junk drawer.

Not really junk, just some old arrow heads I have had for years, some old batteries, an ancient pocket knife, and some drawings the grand kids have brought home to me from school the last few years. I’m sentimental about things like that. TJBM will possibly be some one other than me and Coloma LOL

I think I am?

TJBM ate some good food today.

Is rice good?
TJBM is preparing dinner.

Rice is good, but what one has with it is more of a determining factor. (Did you eat only rice?)
I am not preparing dinner. I am up in the middle of the night because I woke struggling to breathe.
I wanna new body.
TJBM is sometimes afraid of their own body.

No, but it doesn’t always work like the manual said it would!

TJBM hopes that @Patty_Melt is feeling better, just like I do.

Of course, that’s a frightening statement. Sounds like Sleep Arathmia, or whatever they call that disorder. TJBM will tell us the actual name of that sleeping disorder.

Sleep apnea.
Right now I am bothered by glop in my lungs. After a recent cold, the congestion did not go away. I chalked it up to allergies, and hoped it would soon end. My lungs are so full I can hear them rattle and squeak when I lie down. Is that pneumonia?
I would have been to the doc by now, but my usual ride is vacationing. Guess I better look at other possibilities. It is too far away for a cab. I don’t have thatkind of money. sigh I thought I would just try to wait it out.
Thanks for the kind thoughts.
Let’s switch to fun.
TJBM will tell us, during the next 24 hours, they would druther (mimi, that is country for rather) : go fishing, have sex, get blind drunk, or attend a society party.

Attend a society party. It’s the only thing I can do without getting any heat fro anyone. Oh, fishing is fine too, but there’s nowhere to fish here :( Beside, I need hangout to keep in touch with friends before we all forget having even met.
TJBM has a good social circle.

Nah, my wife ran all of them off years ago. As did my girlfriends prior to that. My social circle consisted of old high school buds who liked to drink and carouse all night. Women always seem to have issues with that. Sure was fun while it lasted though. TJBM will commiserate with me. Or not.

Not. Yep, women have issues with immature men that can’t give up the ghosts of parties past and want to keep re-living their high school days for decades past, what should have come to an end 20 years sooner. LOL

TJBM hates a sloppy drunk.

Oh, man, the bane of my existence as a captain of a sloop for hire. For some godforsaken reason, land people think that salt water and alcohol mix. They are dead fucking wrong and I won’t tolerated a person onboard who can’t handle their grog. Many a time I’ve had to put her into the wind and circle around to do the figure 8 maneuver for a man overboard. What a pain in the ass.

And recently, I had the cops waiting at the pier to arrest a man for sexually assaulting a woman on board. .It interrupted a fine trip to Bequiia, made us late, and put a damper on what should have been a fine experience for all on board this pretty little yacht on the blue Spanish Main.

I hate drunks with a passion, I have no mercy for them and, seriously, if it didn’t cost me life in prison, I would have dumped many of them overboard on the high seas, They are weak and are usually oblivious to the damage they do to everybody around them including those who have ever loved them. They raise damaged children, they are a danger to themselves and others at sea and in every environment they enter. At best, they are an inconvenience everywhere they go, from dropping their change in line at the grocery store, to stumbling out in front of cars in the middle of the street. Basically, they make this world a totally fucked place for everyone else.

TJBM hates drunks.

I do, nothing wrong with having a few but know your limit and yes, I hate the sloppy, slurry drunks, the maudlin, usually female, start crying drunks, the sloppy, let me hug you drunks, fucking get out of my personal space, the loud and obnoxious drunks, the can’t sing but sing anyway, read loud and obnoxious again and I especially hate those that end up puking on themselves, or others. Thank god I have not had to be around any stupid, sloppy, loud, obnoxious drunks for years.

TJBM can think of other obnoxious drunk behaviors.

The waste of family wealth.

On my father’s side, I come from a long line of drunks. Privileged drunks. After the Revolutionary War, they drank and gambled themselves out of fine cotton land in coastal lowlands of Virginia and were forced to start over again as tradesmen in Baltimore.

From the mid-19th century onwards, after an industrious German married into the family, they were owners of the largest slate quarry outside Baltimore. Many of the civic buildings in Baltimore that still exist today and nearly all of the slate steps in front of the row houses built up to the early 1920’s, were made of slate from my family’s quarry.

But, the German had seven sons late in life who were born to privilege, went to some of the finest scholastic institutions in the North and the South, never had to work a day in their lives and managed to party and drink away the quarry and accompanying fortune by the mid 1920’s.

The youngest son was my fraternal grandfather, a hopeless drunk who spent all his time in seedy bars throughout the depression when he should have been home raising his family in which he housed in a slum in Baltimore—having long since lost his portion of the family fortune. They lived on the charity of aunts and the Catholic Church.

He would drink in a bar until it closed, go home in the middle of the night, beat his wife, then work his way down from the oldest child to the youngest, then crash on the couch in the livingroom and shit himself in his stuporous sleep. My father and his older sister would have to clean up the mess before going to school in the mornings. Their father, still enraged from the night before would take swings at them while they did this.

When the old man was in hospital on his death bed in 1954, my father drove like a madman from California to Baltimore to visit him one last time. His father told him that he never loved him, that my father would never amount to anything. Unbeknownst to this motherfucker, my old man had earned his Bachelor’s degree on the GI bill and had a very good gig in the aerospace industry. But the experience still bothered my old man for the rest of his days.

Needless to say, my grandfather’s kids grew to be some very screwed up adults.

My father, was the exception. He had one helluva temper, but he was smart, judicious and somehow knew how to raise a family properly without passing on the curse. And he married an extremely smart and wonderful woman to make up for his faults.

I was lucky as hell to have those two as my parents. My Baltimore cousins grew up just as fucked up as their parents. Some were able to salvage their lives once they left the family nest, but others lived lives made of depression, unloving and unhappy relationships and missed opportunities.

Drunks cause generational emotional and economic damage way beyond the times in which the live.

TJBM also had drunks in their family.

I had one. She quit drinking long ago, but she’s still a mental mess. I am just glad she never had kids.

TJBM wants to go back to bed now.

I usually have lunch, then take a short nap. It’s 4:30pm here. This is my coffee time. Second shift, second wind. It is raining cats and dogs, but usually this is when I ride back out to the meadow and bring in the sheep. Today, they are safely in the barn. Time to check on them and feed the chickens. My work dogs are restless because it has been raining for days. I’ll wrestle with them to wind them down, then make dinner for all of us. Life is good.

TJBM is having a good day.

Not to bad at all. Drove my son up to Fort Worth to his job, his car being in the shop with issues as yet unknown. Two of my grand kids are here, and I’m about to fill up the kiddie pool in the yard for them. And while I sit in the shade on the porch and watch them, I can also keep an eye out for the hummingbird my wife saw at the feeder yesterday, but which seems to shun me. TJBM is having a good day as well.

I am, except for a major allergy flare up that is making me feel rather out of it. On a great note, it is only about 88 degrees today after days of 95–100+. Sooo, guess what? I am making my delicious pasta sauce with a bunch of garden veggies and am finally getting my spaghetti dinner craving tonight after living on cold fruit and sandwiches for days. Mmmmm, pasta and marinated lemon cucumbers from the garden.

TJBM loves cucumbers of all kinds.

I do. Cucumbers freshen every dish that they are thrown into. Especially in hot weather. “Cold as a cucumber” isn’t just an off-the-wall phrase. There is truth in that. And watermelon. You gotta plan ahead and plant plenty of watermelon to get you through the summer.

I was talking to a fellow Floridian, born and bred, the other day. In his early twenties, he had laid cable in Northern California. I remembered those summer days in Sacramento when the mercury would hit 110F in the shade and he described the same temps while working out in the hot San Joaquin Valley sun.

Not to denigrate those who are suffering in that heat at the moment, but we laughed about that mild climate compared to the humid ones we grew up in and the tropical clime we live in now. 96F at 96 percent humidity would kill you guys, I swear to god. LOL. I’m not kidding. Although it will rarely reach 100F here, or in Florida, it is much, much hotter than anywhere west of the Mississippi.

But I know what you must be going through when you’re not aclimated to warmer weather. I do sympathize. Extreme heat is a bitch no matter where you live. The answer is water. Water on the inside and water on the outside. Drink it and immerse yourselves in it. I have an extra gallon of it with me at all times and frequently pour it over my head throughout the day. And Shy appreciates that as well.

TJBM would prefer ice and snow to tropical heat.

Yes. I suffer heat exhaustion easily these days. I’ve been sleeping during the day lately so I can be comfortable more easily when I’m awake.
TJBM will treat the snow like sand this winter, take a bucket and shovel outside, and build a sand castle, and make ice popsicle soldiers. Swear it.
SWEAR IT.

Suuuure. In Austin? Not likely. We’re fortunate to get a little ice on the driveway! TJBM never forgets to write TJBM! Honest injun?

I never forget to write TJBM, as long as I’ve actually remembered to write a question to TJBM.

TJBM sometimes amazes them selves with flashes of brilliance…but then try to get out of the car with their seat belt on!

Don’t know about flashes of brilliance, but I have tried getting out of my vehicle with seat belt still buckled, and I always go on a rant, about how I hate freakin’ seat belts, blah blah. LOL. @snowberry I grew up in Austin, and yeah – get a little sleet in that area , well anywhere in Central Texas, they shut the world down. We don’t know how to drive in that stuff. TJBM will describe how sleet is nothing to what they deal with in winter.

Yeah….northern Midwesterner here. Your puny little sleet is nothing compared to the crap winters we have. Haha.

TJBM has it EVEN WORSE.

I’m from Alaska. I laugh in the face of winder.
TJBM has never seen snow.

Somebody please bring snow here please! I will share my rain for you!
TJBM prefers snow to rain.

No, not a big fan of cold weather. And you can keep the rain as well. And to the Alaskan who laughs in the face of winter, go ahead and laugh. I’d be looking for a snug cave with hibernating bears, and tell them to take a number and scoot over. The TJBM has been caught in a rain storm at sea, or on a lake.

I’ll bet Crow has a doozy…mine has to do with monsoon season in the South China Sea.

TJBM will share their experiences of the same.

LOL. I was holding for you, Strauss. Holding for a horrendous tale of the Western Pacific and South China Sea on your Hospital Ship off Vietnam. Those waters are in an alley of major storms pumped out of the Pacific back to back like an assembly line. One of those nasty things is sitting right on top of Mimi in Da Nang as we speak.

As for me, Hurricanes on the Baltic with 40 foot seas in mid-winter on a ferry/cargo ship. Tropical storms on the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico on a 42 foot sloop. Arrrrr, ‘tis the pirate’s life fer me.

Please go for it, Strauss. I’m up for some fine horror tale at sea.

TJBM got so caught up they forgot TJBM.

Well, while we wait for Strauss to find his logs from that time, we can do this:

TJBM remembers those goddamned automatic seatbelts in the ‘80s that would nearly clip your nose off every time you closed the driver’s side door of your car.

A pox on seatbelts, just a money making racket for seat belt manufacturers. If they were really worried about saving lives, they’d work on mandating safer collision bags, and not allow all of these exploding ones. TJBM will talk about a nice park they have visited.

Yes. There’s a park not far from where I live, appropriately called Mountain View Park. It is on a west-facing hill, just high enough to see the complete Front Range, from Pike’s Peak to the south, all the way to Long’s Peak in the North.

@Espiritus_Corvus I was thinking of my first monsoon season on the hospital ship in the South China Sea. I came on board a non-designated seaman, so naturally my assignment was deck hand. For anyone not familiar with that designation, think outside maintenance. Our job was generally to start painting at the bow of the ship, paint until we reached the stern, and then start all over again. Deck force was also responsible for operation and maintenance of all rigging, cranes, etc., on the exterior of the ship.

I had been on board for about a month when the first storm of the season hit; it was a whopper and came up so fast that it caught even the bos’n chief and officers by surprise. We had to scramble to take down a large tarp that was stretched on the 02 level, which was used by patients and staff as a recreation area.

I don’t remember very many details of the job or the storm, only that the driving rain and wind combined to make me feel colder than I had ever felt in Chicago! When we finally got that tarp taken down and stowed, we were told to assemble in the triage are to meet with the Captain. He had a bottle of his private stock whiskey, and we each were given a shot to chase the chill…and to show his appreciation.

TJBM knows the difference between a fairy tale and a sea story.

Hint: one begins with “Once upon a time”, and the other begins with “This is no shit!”

Once upon a time, and this ain’t no shit, I saw a sea serpent from a safe distance on my schooner. And if you believe that, I have a nice little bridge in Brooklyn, for sale at a reasonable price. TJBM will tell us a mermaid story.

LOL. You guys forgot, “Hey, you can’t make this shit up, right?”

I haven’t seen any mermaids, not ones with fins, anyway. But long ago, sailors, a necessarily superstitious lot due to the many inexplicable phenomena one finds at sea, and due to the unbearable loneliness one can experience while away from civilization and it’s accoutrements, including women, for very long periods of time, that they mistook dolphins and seals for young sea-maidens, or mer-maidens.

I’ve never been so horny to be driven to the level of delusion and hallucination required to mistake these fine animals for human females. But I can certainly testify that many men have, for there are libraries full of lore containing such experiences.

TJBM has a story about inexplicable phenomena that they have personally experienced.

Only one, nothing much of a paranormal variety ever happened to me. Except for one night when I was in high school, I was doing a report late one night, my mom and siblings were in bed, and my dad got home from working late and asked me to join him on the porch (after my school assignment was done) while he had a beer, and I could have a coke. But after a few minutes, he came in all excited, told me, get out here, I want you to see this! You can finish that in a while! So I went out in the yard to see what he was all worked up about. And up in the sky was a triangular craft, with three pulsating lights. After a minute or so, it shot off at an incredible speed and disappeared from view. I asked dad, hey pop, did we just see a UFO? He told me, well, I never really believed all of that spaceman shit, but yeah – I do think what we saw as from out of this world! TJBM will tell us a paranormal experience they have had in their life.

I’ve had two similar experiences. Twice I’ve seen lights in the night sky silently cover spaces at impossible speeds, then suddenly make a right angle turn, then stop dead and linger in place. Then they shoot out into space and disappear among the stars. Gone in a flash.

So, I believe you Nomore. It makes no sense and, as far as I know, earthlings have no propulsion mechanism that can travel those distances across the sky at those speeds and we certainly can’t make sharp right angle turns at those speeds. Nothing natural in our sky does that. I really don’t think we have the materials that can withstand that kind of G-force and our bodies certainly can’t either. Even with the highest tech pressure suits strapped into some immobile protective structure inside the vehicle, we would be violently ripped apart and spread all over the inside of the structure. It can’t be done without some way to negate the effects of gravity and centrifugal force.

TJBM has a story about inexplicable phenomena that they have personally experienced.

When I was in high school I watched a bright pink light hover just above a ridge as it traveled swiftly and silently up a mountainside. It was strange, but I was also disturbed that nobody else would even bother to look where I was pointing.

TJBM thought all this sort of stuff was the product of an overactive imagination- until it happened to them.

Not sure about that. I have never experienced any paranormal stuff. But I just hate it when people link everything they think unusual to “the great beyond”. God did it, it was fate, the underworld at work… I just can’t buy into those things.
TJBM has experienced something unexplained and strange.

Yes, it’s called life. Always unexplained and strange. LOL

TJBM has experienced a long, strange, trip.

Well, one time we just drove to Oklahoma and decided to take back roads back. We drove and drove through farm land, fields and pastures. The only sign of life, for about an hour, were cows. No houses, buildings, nothing.
At one point Rick yells, “Where are we?? We can’t be NOWHERE!!” But it sure seemed like it!

TJBM has seen a lot of cows out, loose, on the roads and highways.

You see that a lot in rural areas of the western US. The only fences, but and large, are between along property lines, not so much along roads. When a roadway crosses the fence a cattle guard is used.

TJBM knows what cattle are.

Yep, have one here now, “Porter” our rescue calf. He is doing well, getting some training now to walk on a halter and learn some manners before he weighs 1,500 lbs. LOL

TJBM has heard about the huge fire burning near Yosemite here in CA. It’s bad, smoking us out here this morning but we are fine. Hit 45,000 acres since yesterday afternoon.

I saw a video from an aircraft on the morning new, it looks bad.

TJBM has put on an Indian Pack and fought a wildfire

No, I haven’t. I haven’t experienced fire much. I have been told being born under the sign of the tiger protects me from fire.
Coloma, I remember the choking smoke of the wildfires experienced when I lived in Reno. I sure hope you and stock are okay.
TJBM has a weird goose, and a bull with no clue. Hang on to those doo dads, Porter!

Nope. No goose, no bull…but I just ate a patty melt!

TJBM had an early lunch today.

I did. I don’t eat breakfast so just made a couple veggie bean burritos for lunch here at 11:30 a.m. I m good to go for hours now.

TJBM needs to get a move on but their move on doesn’t want to move yet.

Boyyyyy, you got me pegged there. You be careful outdoors dear. Man I remember that smoke and NOT fondly.
TJBM wants to spend the day floating lazily.

I want to spend the day lying in bed, have wicked allergies from the fire smoke and feel like shit. I can relax after another hour or so of work. Yay!

TJBM is sleepy.

Very very sleepy. It’s 100 outside.

TJBM wishes they were camping.

Fuck no. I quit camping in my 30’s. Now I want a motor home with AC or a cabin, no tent camping.

TJBM hates tent camping and sleeping on the ground.

@Coloma When the going gets tough, the tough get going. TJBM likes to sleep out under the stars, with a can of pork ‘n beans on the camp fire, can’t beat it with a stick.

I would eat the pork n beans before I went to bed so the bars wouldn’t come after me.

TJBM would rather have a tent, or better yet….a camper!

Got it!

TJBM has been told to lose weight.

Only by myself. haha

TJBM has middle age spread.

A little. Not too bad. But I lost five pounds recently, with 5 to go. I need to do some damn sit ups!

TJBM needs to do some damn sit ups!

No, too hard on the back, but I do leg raises. Easier.

TJBM loves to swim.

I do. I especially love teaching chilluns to swim.

TJBM thinks they belong somewhere else.

In the kitchen so dinner doesn’t burn!

TJBM has climbed the Eiffel Tower.

No, but I have climbed the Grand Canyon.

TJBM has been to the Grand Canyon.

One of the few places in the US I have not been. Always wanted to. —(And still want to!)

TJBM has a bucket list.

(I’ve been to the Grand Canyon, whoo.) No, but I should make one! Every once in a while I’ll see or hear about something and say “That’s going on my bucket list.” but I never actually write anything down to remember it. I think many of the entries on my bucket list will probably involve travel and doing crazy things I’m too scared to do right now. Fear-facing stuff.

TJBM has checked stuff off of their own bucket list because they have one.

I don’t have a bucket list. I think it would be depressing because I’ll never have the money to do the kinds of things I’d put on a bucket list.

TJBM does not have a smart phone.

I don’t.

TJBM has a water garden.

Water garden?

TJBM is more cultured and less stupid than me and had a water garden.

No. I am just as uncouth and stupid as you @CunningFox! High five!

TJBM wants to join our uncouth and stupid club! “Hold my beer and watch this!”

Yes, that sounds interesting. Count me in.

TJBM has a funny story involving “Hold my beer and watch this!”

you’re already in it @CunningFox! It’s just you and me right now!

I do but too much to type on my phone so I defer that question to TJBM.

I don’t so I deter the question to TJBM.

Probably but I’ too lazy to skim over 40 something years of memories.

@CunningFox A water garden is pots or a small pond, fountain or other water feature filled with water plants, like reeds, water hyacinth and others..

TJBM likes lizards!

Indeed, I do! I had a horned toad for a pet for a few days. Somebody found it while hiking and just gave it to me. Even though it was wild, it was totally cool about me. It tried to get away for the first few minutes, but soon settled down and sat on my lap and watched tv with me.
I couldn’t get it to eat, so I ended up turning it loose.
I named it Sadie.
TJBM has or has had a scaley friend.

When I moved to Texas I discovered lizards everywhere. And I like ‘em!

TJBM isn’t afraid of animals with scales.

Can’t stand creepy crawly scaley snakes. TJBM is getting up and smelling the coffee.

I get home worn out from work and I smell dinner.
TJBM thinks time zone is a pain in the ass.

Yes, and I also do not like daylight savings time, just leave the time alone.

TJBM has a doctor appt. today.

No, but I need to.
TJBM has pain, and it is staring to make them cranky.

Not really pain but feel tired, achey and have major sinus pressure and puffy eyes from the bad, smokey, air quality here. I opened up the house around 10 last night, big mistake, the smoke is settling here in the hills in the mornings. Woke up about 5 a.m. feeling like I couldn’t breather well, it was horrible.

TJBM is sensitive to air pollution.

I am, indeed. One if the many reasons I left Reno was the wretched smoke. There was a wildfire spreading right into city limits the day I left. I felt like we were fleeing Gomorrah.
We finally got beyond reach in the smoke and got pinned down by a sandstorm, which prompted road closures, and lasted several hours.
TJBM has been in a sandstorm.

No, but I’ve been in dust storms.

TJBM has been in a house that was on fire.

No, thank the freaking gods of fire. Some wildfire scares but, so far, so good.

TJBM likes cheese quesadillias.

This jelly likes cheese anything! Cheese quesadillas, cheese omelettes, cheeseburgers, cheese soup, cheesecake…etc., etc., etc.

TJBM thinks anything will taste better if it’s cheesed, deepfried, baconated, and or chocolate covered.

Cheese and cream cheese yes. Covered in chocolate, depends. Baconated, deep fried, no.

TJBM is losing weight.

No, I am holding steady.

TJBM has nice legs.

They’re muscular and hairy…I walk too much to accumulate any flab. It also keeps my butt so skinny that my BIL once told me I have the condition known as Noassitol
No-ass-it-ol

TJBM has Noassitol.

LOL No, I have plenty of ass, maybe a little too much.

TJBM has too much or something and not enough of something else.

I have too much fat, not enough $$$$$$$.
TJBM would agree that @Strauss’ description of himself above sounds tasty, with or without cheese.

Don’t float that way, but I feel confident that Strauss is a good feller. More a connoisseur of female legs myself. As is TJBM

As am I! I also find flirting to be harmless fun. Except when Mme. Strauss is present…then I flirt only with her!

TJBM has different standards of behavior based on the company present.

No, not really. Especially when I’m with foul mouthed red necks. I turn up the grace and manners a notch.

TJBM would like to have a bar b que with Michelle and Barack and their girls.

I would. Judging from this I’d let them choose the entertainment!.

TJBM likes Chicago-style blues.

Yes, I do.
TJBM is tired of being a fussbudget, and will be more pleasant.

Absolutely!

TJBM likes to eat cereal right out of the box.

Absolutely!
TJBM will understand what I wrote on my profile page, and won’t be surprised that this is my last post for… dunno how long.

Oh my… sorry Patty, well…best wishes then. :-/

TJBM smokes a cigarette now and then.

No. I have been brainwashed too much about how nicotine can destroy my lung already :p But I admit, I have a double standard. I don’t like people smoking im front of me but I think people smoke in movies are cool.
Sorry for bothering you guys with my negativity btw. I just needed some mood boost :(
TJBM has a double standard they are aware of.

Not that I’m aware of, in the moment anyway, but I might. haha

You are fine Mimi..no negativity, you just needed a little boost.

TJBM will post something to keep Mimi’s boost boosted.

My daughter just sent me these. I laughed until tears ran down my face. I hope you like them too.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rIePw-Zm9Aw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1je1ArfP34A

TJBM will post another funny video for Mimi.

^Funny!

Yes, just fund this smiley guy the other day.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecU_ZnUmqNU

TJBM has a pet that smiles.

No, I have a pet that meows, constantly. TJBM is looking for a new kitty. Step right up folks, have I got a deal for you!

No, I am purr-fectly happy with my 2 pussycats right now.

TJBM will tell us what they can hear right now.

My a/c unit whirring. Right outside my den window. TJBM will tell us what they had for breakfast.

Re hard boiled eggs, an almond-poppyseed muffin, and a cup of coffee.

TJBM is ready for the next phase of…

The Trump Circus, Phase Two. Nah, scratch that. The Trump Impeachment, Phase One. Yeah, I like. TJBM is packing for a vacation.

I wish I could, with this amount of work…
Thanks guys for the videos!
TJBM is chilling out.

I’m always chilling out. I’m so laid back, I’m almost dead. TJBM believes work is a great thing. As long as someone else is doing it.

Haha…I’d agree with that, from she who has a full day ahead of her. Ugh.

TJBM is as bald as a grape.

Nope, still got a full head of hair. At times I wish I WAS bald. At my age, who needs it? TJBM is in a good mood today.

Neutral, not good, not bad, mostly just in a “how do I organize my day to make it as easy and efficient as possible” mode. So far it’s not really lining up. LOL

TJBM knows that the smoke from out Yosemite fire here in CA. can be seen in Boise Idaho.

Let’s see how that plays in Peoria. Smokey the Bear says, only YOU can prevent wildfires. TJBM says I’m trying to turn this into a private chat room again. (Wish this place had a functioning chat room). Well, I’m off to watch someone who has work to do.

This thread is meant to be a semi-chatroom anyway :D
TJBM thinks this is a good place for random chat.

Absolutely since even in social we tend to be admonished by a few of the, self appointed, how dare you, actually, you know, engage in a little free flowing conversation. haha

TJBM hates control freaks.

Absolutely. But, they’re no worse than freaks who are out of control. TJBM has places to go. I’m going back to bed.

I do have someplace to go, just not quite yet.

TJBM never goes back to bed unless they are sick.

And then I need to be chained to the bedpost!

TJBM used to be afraid of water. That’s how my dog was. But not anymore! She loves swimmin’!

Nope, I’ve always loved swimming.

TJBM thinks the victims of mentally disturbed people take precedence over the illness of the perpetrator.

Yes.

TJBM has a designer pet.

No, have a pet who has designs to keep me awake with her meowing all night. TJBM is need of a good watch cat. I happen to know where you can get one. Free.

No. I have a German shepherd and a useless border collie and a really mean cat.

TJBM doesn’t have a gun in the house.

Not when holding a gun will land me in jail. But I have a fantasy of owning a gun collection at home.
TJBM has a weird fantasy.

No, I’m not a fantasy type, more of a realist.

TJBM is a realist.

Reality is my middle name. When I’m not having fantasies of being my alter ego, Captain Savage of the Foreign Legion. Defending Fort Sand Fleas in Morocco, from Abdul Crudula and his evil Riff Raff. TJBM has no time for nonsense.

True.
TJBM has nothing but time for nonsense.

You called? Ooops, me again. Hey, was that a tortoise? TJBM will tell us about a dream they had.

Actually, I just had a dream a few nights ago that I was flying a small plane and landed it without crashing. I was astounded to find myself alive. haha

TJBM has their pilots license.

No. That is on a very old bucket list. I’ve flown small craft with the pilot beside me, though. Did some simple maneuvers, nothing wild. Never landed or taken off. Landing is the trick. I think I can handle the three-dimensional navigation and can read the charts. But, I’ve never pursued the opportunity. Flying is even better than sailing in many ways, but I haven’t heard of a proliferation of any modern flying bums like I have sail bums, like myself.

TJBM has had an experience with bed bugs.

A very very short-lived experience. (I moved out the very next afternoon!)

TJBM has had a vermin experience that changed their plans.

Nearly. But I humped it out. I just finished delivering an old yacht to an island a hundred miles north of here. We set out at sunset and I had the day shift at the wheel, so I went below to get some sleep and woke up an hour later being eaten alive. I’ve never seen a bedbug before. I squished one between my thumb and forefinger and it exploded with my own blood covering the tips of both fingers. What a nightmare. We spent the voyage on deck in the rain and got very little sleep. Thank god it was only two days and two nights. My mate, a female, handled it like a trooper.

We arranged for the officials on the recipient island to meet us at their quarantine buoy where we moored as one of their vessels gassed the boat and our private belongings, sprayed us down with a boric acid solution and gave us cover-alls to wear until our clothes were ready. It will all go on the boat owner’s dime.

Lesson learned. Now, during pre-transport inspection, I will always remember to check closely for vermin, besides the usual contraband. I haven’t suffered like that in a very long time.

TJBM knows a nice bedtime story.

@Espiritus_Corvus Try buying a black light flashlight to better search for bedbugs. We just bought one to hunt for scorpions hiding in the house. It’s a good time, and more fun than a bedtime story!

TJBM thinks exploring with a black light flashlight sounds like fun, or at least educational.

EC! Where were you?
Aww Snow. I’m still crafting ny story.
I don’t even know such thing exists. I have to go look around for it.
TJBM has a bedtime story.

@snowberry THAT is an excellent piece of advice. Thank you. I was wondering how I could do a thorough inspection in good time.

@Mimishu1995 We were delivering an old yacht from St. Lucia to Dominica. The bedding was infested with blood-sucking bedbugs.

@Espiritus_Corvus I just sent this to a friend here.

Hubby bought ours on Amazon, and when you’re looking for something, the stronger the light, the better. I tried searching for “using a black light to hunt for” to see what popped up. There are uses I’ve never thought of. To name a few: testing for counterfeit bills, cat urine, examining antiques and paintings, looking for creepy crawlers while camping. Here’s a link for more.

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-glows-under-a-black-light-607615

According to my searches, you can find bedbugs under black light. But it also says that blood won’t show up unless it’s first sprayed with a chemical. Whether the bedbugs themselves show up or not is a question. I don’t have time to research further on that.

TJBM will tell a bedtime story. Hurry before it’s too late!

Too late, but I could tell a morning story.

TJBM will help free @Mimishu1995 from limbo land.

Patient guys. It will worth it, I swear :)

@Mimishu1995, Here’s a great big smile :D and an even bigger hug.

TJBM will continue and carry on!

Thank Snow. I like it when people keep their promise :)
Disclaimer: man, I didn’t know it could be that long. Hope you have enough patience for it. It could be an episodic story for a kid to look for every night :)
Disclaimer 2: this is something I made up during my recent depression time. Hope it isn’t too dark for you. Hey, it’s a bedtime story so it isn’t that dark right? At least something productive came out of my dark time :)

Once upon a time there was a very very dark and scary jungle. Few had tried to venture inside and those who did ended up badly hurt and scared. Several scary tales from the jungle were told, including a legend of a deadly large monster which could kill anyone in sight instantly. One day there was a brave girl who got curious by the jungle. Despite all warnings from people, she went inside the jungle. She was hurt by the thorns, got attacked by the beasts, lost her way countless time, but she moved on with a strange resilience.
Why was she so foolishly curious? What people didn’t know was that she could see a faith but beautiful light shining in the jungle. A light that only she could see. It was too beautiful for her to resist. Being a stubborn girl, she wanted to know where the source of the light was. People thought of her as being foolish and reckless and thought she was just trying to get some attention as every stupid young did, but she just didn’t care.

Eventually, she found the source of the beautiful light. It turned out the jungle wasn’t just filled with deadly plants and animals. Inside a mass of thorns, there a boy who kept his face hidden in a mask shaped of a wolf. He cuddled inside the thorns and never moved. The wolf mask was intimidaing, but his body was shining beautifully.

The girl called for him and tried to have a conversation, but he immediately backed off at her sight. He posed as a wolf and made wolf sound. The girl was startled at first, but she was not afraid. She was too allured by the light to back out. She reached out to him with her arms. She ignored his warning and the thorns, cutting herself badly in the process, and touched his hand when he was about to attack her.

Suddenly, as soon as the girl touched his hand, the boy stopped fighting. The thorns suddenly disappeared and his mask fell off, revealing a human face. It was the most angelic face the girl had ever seen. Though he tried hard, tears were streaming down his face. The girl gave him a big hug and he cried even more. They sat there embracing each other for hours. The girl fell the warmth and the pleasant aura from the boy and the boy held her much tighter than anyone had to her, as if he was holding on a lifesaver. They started to exchange a friendly conversation. It turned out that the boy was actually the legendary deadly monster people had been talking about. He told her how lonely and scared he was inside the jungle, how surprised he was to finally found someone who was not afraid of him. He continuously sobbed while talking. The girl comforted him and promised to get him out of the jungle once and for all. They set out to escape the jungle.

But something strange happened. The girl realized that the jungle suddenly became bigger and more dangerous. The jungle became darker, the road was harder to see, the beasts became stronger and more vicious. There were also obstacles and traps she didn’t see previously. No matter how hard she tried, she could no longer find the way out. Throughout the journey, the boy held tight on the girl’s arm like a scared kid holding onto its mother. The girl, though tired and frustrated at times, never let go of the boy. She knew everything scared him, and he was putting his life on her. That was the only thing that kept her from succumbing to the jungle’s dark power.

One day, the girl suddenly heard a voice pointing her to a certain direction. The warm voice promised that it would help them get out of the jungle. The boy was immediately skeptical of the voice, but the girl fully believed it. After a lot of persuasion, the boy agreed to go, only if she accompanied him throughout the way. They then arrived at a large gate. The gate looked nothing like the rest of the jungle and it immediately arosed the boy’s suspicion. The voice told the girl to stay outside and let the boy go inside the gate. The boy went into panic and begged the girl to turn back, as it was the first time they had to separate. The girl tried to calm him, saying that the voice had a reason for it and she would not go anywhere. After much comfort and persuasion, the boy nervously agreed and entered the gate.

Once inside, the boy saw where the voice came from. It was a blue raven with shining wings. It led the boy to a big door and told him to open it. “You have to open it yourself. You know what this door is and what I mean by that”, it said. The boy knew what the door was. He was horrified by the sight of it alone. He thought for a moment that the raven wanted harm on him by making him open the door. He promptly put out his wolf mask and attempted to put it on, but the raven violently hit his hand and he dropped the mask, shattering it to pieces. Without the mask, the boy was now in full panic. He cried out and cursed the raven. “What in the world are you? What do you want from me?”, he screamed. “What I am is not important,” the raven said dryly, “I need you to open that door for me, that’s all. You will know what I want from you once you open it”. The boy ran out to the gate, but it was now tightly locked. The boy was furious, but he knew he had no other choice, now that his girl was not around. He gathered all his courage and opened the door.

It was a pitch black room behind the door. There was something inside it that made the boy uncomfortable. The raven flew inside the room and told the boy to follow him. Inside the room, the boy started experiencing horrifying illusions. He saw some big bullies, some nasty kids calling him names and throwing things at him, some angry adults getting irritated at his sight… The illusions broke him and he fell on his knee sobbing. “Why are you making me do this?” He cried. “You know what is inside and you still want me to see it. You enjoy seeing me suffer that much?” “That’s the point of all of this,” the raven said. “I tell you what, boy, you know why there is a room in this place? It is because you deny all what you have just seen. This room is where you put all the regressed memories in one place, lock it up, and pretent nothing has ever existed. You thought by doing so you would be free, but as you can already see, it only ends up hurting you even more. This is why I told you to open the door, even though I know so well what is inside. You have to see it for what it is, to finally accept that it’s there.”

The raven pointed to an illusion. It was an image of a girl approaching the boy in a casual manner, then being put off by the boy. “Look at this,” the raven said. “And think for a while. What is the thing you always say to your little friend outside this room? That’s right, “I’m scared”. You are so wrapped up in your past hurt. You are so convinced that the world is a dangerous place that you put on your wolf mask and are always ready for a fight. Look at that girl. You remember her right? She went away not because she hated you, but because you drove her away in fear that she would harm you. You could have killed your new friend back when you two first met too. You are so selfish with trust that the only trust you ever give anyone is to your friend. That was why everything in this jungle scared you. You refused to believe I was trying to help you two. You refused to let go of your friend for just a second. And with that, you accidentally drive people away, people who could have been great friends and helped you get out of this jungle.”

The boy was silent for a long while. For the first time he was not miserable nor defensive. He let the words of the raven sink in his head. He felt a deep sense of guilt and regret. The raven was right, he could have done better. He could have been a better person than the legendary deadly monster. But before he could say anything, the raven spoke again: “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “what have I done with my life?” You think there is no way you can undo the past. It’s true, you can’t undo the past, but you can write a better future. This is why I’m here. I’m here to help you start over and write your future.”

The raven gave its wing to the boy and told him to touch it. The boy, for the first time not resisting anything, obeyed immediately. As soon as he touched the wing, a bright light embraced the two. Suddenly, the boy and the raven were sitting on the most beautiful garden the world had ever seen. It turned out that the jungle was the boy’s creation all along, and now it had been destroyed forever. The boy was filled with joy, the joy he had never experienced before. He could not find any word to express how grateful he was to the raven.

The boy’s friend appeared and the two hugged. They were convinced that all the horrible things were over. The raven commented that the boy was a true gentlement with a big heart, hence the bright light the girl saw. But only certain people could see the light because he intentionally dimmed it for fear of it being abused. Only people who were compassionate enough could sense the light and its beauty. The boy learned a valuable lesson that it was ok to be more generous with trust as the world wasn’t a completely dangerous place. The boy and the girl became best friends forever and the boy grew up to be a man famous for his compassion and generosity.

TJBM has read it all and at one point realized that it is about Spoiler alert: a boy struggling with depression, a sympatheic girl and a wise therapist

No, I haven’t read it all, but I promise before bedtime tonight. What parts I have read are extremely well-written. You are able to use the English language better than a lot of native speakers.

TJBM Is impressed with Mimi’s writings.

Yes, very nice bedtime story Mimi! :-) and the boy and girl both learned you hold the key to unlocking your own chains.

TJBM will make me a sandwich.

Sssure! Whatcha want onit? I fancy lightly toasted whole grain specialty bread, avocado, organic thin sliced roast beef, red onion, spicy ground mustard, arugula, sharp cheddar, and a little mayonnaise.

TJBM will share their ideal sandwich.

Mmmm…I’ll take it, only sub out the roast beef for either hard salami or smoked ham.

My ideal sandwich, too many to list, from garden fresh sliced tomatoe sandwiches on toasted bread to Tuna to egg salad. Ooh…egg salad sounds good to me now. haha

TJBM has practically been living on sandwiches and fruit in the hot weather.

More like heart attack specials and ice water. I hate summer time, can’t wait for fall. Such as it is here. TJBM well describe their favorite sandwich.

My bad, should have read the above, so on edit: TJBM will tell us about their favorite sandwich shop.

Hmmm….I like the Mr. Pickles near my house and sometimes a deli sandwich or Subway. Tuna w/mayo, lettuce,tomatoes and peppers.

TJBM loves the little guy in my video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tzLjIrfk7M

I do indeed, snappy tune and he’s fleet of feet. Paws? Talons? Well, you get the point. : ) TJBM is taking a summer vacation soon.

I lost the concept of summer vacation since I graduated. I can’t distinguish work day and vacation anymore.
TJBM has no holiday :(

Not a holiday as such, but I am taking a hiatus this week to spend some quality time with my younger grand kids before school starts again in late August. Going to a fishing camp, rent a cabin a few days, then maybe spend a day or two in Waco to see the zoo, and an animal park nearby on the way home. About 4 days max, but I can’t afford anything elaborate. TJBM isn’t taking a fancy overseas tour, because if you’ve seen one Taj, you’ve seen Mahal.

LOL. No. No overseas tours in the near future for me. But sometime between 9am and 12noon tomorrow, I’ll embark on a sweet little Catalina 22 for delivery from St. Lucia to Martinique. Should be a cake run of about 4–5 hours at best, but the last gig was supposed to be cake, too, but it turned out to be a fucking nightmare from the deepest pits of hell. The mate and I were trapped for 48 hours at sea on a boat totally infested with bedbugs. Really nasty little bastards.

So, at @snowberry‘s suggestion and with black light at the ready, I will thoroughly inspect tomorrow’s vessel for bedbugs and other vermin before leaving the dock. That ain’t gonna happen again. Among other things, I’ll lose the best first mate I’ve had, if it does.

TJBM has had a really nice, quiet Sunday at home.

I did, and I just came in from a nice swim at dark and I am very relaxed.

TJBM is in touch with their inner 4 year old.

Yup, I’m reading a book that any 4 year old could understand. Go find me a four year old, I can’t make heads nor tails of it. TJBM is watching late night TV. And pigging out on moon pies.

I surf late night web is it even a thing?
TJBM can stay up late.

I sure can, I’m off tomorrow. Nothing to do sleep in, then chill out all day. TJBM is about to hit the hay.

I am, lying in bed now with my laptop waiting for my hair to dry a little more.

TJBM likes true crime mysteries.

You don’t know how long I have been into it :D Just look at my profile. I like them so much that I want to create mystery stories. Although recently I’m starting to shift my attitude from pure Holmesian style whodunnits that only solve crimes for the sake of it to introspective work that give insight to how people work. That last story I posted is an example.
TJBM knows that artists are prone to depression because they are too perceptive and have a tendency to ruminate.

Oh I know well. Where I was in my 20’s I found myself in a circle of very creative friends—musicians, actors, dancers, poets, writers, etc. All thinking, with good reason, that things could be better somewhere else…but not quite knowing where that was, I hope to get there.

TJBM knows their purpose in life.

Yes, very well.

TJBM was once young but now…?

… still young outside but old inside, if you know what I mean.
TJBM will tell us what their purpose in life is.

Purpose is ever changing there is no one exact purpose.

TJBM thinks we create our own purpose.

42 / so long and thanks for all the fish !

TJBM wishes it was the weekend again.

Doesn’t matter to me, weekends are the same as all the other days to me. haha

TJBM needs will tell us what is in their fridge right now.

Gosh. Cheese. Half of a French dip sandwich from Arby’s (for my Birthday dinner!) milk. Butter. Fishing worms. Cheescake (left over from dinner out on Saturday, saving for my Birthday dinner tonight while I watch Judge Judy,) Diet Coke, beer, ketchup, mayo. Sauce packets from various fast food restaurants.
I could better tell you what we don’t have in there.

TJBM will tell us what is not in their fridge that should be.

More like what shouldn’t be in their but soon will. A jug of my urine for a 24 hour urine collection. Chilled piss, hardly Chardonnay. LOL

TJBM has something unusual in their fridge. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dutchie!

Thanks. :D :D

I don’t know what qualifies as weirder than fishing worms. Although I had my son’s first fish (a perch) in my freezer for about 10 years. And an assortment of bugs he would catch and put in baby food jars in my freezer.
His wife gets to deal with it now. :D

TJBM is ready to chill for the evening.

Yes! Three and a half hour college class this morning, woke up at 6am for it. Then a meeting with my counselor to discuss the upcoming semester classes I will take where I found out that not only do I need to take two more math courses but THREE. Pushing my graduation to summer instead of spring. A snag in my plans but it doesn’t ruin everything. I’ll make it. But yes, a major headache for the day so I’m ready to RELAX. Haha.

TJBM hates math too?

I do. I am lost when it comes to the higher maths, cannot, for the life of me, work out problems in writing but have an uncannily accurate ability to measure and calculate in my mind , maybe I am an idiot savant. LOL

TJBM is mechanically challenged.

That’s a cool talent and ability at least! (Are you British? You say “mathS” plural lol,) Mechanically challenged? I’m not really sure what the qualifications for that are, but I likely am anyway. Math, science, anything like that I suck at. Wish I could be better in it but my mind doesn’t wanna work like that. English, Sociology, History are more my forte’.

TJBM has seen ‘The Birth Of A Nation’.

Yes, very good, saw it a year or so ago when it 1st was released in theaters.
No, not british just wit-ish. LOL

TJBM likes foreign sub-titled movies.

I did like foreign subtitled movies when I was studying languages in high school. Helped a lot for that. But it’s not necessarily a genre I seek out.

TJBM is a night owl.

Not like I used to be.

Adulting has changed TJBM.

Adulting? I’ve been adulting for long time, I want to be childing again.

TJB is a big, fat, baby!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUTCHESS!!!

Sometimes. It depends if I’m with a big, fat momma type. It’s nice to relax and let the hurt though in a safe place once in awhile with a safe person.

@CunningFox What’s your major?

No bedbugs today, just rain and big waves. Safely quartered in a hotel room on Martinique with a big shower/bath, great food and a lounge full of French lady tourists. Vivre la bonne vie! or something like that.

TJBM knows what, ultimately, our purpose in life is.

Happy Birthday Dutchess and congratulations EC!
I’m still struggling to know. I’m too young for that question :(
TJBM is fighting for a cause bigger than they are.

Yes, fighting to keep my backside from getting bigger. haha

TJBM has gone skydiving.

No. Never jumped out of a perfectly good aircraft. The closest thing to that was just a couple of years ago, I was thinking about getting into motorless, or passive, paragliding. My little sister in Hawaii, a former world windsurfing champion, is a paragliding fanatic. It’s sweet thing. The guy in the picture is way more equipped than we were in Tampa Bay. You wear a pair of trunks and while on a skiboard, a guy on a jet ski gets you off the water surface, then you ride the thermoclines for the rest of the day.

I did it a few times and was ready to spend about 4 grand on equipment, but it will really tax you physically. I was about 57 at the time, in good shape, but a few times I damn near became completely exhausted while up. I thought it would be a nice adjunct to my future sailing business along with dive tours, fishing, etc. But it was just too much. I loved it though. Nothing like being up there riding the thermoclines with the pelicans in total silence above the hotels on the beach and looking down at the maddening, busy world below.

But it was not to be.

TJBM has done some kind of passive flying.

Yes, I took my daughter up for a couple hour hot air balloon tor for her 21st birthday.
It was so much fun. Yes, total silence just drifting along.

TJBM has had a long day.

Yeah, for sure. I just ordered some camomile tea and a sandwich to help wind me down. It was a bit hairy out there today, on hindsight. But I was just an observer on this trip. The boat was easily sailed solo, so it was up to the mate to both handle the wheel and work the deck and sails as if I weren’t on board. She’s studying for her Captain’s boards and need to log in solo time on blue water to qualify. I’ll probably be losing her sometime next year.

TJBM is waiting for the sandman to cometh forth.

Yes, he is just outside the door softly knocking…

TJBM loves Dijon mustard.

Yeah. As a former inveterate food snob, that is the only mustard I would use for years. But you know what? I got back to the States and started using their yellow mustard again, and truthfully, it is my favorite now. Maybe it is because some of my favorite comfort foods, like kielbasa and sauerkraut, just don’t taste the same without the mustard I grew up with.

TJBM will hang in there until the sandman makes it through the door.

I will.
TJBM drank too much juice.

Juice. LOL. No, only one after dinner brandy.

TJBM is sensitive to fructose

Not that I am aware of but I know high fructose corn syrup is nasty stuff.

TJBM is up at at’em.

Err…
TJBM says err.

Errrrrr…..

TJBM likes chocolate milk.

I do. I hadn’t had it for years, possibly decades, until recently. As a going away gift, a friend gave me five pounds of powdered chocolate flavored whey protein. You mix it with milk for best results. Damn, this stuff is good. I forgot how much I liked chocolate milk. I drank almost a gallon of it the first day. The next day, everything in my gut had turned to concrete. I ate two large cans of peaches and finally got some relief. So, I keep it down to only one glass a day now. I had no idea protein did that to you..Lesson learned.

TJBM has recently eaten a food that they haven’t had for a long time.

I had pizza.
TJBM remembered to take their vitamins today.

Actually I just ran out and haven’t bought more yet.

TJBM likes to dance.

Only if you don’t laugh at me.
TJBM likes to do something when no one is around.

Yes, lounge around in my skivvies. :-)

TJBM keeps a frozen washcloth in their frizzer for morning wake up face. LOL

I never thought of it, but it sounds like a good idea.

TJBM will tell us what’s under their bed.

Nothing but dust balls, house cleaning day is Thurs.

TJBM has tile flooring.

Yes, here and there.

TJBM learned to walk before they crawled.

I can’t remember.

TJBM just injured themself.

Ouch! No!

TJBM has thinning hair.

No, I have nice, healthy hair.

TJBM will tell us their hair color.

Black, but that’s too predictable if you know who I am.
TJBM knows where @Espiritus_Corvus has gone to…

No I don’t but I hope it isn’t the hospital.

TJBM had leftovers for their last meal.

No, my last meal, last night was fresh salad and cheese and crackers.

TJBM is cranky from the heat.

No. I have air conditioning any time I want to escape.

TJBM wonders how people even did it before A.C.

Yes, sheer misery, especially women way back when cooking over wood stoves and baking bread every day and washing your clothes on a washboard, fuck that, I’d have murdered my entire family. LOL

TJBM has had bugs or an animal eat their flowers recently.

Not this year. Not since I found Betsy the Burro a good home. She could demolish a quarter acre garden in ten minutes and a half acre of sugar cane in a day. I swear I thought I was going to come out there one morning and find her hoof up in patch of devastated cane. She now has a good home with a bunch of kids who feed her as much cane as she wants.

TJBM has had experience with burros.

Yes. We had a burro when my daughter was about 6, named “Minnie Pearl.” Got her so my daughter and my friends little kids had something small to ride and fuss over. She was a clown, loved Captain Crunch cereal. haha

She ended up bonding with my friends horse so we let her go with them when they moved. My other friend around the bend here has two mini-donkeys, “Missy” & June Bug.” Missy is totally blind in her old age but gets around fine following her pal.

TJBM is going to bed early tonight, they swear.

I swear so many times…
Good night @Coloma!
TJBM will say good night to @Coloma.

Good night, vaquera.

TJBM thinks it’s amazing how some animals will take care of other animals of a different species.

Of course! Ants take care of caterpillars, dogs take care of cats and vice versa… Not all of the relationships are from pure kindness but it teaches human that it’s possible to coexist with each other.
And I don’t like it when people form cynical thought about this phenomenon. I remember a story about a mother cat raising a young rat along with her kittens. It wasn’t clear if the story was true or not, but one human in the story said something like this: “The cat is only raising the rat so that she can eat it once it grows up”. Don’t know if that was a joke or not, but I find the attitude too cynical. Pet rat and cat have been proved to live happily together when properly introduced.
TJBM thinks animals have a lot to teach us.

I do. I have learned from dogs that a handicap is not a handicap if you just keep on being what you are. I the case of a three legged dog, it doesn’t slow them down a bit, and they don’t feel self-conscious for one second around other dogs. They get sniffed once or twice for their strangeness, then go and take their position in the pack. If they stood around moping, the other dogs would feel bad, realize there is nothing they can do, then go on with their lives. Somehow dogs know this. It is a good thing to learn from dogs.

TJBM has a YouTube example of cross-species empathy.

Here ya go. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8uBcHHZIApg

TJBM will show us another video of cross species empathy.

Not right now, too busy to look any up. I dunno, maybe that first dog was just trying to bury the baby. haha
Cute, but I’m not a fan of having dogs right up in babies faces. Risky business.

TJBM is busy, busy, busy, today.

No. Wish I was, though. My job today consists of moving the sprinkler around the yard.

TJBM has found a way to temporarily stay super cool.

Yep, AC and I have a froze washcloth in the frizzer to wipe my fevered brow. LOL

TJBM has seen a large animal castrated. I got to assist with a calfs castration this morning. No more bull, now a little steer.

NOOOOOO, oh, Porter!

I’ve never seen an animal castrated.

TJBM learned some stuff about sex from observing animals.

When I was five, my father, a city boy, decided that all his boys were going to learn the joys of hard work. I think this was during his “Egg and I” period. So, he rented a farm outside of Sacramento and moved his wife and brood of five onto the wide open spaces. We each got a cow, a pig, a dog and a chicken. My big sister got a pony and dressage lessons. All my animals were black and all my big brother’s were white. I named all my animals “Blackie”.

The first thing that happened was my big brother’s white boar started humping my black sow. Soon we had piglets. After about a year of loving care, my old man had a guy come out and put a bullet behind my brother’s cow’s ear. The next day, the cow came back in little white paper packages. Freaked us out. Nobody told us. All my old man said was, “What?! I told you not to give them names!” My brother wouldn’t take part in the experiment after that. And my mom went on a sympathy strike. We soon moved to the suburbs like everyone else.

TJBM had a weird old man, too.

I have Adi and you. Both have something in their personality that doesn’t fit an average American, or even an average human. Both can connect to people from the other side of the planet even without meeting. And most of all I feel comfortable revealing my true self to both.
TJBM is positive and can turn a negative word into positive one.

Absolutely! Bring ‘me on!
And my “old man” was a bit eccentric as well.

TJBM likes to walk in the dark.

I do. Not in cities, though. I like to walk at night, night blooming jasmine, the sounds of night animals. Hedge hogs, coons, mullet jumping in the water, frogs croaking, the magic of fireflies. Plants seem to exude a stronger aroma at night. Wisteria, Huckleberry, Oak, Pine. I smelled something briefly the other day that was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t identify it right away. It was wheat. Dry summer wheat that has been baked in the California sun, at night, walking through a wheatfield in that fine dust. The smell of those two things, the dust and the wheat brought a flash of memories from childhood. I haven’t smelled wheat in thirty years, at least. I damn near want to jump on a plane to Northern California just to walk in a wheatfield at night. That would be very nice.

TJBM knows what I’m talking about.

Yes, only in my case, I am sick of the heat and dust and would like to walk on a cool, misty, beach at night.

TJBM has morning breath.

Who, me? Nevaaaaaaaaaah! I’m afraid you’ll have to go to Stinson for that cool walk on the beach, Coloma. You won’t get that here. You’ll get a warm sultry night under the moon best for nude bathing in 80F water. LOL. Later, you get to stick to your partner like sweat on naugahyde.

TJBM just realized it’s Friday.

Nope. Knew it when I woke.
My brother and I had some painful moments with beloved animals too, but we were raised with the farm life, and knew what to expect.
I have The Egg And I on dvd.
TJBM has seen The Egg And I.

The closest I’ve come to seeing The Egg and I is checking out a synopsis.

TJBM will tell us a story of when they were in the country or outdoors in a park.

So many stories! Too many to even choose from. Well, there was the time I peed on a possum, in the dark, at our campsite at the lake.
Well, and when I was in a riot at Hermann Hill park in 1979.
Fun times.

TJBM wishes someone would come clean their house for them.

Please. I’m begging.
TJBM keeps a clean living space.

I do, but living alone I really only need to clean every few weeks other than the usual like dishes, take out the trash, minor upkeep.

TJBM lives alone and likes it.

I liked it when I lived alone…except I wasn’t really alone. I had the kids.

TJBM would like living alone.

I do like living alone. I really don’t think I could live any other way now. I think the best I could do at this point is to live next door to a lover or SO. With good fences.

TJBM frequently loses track of what day it is.

Well, not frequently, but being unemployed doesn’t help me keep track.

When TJBM sees a very large, really nice house, the first thing they think of is, “OMG, who’s gonna clean that and can you imagine the utility bill!”

Especially the la-a-arge I almost typed “hu-u-uge”! windows.

TJBM Is tired today.

I am. I’m tired every day. I need a life.

TJBM needs a life.

Yes, one with lots of money and no irritations, no doing anything I don’t want to do, totally free, sigh once upon a time, once upon a time.

TJBM has an old life they remember fondly.

Yes. Then they grew up. I miss them so very much.

TJBM is looking forward to something next week.

No, only more fucking heat, days of 100–103, from now through next week.
I am so done and I am getting really, really, angry! LOL

TJBM gets irritable when it is really hot for days on end.

My head is irriable when it’s hot. I have my headache!
TJBM is suffering from the heat.

Not too bad. We’re working outside today. It’s okay as long as I stay in the shade (there’s plenty), drink water and take breaks. But this afternoon, we all plan to be inside. Sooooper hot!

The Jelly Below Me can be meticulous.

Definitely. About certain things. Like research. I often get lost in the research end of things. I recently ran across a woman who was famous in 1920 for the diary she wrote in 1905–6 when she was six years old. I read the diary and was super impressed by her intelligence and approach to things. And her innocence which she was eloquent enough to convey poignantly. I’ve been wanting to do a children’s book, but to get to that innocence is very difficult from the life I’ve led, but I realized this little girl had what I’ve lost.

So, I dug out my notes on three stories that I’ve not been able to write and did a little more research. Four days later, I haven’t written a thing of my own and I keep finding out things about her that just blows my mind. Her name was Opal Whiteley, from Cottage Grove, Oregon. She grew grew up to be a writer/lecturer in natural sciences. She got into some trouble in India when an important cleric fell in love with her and embarrassed the maharaja and the British Authorities there. It was the 1920s, so, of course, it was all her fault and the Brits made her leave the country.

And she spent the last fifty years of her life in a mental institution in London, died at 95 and is buried there. They said she was schizophrenic. She was strange, but not full blown crazy. I think she was a victim of Aspergers at best. But she was surely a genius, and a very pretty one, too. I think I’ve fallen in love with a ghost.

TJBM can get hung up in research.

Not really, if we are speaking of researching for writing. My research process goes like this: I construct my plot, come across a suspicious plot point, do research to validate how it would happen in real life, then make necessary changes. During my research I can come up with new ideas along the way too. I’m not afraid of getting lost in research because my plot comes before the research.
TJBM can think in metaphors.

Yes, I love analogy and metaphors.

TJBM will give me a pep talk to launch me into my day.

Gimme a C!
Gimme an O!
Gimme an F!
(Fooled ya!)
Gimme another F!
Gimme an E!
Gimme another E!

Waddya got?

COFFEEEEEE!

Howzat?

Would you like that on ice?

TJBM will help Coloma to get going.

Uh, yeah – analogies and metaphors…hey, there’s that damn owl again! Think he’s trying to tell me something? TJBM will add something that doesn’t require a Ph.D. from Harvard to understand.

Jack and Jill went up the hill…

TJBM is over the hill.

I am indeed, thanks for bringing that to my attention : ( TJBM will do something to make us all feel young again.

Opal Whiteley’s Diary: The Story of Opal

TJBM has read a children’s book lately

No, can’t say that I have. I love the old Velveteen Rabbit story myself.

TJBM will take me out to dinner.

Imagine you hear a roaring noise outside your door. Walk out. Now imagine you see a Mafioso sitting on a motorcycle. Jump onto the motorcycle.
Congratulations! You have just been taken to dinner!
TJBM will say something to start my day.

Have a bowl of Wheaties, the breakfast of champions. And a cup of coffee. And, off you go! TJBM will tell us what they had for breakfast.

I had a plain rice cake (which is puffed rice pressed into a wafer that’s just right for spreading something tasty on it) and covered with salted mashed avocado. It’s my go to comfort food.

TJBM has secret family recipes.

Yes, but my family won’t tell me.
TJBM is looking forwrd to tomorrow.

Hell no! It is going to be 103 degrees all week and I am ranch sitting Weds.-Sun. I might have to jump in the duck and goose pond. LOL I just came in from about 45 minutes of soaking all the flower beds and was a sweaty mess, now I am showered and happy in the AC again.

TJBM likes french bread and spinach dip.

French bread, yup. Spinach dip, no. The world would be a better place if the adults had to eat the spinach. TJBM won’t touch spinach with a ten foot pole.

I like spinach in dip, salad, in quiche, soup but not just a glob of cooked spinach on my plate, no.

TJBM knows that horses can jump rope.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tvNN3Q-7gU

I don’t know, but I’m not surprised. With enough patience or love, an animal can learn incredible things.
TJBM thinks animals are smarter than humans believe.

No animal in his/her right mind would have elected Trump. Sooo… yea, I think you may be onto something. TJBM will not forget to add TJBM, like I almost just did.

I have never forgotten, but I learned a lesson to refresh the page every time someone forgets TJBM because most of the time they will come back to edit.
TJBM is patient with people.

@Mimishu1995 It’s your game, I’m just playing it. Let’s see, patience… maybe, at times. I lose patience fast with people who want to go somewhere with me, then have to go back inside 35 times for this or that or the other. And idiots who stall at green lights. TJBM says patience is a virtue.

I sez patience is a virtue. People make mistakes. Not all people have it all together. Maybe they have had bad day. Maybe they are lost, or confused, or maybe they have some medical issue we don’t know about.

TJBM can be patient

Absolutely! And when somebody does something I don’t like, I amuse myself by making up stories about them!

TJBM likes stories.

YES I DO! I also love telling stories too.
TJBM likes telling stories.

I do. The art of storytelling is a dying art.

TJBM considers themselves to be a practitioner of a dying art.

Yes, I do and I enjoy these arts very much. Crafting a story. Sketching with only the fine motor movement of my hands, a set of pencils, an eraser and a piece of paper. Sailing with only a compass, a chart and the celestial bodies above. Playing an acoustic instrument.

TJBM considers themselves to be a practitioner of a dying art.

Not dying, but unpopular. I’m into making comics. Stories that are told in sequential pictures. I know comics have long been associated with childishness, but that’s a tip of the iceberg. I have been exposed to very mature comics that can be the equivalent of serious books. I want to at least break the stigma that comics are for children and prove the otherwise.
TJBM is passionate about a kind of art.

Yes, music. Especially the music that comes from the hearts of the people, the indigenous folk songs that tell more about a culture than almost anything else.

TJBM is passionate about a kind of art.

Yes. I have a deep interest in understanding what is called “voodoo” by foreigners off these islands—and have the opportunity to pursue that interest while I am here.

It is a kind of folk medicine developed when no other was available to the slaves of these islands, a mash of ancient West African tribal medicine, ritual and philosophy, Catholic mythology, gods and demigods (Saints) and ritual quite misunderstood by foreigners as some kind of belief that could bring people physically back from the dead. It is about the spirit of the once living, not their bodies, and that is just a very small part of it. Sometimes it is helpful to ask the answers of those who once knew and now have passed on. This belief, although not necessarily sanctioned by today’s dominant religions, is quite common amongst the practitioner of those religions.

And there are many other obviously misunderstood things, including arts, that I am interested in.

“yell” was a very appropropriate Freudian slip, especially when it comes to folk music that is dying out and under desperate resuscitation by loving esoterics and aficionados.

TJBM is passionate about a kind of ar of the past.

Yep! I’ve been telling stories since I was a child. There’s something about telling a story to an audience that is magical.

TJBM needs food. What will it be?

Two thick, tomato, lettuce and tuna fish sandwiches on multi-grain toast with home-made mayo. And a big bowl of chicken and rice soup with fresh basil. Ice tea with lemon.

TJBM has a favorite lunch recipe.

Mmmm…my kinda tuna sandwich, don’t forget the sweet pickle relish.

I like everything so no real favorites. Yesterday was fresh cucumbers from the garden drizzled with green goddess dressing, crusty french bread with spinach dip and a few slices of hard salami and watermelon.

TJBM has a favorite winter meal.

Oh, yeah. God, I miss a good, hot stew when it is cold outside. Beef stews, or a spicy bouillabaisse, or a creamy shellfish bisque. Hot, thick, chili with everything in it. Fresh bread right out of the oven, warm enough to melt real butter. Corn bread, Cuban bread, a French baguette. The Swedes use wild meats in their thick winter stews, or “Kalops”; reindeer, moose, or bear meat, with wild mushrooms—chanterelles—and a dab of either sweet, sloeberry gele’, or cranberry jelly.

TJBM has a favorite stew.

Beef or chicken yes, with carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, maybe even some chunked squash and I make an amazing homemade chicken pot pie. my friend and I made goat meat, rice and squash stuffed Zucchini the other day, pretty damn good.

TJBM has pierced ears.

I do. Have had since I was 13, but that’s the only piercing. I rarely wear earrings, and when I do I kinda have to pierce them all over again.

TJBM has piercings other than ear piercings.

Nope.

TJBM works a lot of overtime.

No, not overtime, my work as a pet/house sitter is very flexible, sometimes I am hopping busy with overlapping gigs and other times just the usual daily routine for my main gig here.This week, tomorrow through Sunday will be an overlap week.

TJBM has never wanted to be part of the mainstream.

I never had a choice, but it never looked that fun anyway.

TJBM will be late if they don’t hurry up! To what?

What. me hurry? Off today, I’m in no rush. On second thought, I might take a nap. Dog tired, and bone weary. TJBM will talk food no more forever. Making me hungry, dang it.

Okay, at ;east until you are not hungry anymore

TJBM will tell us what they see at first glance, right now.

A computer screen. Whoul’da thunk it? TJBM will tell us what they are doing, right this very second. And don’t tell me, needing a little Christmas.
’

I’m looking at the odds Vegas is giving on the Trump presidency. Bovada, the big Vegas oddsmaker, for the first time is giving close odds that he will not fulfill his first term of office.

This shows bettors are growing more confident that he will not finish his full term of office.

TJBM thinks people’s opinions are more reliable when they put their money where their mouth is.

I think you are correct, EC. I just hope it ends thru scandal and impeachment. Not the unthinkable. I wouldn’t wish that on any Prez, regardless of what a turd sandwich he is. Interesting post, by the way, thanks for posting that. TJBM will discuss something other than Chump and Co.

I don’t even know what that is.
TJBM had an important meeting today.

Yes. To renew my annual contract with the school!

TJBM was able to confirm or deny something today.

@NomoreY_A I’m with you there, pal. And I think the bettors are thinking the same way; something legal, not violent.

Yes, I was able to confirm that the weather forecast was correct that it was going to be 104 degrees.

TJBM has miles to go before they sleep.

No, just a few more hours. I am finally back on track, though, and no longer dwelling in the surreal nocturnal world amongst the undead on the net. Day goooood. Night baaaaaaaaaaad.

TJBM used to be a night owl.

On and off, but I have never been an early morning person so I like to get enough sleep. I am up early but like to ease into my day and not jump into action immediately. I was up til midnight last night, waiting for it to cool down enough to open up the house before bedtime and turn off the AC. Summer screws me up and I stay up later than I’d like.

TJBM loves roasted chilis.

I love roasted anything. TJBM will sack out early and sleep late.

Most likely sack out around 10–11 if I can and wake around 7.

TJBM will tell us what color their house is. Mine is white with green trim

White.

TJBM is very short.

Not really, about 5’8” – Is that short? TJBM will take a break to watch Grill Masters.

Naw, not a fan.

TJBM isn’t a TV fan.

No, haven’t watched TV in years, I have a DVD player, and a TV but only for watching the occasional movie. i watch most movies on Netflix or go to the theater.

TJBM is irritated by extremely militant types that insist everyone be as outraged as they are over their flavor of the week cause.

Not really, just take the extreme lefty view that if we all just sit around a commune in white robes and hold hands and sing Kumbaya, the conservatives and rednecks will fade from the scene and the world will be full of love and purtty little unicorns. If only we can all just be PC at all times with all people. TJBM says no way, Jose.

No way, Jose.
TJBM does everything people say.

No way Jose. haha

TJBM likes reptiles.

Not only no, but hell no! Yeah yeah, I know some snakes are beneficial, but I don’t know enough about them to tell the good ones from the bad ones. I try hard to give them a wide berth. TJBM will stay up all night and play TJBM.

Nope. Garter snakes are fun. Most of them get docile after a few minutes of being held.
TJBM got snuggled today.

Not today. I could use a snuggle though. TJBM will not trick another jelly into saying No Way Jose. Trump will probably find a way to work that into his next tweet about the border wall, anyway.

No way, Jose!
TJBM thinks “no way, Jose” is the new phrase to refuse to do something.

Or just plain “no!” haha

TJBM is has gotten a jury duty summons recently.

Wow, they’ve figured out where we live! They’re always after one of us it seems. Until a few years ago none of us had never received a summons and now it’s every year at least one person at our house gets a jury summons.

TJBM gets a jury summons as often as it’s legal for them to do so.

This is the first one in the last 6 or 7 years. I will find out my fate Friday night. haha

TJBM loves watching kittens play.

It is fun!

TJBM will tell us another story. Or provide a link to a store you like.

What kind of story do you like? True story? Made-up story? Life story?
TJBM will clarify.

True life, observational stories for me. The truth is always more entertaining than fiction. haha

TJBM must go forth into the inferno of their day.

Yeah, in a while I go to my joyous part time job. But it’s raining here so it cooled down a bit. Hope its raining in Austin, where I work, not too far from here. TJBM will tell us what they have on their agenda today.

Pet sitting the next 4–5 days for 2 horses, 3 geese and 6 hens. haha

TJBM is some kind of wonderful.

Some people seem to think so, but when they tell me that I always say that I will remind them of that the next time I’m feeling cranky!

TJBM has had hair in an unusual place before.

Middle of my eyebrows; above my nose? ?

TJBM wishes the weather would cool down and stay that way for a while.

You have no idea. It is brutally hot here, had to keep the AC running all night and it was already 96 at 11 a.m I am starting to feel homicidal. LOL

TJBM feels homicidal.

Not literally. But I have felt suicidal, but it’s been a lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong time since I’ve felt anywhere near that.

TJBM will share their…

Toothbrush. Never, ever haha

TJBM has a pony.

Nope. Always wanted one when I was a kid though. Wanted to name it Trigger, the name of Roy Rogers horse. LOL TJBM was a fan of the singing cowboys when they were a kiddo.

I liked all the 60’s horsey shows, Cisco Kid, My friend Flicka, Fury, good old shows.

TJBM has 3 more hours of bliss before they have to go to work.

Two more hours of bliss. Cant believe you actually said the W word. TJBM will tell us what they like about their job.

The flexibility and being my own boss. I can choose what I do and when I do it, if the price is right. haha

TJBM is self employed.

I wish. TJBM will tell us about a wild time in Vegas. Viva Las Vegas, baby!

I never had any real wild times in Vegas. It wasn’t my scene at all. Back in the day, it was all whores and guys that looked like ex-boxers, polyester leisure suits, white patent leather shoes with matching belts—that was the dress code. The clientele we either blue-haired old ladies there to see the rat-pack or middle-aged, overweight people to see Elvis. It was run by a bunch of greaseballs from Chicago and points farther east. But the buffets were comped if you had chips. And those buffets were first class. New York Strip, Prime Rib cut as thick as you wanted, lobster, shrimp, the whole nine yards.

I would ride through Vegas from Northern California on my Norton 750 Commando on my way to Sonora to buy a shopping bag full of weed for $12 and then head back up to the NoCal communes and sell it for ten bucks a lid. That’s how I got through my first year of State College. Runs to Mexico via Vegas for the free steaks and lobster. I was 19 with hair down to my ass, a peasant shirt, swede poncho, denim bell bottoms and knee-high moccasins or rough Mexican huaraches the soles of which were made from car tires.. I carried a bayonet under the poncho in a shoulder holster. I really didn’t fit in with the Vegas crowd.

TJBM was a hippie

I have one. But it’s not my turn. My husband was in Las Vegas in October of 2012, for a week. I was home alone, literally dying. That is all.

Yes, I was a hippie, or as much as a hippie as we could be in the 70s, considering it started in the 60s. We were so cool and far out, man.

TJBM thought they were in charge of the world when they were 17 – 20.

Not at all. I was just muddling through and not doing a very good job of it.

TJBM is sleepy.

A little, this afternoon lull between gigs is putting me in a torpor.

TJBM drinks lots of water.

I try to.

TJBM misses someone. Tell us about them.

Nope, I;m not missing anyone so nothing to tell. haha

TJBM is missing something they have recently lost.

Yeah, my damn work hat. It will suddenly reappear about 5 minutes after I get home in the morning. TJBM will tell us about damage they incurred in a recent storm.

Hmmm, not me, but my daughter used to work at Colorado Mills Mall in Denver, CO., that is until it was destroyed by a hailstorm. She lost two jobs and her car was totaled. Now she’s a step away from being homeless. Her boss hemmed and hawed and finally transferred her to another store an hour away from her brother’s house where she is staying. We’re taking care of my granddaughter until she can get a place again. It’s going to cost us all a lot of cash to pull it together.

TJBM is not a swimmer.

I’m a very bad swimmer.
TJBM baked cookies today.

I cook horribly :(
TJBM can’t cook.

I can. I’m good too. But I rarely do. It’s boring.

TJBM can’t cook

I cook pretty well too but being single for a long time I don’t cook a lot anymore. I do like making winter fare though like soups and chili and spaghetti sauce.

TJBM loves Pepperidge farms Chocolate and Orange Milano cookies.

I will love it more if you make it for me :D
TJBM will make something for me.

I will make you fall in love with these guys.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cpPM0uZGEk I love them!

TJBM loves them.

AWWWWW… I love her so much! I read somewhere that when a rat lick you and lie on its back it loves you. She looks like she has a lot of love from her mum.
TJBM likes pet rats.

Not a fan. The ones I’ve met pee everywhere they go. Ewww! But I get they’re cute.

TJBM has insomnia.

No, but I sure have a mixed up sleep cycle!
TJBM is looking forward to a local event which is a huuuuuge shebang.

I was, but it was too damn hot to go. It was an outdoor music venue but no way when it was 100 degrees.

TJBM jumed out of bed into immediate action this morning. Gah

Story of my Saturday and Sunday :( I have to go to work early then.
TJBM hates working early.

Yes, I need time to wake up for awhile and ease into my morning.

TJBM will tell us what the weather is in their area right now.

The weather is pissed off today. It doesn’t want to make strong sunlight but everyone can feel the terrible heat. It is angry with someone but can’t do anything about it so it sits in one place making angry face and emitting fire-like heat.
TJBM will tell us what the weather is in theri area right now.

The same, high cloud cover but hot, hot, hot…around 100, again.

TJBM will tell us what color clothing they are wearing.

Grey…to match the overcast weather we’re having today.

TJBM will tell us what color clothing they would wear to match the weather in their area.

Light gray and light orange. Clouds and a little sun. haha

TJBM will tell us what they had for dinner on Weds. Dec.8, 2004.

I’m not sure, but there was probably potatoes on the platter. We almost always had potatoes at dinner in those days.

TJBM has a favorite starch side dish recipe that would go well with lobster.

I don’t eat lobster, but for starch, it’s either rice or potatoes. Do sweet potatoes count? I love those! Sorry, no recipes.

TJBM will share a favorite starch recipe.

Something I love but haven’t made in years. Fred potatoes with onions and green chilis. To die for. Also a good cornbread stuffing r sourdough stuffing and pasta!

TJBM is having a revolving door day, in & out, in & out…

Yeah. From the house to the camper. From the house to the camper. BUT some of my mini-slaves showed up so they helped a bunch. Jenna brought our cooler over, and Zoey showed up lugging a milk crate I’d requested from them, and our campfire coffee percolator. Jenna said Chris stole it when they went camping last. But I think I gave it to him.

TJBM is excited about this weekend.

Meh… not really, just the same ol’, same ol’. I’ll be excited if it continues to rain, won’t be so hot. Now NEXT weekend, I’m pumped about. We’re taking my son and his kiddos to the lake for his birthday, to swim and have a cook out. Haven’t had a weekend off in months. TJBM hopes that Dutchess and Co. have a blast on their camping trip.

I do!

TJBM has a neighbor from hell.

Well I thought I did. The guy next door to us had never been very friendly, just actually met him yesterday, after a storm broke a limb from his tree off in both our yards. Tuned out to be a very personable guy, called the city to cut it up, and even gave us the wood for our fireplace, as he doesn’t have one in his place. That’s what I get for jumping to conclusions about folks. TJBM will tell us about a person they misjudged.

Well…I have to think on that. I can tell you about people I loved who changed over the years to the point I didn’t even like them any more.

TJBM will tell us about someone who changed over the years, and not for the better.

Oh yeah, one friend for 4 years, and it wasn’t a good memory.
She was a little light of hope for my self-esteem during my dark days at high school. She was the only one who had something nice to say about me. She even idolized me. Then she went to a big city to learn in college. When she came back she had changed. I could sense it, but I couldn’t tell for sure. She still looked the same, but something about her just got under my skin. Then one day after a quarrel I found out what exactly was wrong with her. She had become a whiny, needy brat who wanted everything her way. And people were great to her as long as they did what she wanted without question. The quarrel was started because I refused to do something irrational for her. I decided to call it quit to save my sanity.
I have never known anyone who changed for the better. People I know either stay good or change for the worse.
TJBM knows someone who change for the better.

Yes, I’ve known a couple of women who were prostitutes due to drug dependency when they were young, but now are straightened out and have stayed clean. I’ve known a couple of guys, real criminals, who’ve straightened themselves out, gone into straight occupations and had families—which is something they couldn’t do when they were making a living doing what they were doing.

One robbed 52 banks before they finally got him for one bank. He was armed but never used his gun, which saved him in the end. Over the years, he had put away a few hundred thousand for a defense fund, and he only did 2 years in a federal prison. He’s been out for about twenty years now, has an industrial HVAC installation and maintenance business with 40 employees, employs and trains other felons who can’t find work, has a wife, a son and a daughter, nice house, sailboat and nice cars. And he is a really good, stand-up guy. I met him when I took care of his mother as a nurse and then taught his whole family how to sail.

TJBM knows someone who changed for the better.

No, I really can’t. I have never known any criminal types that reformed themselves or serious addicts that got clean, mostly just people with crappy personality traits that stayed the same or got worse. LOL

TJBM will tell us how someone they know might describe them.

Probably a funny guy, maybe a tad scatterbrained (can’t seem to get in together when I leave for work, always forget something), family oriented but also loyal to my friends. A lot of women have called me good looking or handsome, but I just can’t see it. I have to sneak up on the mirror to brush my teeth in the morning, most days. TJBM will also tell us how an acquaintance might describe them.

My best friend calls me the iron horse for my strength and resilience and admires my character.
My ex husband said I was the funniest person he’d ever known. My daughter thinks I am hilarious too.
I have also been told that one of the things I was most liked for was my genuine nature and how people always knew where they stood with me.

My daughters old boyfriend sent me a Xmas gift with a card that said good natured people are hard to find and my old boyfriend said he’d follow my cute little legs anywhere. haha

TJBM has cute little legs.

Waiting with baited breath, I’m a big leg man ; )

I have horrible legs with a scar.
TJBM is not happy with their body.

I have a high metabolism rate, so I don’t worry about gaining weight. Could be worse I guess. TJBM will console Mimi about her legs, a scar is no biggie at any rate.

Mimi, you’re beautiful inside, which is far better than beauty on the outside. And I bet if I saw your legs they wouldn’t seem ugly at all. We always see our physical flaws as worse than they really are.

TJBM doesn’t beat themselves up.

I don’t need to. Others give me regular beatings. I’ve had wayyyyy more than my share.
TJBM has beaten someone when they were down.

I used to be like that, but not anymore. I’ve cleaned up my act.

TJBM needs to buy something soon.

I just ran out of steaks. The steaks on these islands are expensive, cut too thin and tough as shoe leather. I need to order a box of Porterhouses from Nebraska.

@Mimi That scar on your leg is a wonderful scar with a wonderful memory attached to it. Your father actually took the time and went down to the scene of the accident and defended his daughter in the face of the poltroon who clipped you. That was a great story and your father sounds like a great guy who loves you very much. Every time you look down at that scar you will remember his love for you.

TJBM has a few scars with great memories attached.

Mimi, the crow has given you wise counsel. You’re a good writer. Write a story about that scar. Transform it from a painful memory into a blessing for everyone who reads it. And it will honor your father! Go, Mimi!

As for my own scars, there are lots of stories. Mosquito bites I received as a child and I worried them until they left scars. Burns I received while learning to cook and to iron.

Then there’s the one on my cheekbone from when I fell off my bike and landed on it. It caused a hematoma and both eyes swelled shut. I had a whopper of a black eye for months, and my vision remained bleary for some time so my mother drove me everywhere. People would always ask me what happened, and brat that I was, I’d say my mother beat me. I loved it. She was a lovely long suffering woman who didn’t deserve to be treated like that.

TJBM will tell us a story about how they- or someone they know of- reframed a bad memory.

@snowberry Give yourself wise council and don’t put yourself on a guilt trip about things that happened years ago. I’m sure your mom forgave you, try forgiving yourself. Not healthy to dwell on negative things from the past. Now enough of this gloom doom and sorrow, I like to keep things up beat. TJBM will say something to cheer us all up!!

@NomoreY_A I do not remember this as a “bad memory”. It happened. My mother had a lot of problems, and life at my house was extremely painful for everyone. I am choosing to frame this in a more positive light. I’m choosing to remember my mother as a lovely, kind, giving person.

How about a cherry cheesecake for breakfast? http://allrecipes.com/recipe/12179/cherry-cheesecake-pie/?internalSource=similar_recipe_banner&referringId=8173&referringContentType=recipe&clickId=simslot_5

TJBM isn’t afraid of bugs.

@snowberry Kudos to you, sorry for misconstruing things. I’ll take you up on the cheesecake, sounds good! Nope, bugs don’t bother me. Except those things they call assassin bugs, nasty critters. Sting pretty good. TJBM will tell us how their morning is progressing.

It was SOP all morning until the downpour. Now I’m inside having coffee, getting my second wind, looking at North Korean anti-American propaganda posters on the net and chatting with Mimi in a separate chatroom.

TJBM will tell us how their morning is progressing.

Just chilling out on Flurther, and about to have biscuits and gravy that Mamma Bear is fixing for me and the grand kids. Got the kids glues to TV watching Puss In Boots, might keep them entertained for 10 minutes. I hope. TJBM will tell us what is on their agenda for today.

Eat lunch. As soon as the rain passes, I’ll pick some mangos, take the mare down below to a friend’s paddock and run her through her paces—the mangos are for the friend. I’ve been neglecting her rope work for awhile and it’s not good for her. It also helps to keep her in good health. Then we have to go up to the high meadow and bring back the sheep, send the chickens through the garden on their way to the coop, feed everybody, shower, eat some leftovers and the night is mine.

Biscuits and Gravy. I haven’t had that in a million years. Man, you’re killin’ me here.

TJBM will tell us how their day is progressing.

@snowberry I should have thought of that. Wait for me to do my brainstorming :D

Nothing new really. I got involved more with my class today and discovered more things about my students, both good and bad. I read some more of the drawing software guidebook. The weather is still angry. And at least someone here thinks that I’m a good writer :)

TJBM will tell us how their week is progressing.

Hot and busy, and tonight I find out if i have jury duty on Monday. I am hoping my group is cancelled , not into it at all.

TJBM has plans to watch the eclipse on the 21st.

I’ll watch it on the news, that’s about it. Not really into all that stuff. TJBM is cooking breakfast.

No. I am on my 2nd cup of coffee after having a restless night and just came in from watering the animals. Still need another 2 cups to get into turbo launch mode.

TJBM is sleepless in Seattle.

Not in Seattle, but here in my nest of prairie grass, sleepless.
TJBM is anxious to hear mimi’s story, and is curious to know how her father reacts when he finds how she has chosen to honor his love, and loyalty.
I bet it will move him to tears.

I sure am! She’s an awesome lady, and has a wonderful future ahead of her!

TJBM also tries to keep a positive attitude.

I try but lately I am feeling grumpy and burned out with the weeks long heat wave. The positive spin is, nothing lasts forever, thank god. haha

TJBM will tell us what color their underwear are. lol

Well, I never! Just call ‘em tidy whities, and be done with it. TJBM will tell us that they never discuss the state of their undies. LOL

LOL…women talk about their undies a lot. The best new bra they just found, all sorts of undie talk. haha

TJBM must saddle up and ride out soon.

Not today, but in the morning, early. Oh, Joy. TJBM will tell us how they have a fun weekend (off) planned.

Relaxing in the AC between work tasks waiting for the heat wave to go away which it doesn’t look like it will for quite awhile yet. haha

TJBM dreams of Ice bergs.

I wish, in this weather.
TJBM dreams of sun light.

Sunlight reflecting off of dew covered leaves so they looked like they glowed from within. We had 3½ acres, and there were hills, trees, and bushes. It was like a fairyland. That was one of my favorite views from the deck at our old house in Indiana.

The Jelly Below Me is tall.

72”.

TJBM is short(er).

Yes. 63.5 inches and probably shrinking. LOL

TJBM loved Princess Diana.

I did, indeed.
I watched them boys grow up, always thinking how their mother would have reacted to this or that.
I will be recording that special.
TJBM has caught a MLB ball.

Innumerable times. But never in a ballpark.

My brothers and I were all huge baseball fanatics from Peewee league through Babe Ruth and high school. Our dad took us to a World Series game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. He bought us an MLB ball with every Giant’s signature on it: Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, the whole goddamned 1962 World Series roster.

About two years later we were having our daily afterschool baseball game out in the street with the neighborhood kids and our ball went over mean old Mr. Shutt’s fence. So, we went into the house and plucked the ball off it’s pretty little stand and continued the game.

Later, we used it to play catch and bounced for grounders in the street. It lasted quite awhile, maybe a month or two. The last time I saw that ball, the horse-hide was falling off of it. We probably disposed of it like we did all our ruined balls—we knocked it over Mr. Shutt’s fence. Our fanaticism didn’t extend to useless souvenirs. We just liked to play the game.

TJBM destroyed some awfully valuable stuff when they were a kid.

Nothing comes to mind right now, but I was the master of destroying things and making things disappear. I lost the sacred scissors that mom had had for 20 years. I destroyed several shirts’ buttons. I lost 4 calculators in a year. I broke countless cups…
I just remember my biggest “victory”. I destroyed my uncle’s mobile phone. He sometimes came to visit my mom and left me his phone to keep me quiet. Usually I just played games but one day, when I was bored with games, I explored his phone. I remember there was a setting that was turned off. In an attempt to turn it on, I screwed up with some unknown confirmation, then all I knew was that the phone refused to turn on again. He never gave me his phone again since.
TJBM was a little demon during childhood.

I was a nightmare for my parents.

TJBM is easy going.

So easy, some have accused me of being apathetic…

TJBM has been accused of apathy

Ha! Yes! But more likely I was choosing my battles. If I couldn’t win, why bother making the effort?

TJBM has unusual taste in hobbies.

Not really, I like drawing, decorating, gardening and writing but I have had unusual past times over the years. I was a rehabber for waterfowl and I became quite good at raising and saving/treating small rodents like mice, rats, Gophers and Voles during my stint as a wildlife rescuer/rehabber. I had the ‘RTU”, the rodent trauma unit going on for years at one point. Always a tank of little rodenty guys in the house in various stages of growing and healing.

My daughter finds, cleans to museum quality, bones of wildlife and other creatures and uses them in art projects. We always liked nature and science stuff.

TJBM thinks Gophers are adorable.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MXBwdMyMOc

Wow I agree! Are they some kind of moles or rats?
TJBM likes small pets.

They are little burrowing rodents here that eat roots and plants. Most people hate them because they tunnel under their yards and leaves mounds of dirt, like little volcanos, but I love them. haha

TJBM has heard of the worlds most famous endurance ride, the Tevis cup, taking place in my area today. 100 miles in one day from the Sierras down here to my town.

www.teviscup.org

Oh, man. That’s today? I’ve brought the link up. I wonder if that old guy with the long, grey hair—the one who nearly went vertical on that mountain a couple of years ago—is riding today? He was absolutely amazing for his age. What a horseman! And what an amazing race!

A 100 mile horse race from 7,000 ft down to the foothills through some of the roughest mountain country in the States.

TJBM will find a site to check on the race today.

The link I posted will give you updates. :-)

TJBM has ridden endurance horses.

@Espiritus_Corvus There is a little green box at the top left of the Tevis homepage for checking live results, status of the riders/horses, etc.

Nope.

TJBM likes very spicy food.

I do.
TJBM prefers mild food.

I do. I’m not good at eating spicy food. Why do people make fun of me for not eating spicy food anyway?
TJBM has a preference that other people don’t appreciate.

Yes, I’m a comedy legend in my own mind. Always wanted to do standup, but I don’t like speaking in front of crowds. And I cant say all, but some people don’t appreciate my rapier wit and perfect comic timing. Although, I can enjoy an audience if I’m not really paying attention. A lady friend of mine, who I think might have wanted more than friendship, got an unintentional dose of my humor one night. She was talking about babies, and being the naïve moron that I am, I said, that’s what you need is another baby. She looked right at me and said no, then, well, I might get my tubes untied for the right man. Everyone was staring at us like they were watching a movie. All I could think to say, was, yeah, well best of luck to the both of you. Drop me a line and tell me how it worked out. Everybody damn near fell off their chairs laughing, except her. If looks could kill, I’d be pushing up daisies. TJBM will tell us of an embarrassing moment like that.

I too have gotten into trouble with my humor. I was helping a friend clean out her fridge a few years ago and she must have had about 30 different cheeses in the cheese drawer in various states of freshness to decomposition. I was on a roll calling her the cheese hoarder and going on and on having a grand old time entertaining myself with the hidden treasures of her overstuffed fridge, many of which were ready for the rubbish bin months ago.
She was a good sport but I think my running commentary made her feel more a little embarrassed though I usually crack her up with my observational humor.

_ Oh LOOK, vintage goat cheese, expired in April of 2014. haha

TJBM dislikes clutter.

@Coloma LOL – well, sometimes the truth hurts. TJBM well tell us another episode of humor gone awry. And yes, I do hate clutter, I’m a neat freak.

Once, years ago, I worked in a high end gift shop that sold expensive lace work and sculpture and other pricey gift items. It was the end of the day, 5 o’ clock, and I was, as usual, folding all the lacey things that rude customers burrowed through and left in heaps on the display racks. I was just about to turn over the “closed” sign when a couple walked in. I looked up and smiled, and said, as clear as a bell ” and how are you fucks today?”

Classic Freudian slip, thinking to myself, ” fuck more customers.” Obviously I intended to say ” and how are you FOLKS today?” The husband cracked up, the wife not so much. haha

TJBM will not forget to answer my inquiry fro above about clutter. haha

As stated, I am a neat freak, I hate clutter. TJBM will NOT be rude to his / her customers. LOL

I will try, if I ever have customers again.

TJBM will tell us what their very first job was.

Pumping gas at a now out of business gas station in Austin. Part time, to make a little spending money in High School. TJBM will follow suit.

It was babysitting. It was also my first try at changing a diaper. I was…dismayed. Oh my!

TJBM will tell us what was their strange, first, or favorite pet.

My first pet I can remember was a Siamese cat named Wendy. My favorite pet was a red eared turtle my sister and I had when I was maybe 4, and she 2. TJBM will bring back some more (ancient) memories of growing up.

I was probably 5 or 6 and totally freaked ot that “God” knew everything about you and could see you, was always watching. I hated going to the bathroom because I thought God was watching me. Talk about terrorizing little kids. haha

TJBM will tell us about their worst date of all time.

Oh Lord, someone would have to bring that up. My youngest sister got a hair up her butt wayyy back when I was single and footloose, to hook me up with a friend of hers from work. So I asked the girl out after dingbat sis introduced us, and we went to a club. Bad move, I should have taken her out to a movie or a nice dinner. We enjoyed each others company and had a good time dancing, until I got a bit tipsy and spilled a beer all over her. Ruined the night, my fault, not hers. Damn my eyes, and I liked her too. (She never went out with me again, but she would call me from time to time, go figure). TJBM will now elucidate us with details of their shittiest date.

I was the ugly duckling in high school. I had no friends, but my mother had plenty. One of her friends had a son who also had no friends. They put us together and sent us to the prom. He was a classic boor, and I so wished I could just gracefully go home. Not a chance. He waited until after it was over, then bent me backwards over the hood of a car and roughly and forcefully kissed me, then tried to slip his hand inside my dress. I shoved him off and told him to stop being a jerk. It was my first kiss!

I wish I had run inside and called my parents, but that would have been even more humiliating. As he drove me home, he laid his legs across the seat so his feet were on my side, and bragged how his car had speed control, which was a big thing back then. Then he showed me his fancy dancey steering wheel with a doorknob on it so he could turn using only one hand. I squished myself against the passenger door and hoped a policeman would see us. No chance.

Of course he tried to kiss me again when he dropped me off. What an awful night! I never told my parents.

TJBM will tell us the earliest thing they remember.

I was three, my mom and dad were building a house for us to live in; lots of family and friends to help. I remember pounding a nail into the mount for the kitchen cabinets, my grandfather help me find the right place to put the nail. Sixty some odd years ago.

TJBM has a first day of school story.

I was SOOOOOO excited to start school.
I came home from my first day of kindergarten in a huff, slammed the door and kicked my feet so my shoes flew across the room.
My mom was flabbergasted. She asked why I was so mad. I told her I expected to learn to read when I went to school, but NOOOooOoo, all we did was paint with our fingers and take a stupid nap!
TJBM hated stupid kindergarten naps.

Used to, but then I realized much later in life that they actually did me good. Now I’d like to have those long naps back.
TJBM knows the benefit of noon naps.

I like ‘em, but if I indulge, I don’t sleep at night.

TJBM has a birthday coming up soon.

In seven months. I was born the day Joseph Stalin died. I think I am an improvement.

TJBM will tell us what their weirdest job was.

I was 17, a friend and I applied and got hired working in a crab leg factory in downtown Sacramento.
You were given tubs of iced crab legs and had to whack off the ends with a mallet on an anvil and pound them onto the side of a tub to shoot them out of the shell whole. If your crab legs fell apart you were docked for inferior production. It was brutal work, standing for hours and pounding the side of your hand against the tub to eject the crab leg meat.

On top of that I had a perverted supervisor that would come by and stand behind me breathing down my neck and rubbing up against me. We lasted 3 weeks, looked at each other one day and just knew it would be our last, infact, we walked out on our lunch hour. Buh bye. LOL

TJBM has walked off a job never to return.

My primary investigator at my lab went into retirement and I was laid off. I intended to take a little vacation, but my then girlfriend was impatient with her plans for us and wanted me to get back to work as soon as possible. The idea was that we would take the next vacation together after a few things were accomplished.

So, I took this research job in a lab that did light commercial work, like skin testing deodorants, make up and suntan lotions, taste tests for different kinds of beverages and snacks—pretty much bullshit compared to what I was used to, but it payed well. I was way over qualified, but kept my head down in order to get along with my younger fellow employees. This was such a drop below what I was doing before that I never intended it to be on my resume. It was just an easy-peasy way to keep my girlfriend happy.

But there was this one person in a position of authority, basically the second in command at the lab, that just hated my guts from day one and wanted me outta there bad. Evidently, her boss hired me without consulting her. And for some reason she was intimidated by me in a really extreme way. I could never figure out if it was just that I am an an assertive male—especially when it comes to the responsibilities in my job—or that I was more qualified in research than she was, or whatever. God, she was a cunt, though. She sabotaged everything I did from the get-go and it was a full-time gig to head her off at the pass. This went on for a couple of months. My fellow researchers told me I wasn’t her first target and they were deathly afraid of this woman. Totally cowed.

We were in the beginning of a big trial, we had about 300 hundred subjects in the building on a Saturday who were there to get skin patches of a suntan product that they were to keep on for two days without showering then return for examination, no big deal, but a feat in organization and kind of like cattle herding, which I was in charge of. The object was to get them assessed to confirm the screening process, instruct them on exactly what they are supposed to do, give them written instructions and the first part of their pay, send them in to the next room for patching, then out into the parking lot. Keep the line flowing so nobody loses patience and leaves early.

And that bitch did everything she could to slow everything down. The paperwork was wrong, but it wasn’t and it was pre-approved by the sponsor. She wanted the females separated from the males. The protocol didn’t call for that. It was one fucking thing after another and we began losing subjects. And it was ultimately my responsibility. A lot of money had already been spent on advertising and screening. A lot of expensive man-hours. And she knew it was my ass if this thing didn’t come off right the first time.

After five hours of this shit, I did something I’d never done before or since and if this was really serious research, I would have never done it. I called the head of the lab, but got no answer back. So, instead of taking that bitch into a room and beating her to death, I wrote out a detailed description of her behaviour that day and left it on my boss’s desk along with my brief resignation letter, then I handed her my keys, my security badge, a copy of my resignation, then told her, “Now it’s on you. Go fuck yourself, you little cunt.” And I walked on the whole thing, leaving her holding the bag. The look on her face was worth it. She really thought she had finally found herself the perfect whipping boy. LOL. Fuck her. I have no idea what happened to that bitch, but I like to think she died in a fiery auto accident.

TJBM has a work horror story.

@Espiritus_Corvus LOL..omg…what a passive aggressive, conniving, manipulative bitch. You showed extreme self restraint until the bitter end. I wouldn’t have blamed you one bit had you poured a bottle of that suntan product down her throat while beating her her to death with your clipboard. haha

Nothing even close to yours, no. Just your run of the mill backstabbing, petty, brown nosing witches and arrogant, lecherous male bosses.

TJBM is on the final leg of household chores today.

Naw, I’m being lazy. No housework today.

TJBM is thinking of taking up a new hobby. Tell us!

Yes, iceberg sitting in the North Pole.

TJBM thinks it would be really cool to ave an ice berg in their backyard that never melted.

Meh, maybe a small ice cube hill, but not an iceberg. An iceberg would be way too much ice. LOL

TJBM isn’t going to sit around all evening on Fluther. They’re gonna get out and DO something! What is it?

It is almost 3 o’ clock here and I have been doing stuff since 9 am. I am going to shower, go get takeout for dinner and then yes, I am going to lounge around in my lovely, uber clean little house and call my daughter later and then maybe go for a swim and watch a movie.

TJBM has a very comfy bed.

It’s pretty good. Nice, firm, Savoir mattress with a Savoir mattress cover, 800 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets and Eiderdown pillows and comforter. About 3 grand. Antique, hand carved red oak, gracefully organic art nouveau bedstead, frame and matching side tables: about 25 grand.

Just kidding. I wish. My mattress is very good, as is the mattress cover, but nothing like the Savoir. My sheets are nice cotton. Pillows are large and adequate. An eiderdown comforter would be extremely uncomfortable in this heat and humidity. The frame and bedstead are strong, heavy, modern Art Deco copies, probably from a store like Pier One Imports, and very nice. These are what the owner installed into the house and are not mine, but they are nice. A good bed is important. This is a good bed.

TJBM will tell us what their latest interest is.

No I won’t!~
Except that I’m very busy these days.

TJBM finds post-retirement busier than pre-retirement.

I know, right? And it can get out of control, if you let it. LOL. All those extraneous interests really pay off, don’t they?

TJBM is looking forward to Monday.

Mondays are neutral for me since I don’t have to be at a job looking good and driving somewhere by 8 am. Fuck that. haha

TJBM likes flexibility in their work.

Yes!

TJBM has a lot of books.

My cook book collection is over 250 cook books. I have probably another 850 to 1000 books.

TJBM has taken several college level course in food and wine, or at least one.

No but I live in wine country and hostessed the tasting bar at a winery and lodge for a few years. Here:

www.goldmountainwineryandlodge.com

TJBM enjoys wine.

Not really. And I’m allergic to it, so…

TJBM has ridden in a hot air balloon.

No. My country is too poor for that.
TJBM knows what it’s like to live in a poorer country.

Yes. I live in what is referred to as a second-world country at the moment. I spent two 4-month tours in Haiti as a trauma nurse and later worked combatting infectious diseases after the earthquake in 2010. I spent an accumulative 10 months in Poland during the Soviet era. I frequently visited East Bloc ports on the Baltic as a Swedish merchant marine officer during the Soviet era.

TJBM has spent time in a socialist country.

I live in a socialist country. Well, sort of. My country just can’t decide whether it wants to continue on the socialism road or not anymore. The government keeps saying that the country is socialist, but it doesn’t operate like a real socialist country. The government doesn’t want to go too far again, especially when they think about the ‘80s when the socialist policy almost drove the country to poverty.
TJBM doesn’t like talking about politics.

I don’t mind. I’m interested in the world and how it’s doing on a micro level, on how individuals are doing in their daily lives. This, inevitably, runs into descriptions of their environment, and thus politics. What I don’t like is arguing political theory with idiots who have no input into other societies other than the media they are exposed to. No practical experience, but they think they know it all from some book they might have read.

TJBM notices the political arguments on Fluther have died off over the years.

I suppose so but I have never been a follower of political arguments, I pop in on rare occasion but it’s rare. haha

TJBM has seen ” The Founder”, the Ray Kroc, McDonalds mogul, story with Michael Keaton. Very entertaining and interesting. MK’s character reminded me a lot of Trump. haha

Nope. Im not much of a movie watcher, much to the dismay of a few friends here.

TJBM is relatively new to the collective.

I guess I am, been here about two or three months, most of the folks have been here since Caesar was knee high to a frog. TJBM is enjoying the weather.

Actually yes, for the first time in weeks and weeks. It is cool in the mornings now but still going for the low 90’s, but much better than freaking 103. haha

TJBM likes rice bowls with meat and veggies.

That does sound pretty damn good, I must admit. But when it comes to food, I’ll eat about anything that doesn’t eat me first. Never met grub I didn’t like. Other than spinach. Barf and pattooie. TJBM will discuss any topic other than food. Please. Pretty please with sugar and cherries and cornbread on top? Now cut that out!

Strawberry Cheesecake, organic Greek yoghurt with organic peaches, rocky road ice cream, ooozy s’mores hot from a campfire, pineapple upside down cake, baklava, whipped cream over anything…

TJBM has called up a friend and whispered the above to them. Then when they asked what you’re doing, you told them they just got an obese phone call.

LOL No, never tormented anyone with things like that, but now that you mention it, hmmmm… TJBM is in hopes of an early fall.

Am I ever, this year has been 5 months of rain and now 3 months of heat, no spring. Ugh.

TJBM is feeling under the weather today.

No t really, just dragged out from working all weekend, and it is good sleeping weather today, been raining off and all day and it’s cooler than usual. I think I’m down for a nap. TJBM is ready for a little afternoon snooze, as well.

Nope, never been a napper unless I am sick or on rare occasion when it just sort of happens. haha

TJBM is going outside to do some outside stuff.

I just finished doing more recycling than I have in a long time. And of course it was outside.

TJBM will tell the napper a bedtime story.

Once upon a time, a princess rode her pony to the local pond, looking for frog to kiss. She has been told by a mean witch that the frog might turn into a prince. He didn’t. The princess rode away disappointed, and was known ever after as Wart Lip Sally. Evil Witch, 1 Princess, 0. The End TJBM will find a publisher for my story.

Yes, it;s called Very Scary Fairytales.

TJBM has had someone go all road rage on them recently. I’m starting to understand how easy it could be to just pull someone from their car and beat the living daylights out of them haha