And that was 13 years ago! I’m sorry to have been away so long. Between the rain and the holidays, the routine around here was knocked into a cocked hat last week. I don’t have a lot of time today, either, but I thought I’d better get things moving again. This comic from 2003 seems appropriate to the task.
160 responses to “Out of Control”
Jackie, I have always enjoyed chatting with you. Fat or skinny, clothed or unclothed, it is all the same to me. I hope your travels eventually bring you up my way.
That is exactly my point, Gary. You do get it, it isn’t body, it isn’t sexuality, what matters in life is the soul, the mind, the spirit. If that is what inside then you have the same core, the same person. Only the shell on the nut changes.
Ghost, when I was 35 years old, half a lifetime ago, I used to dine alone at the Warwick Hotel, something they did not encourage women to do, no matter how well dressed you might be. Think Pretty Woman. I was a regular, it was one of Mike’s key accounts back then, I could have eaten in the kitchen. Anyway, I kept having drinks and notes sent over and I’d smile and say no thank you.
So joke became when mommy and daddy got divorced ………..until youngest daughter announced loudly during one of our cocktail parties that when we divorced mommy was going to hang out at the Warwick and pickup oilmen. Didn’t do it then, don’t do it now.
No cougar, just like people, some of whom are male and younger. I fascinate the younger ones like the one last night, I am younger than their girl friends, wives, mamas. Lots of old women and men around, you are what you choose.
Gary I hope to travel until I meet you all. Goals.
For those of you old enough, Auntie Mame, alcohol and smoke free? Without Patrick.
I knew you reminded me of someone.
I know it’s early, but I want to wish all the Villagers a Safe and Happy New Year. Some of you might not check in later so I want to catch you now.
Mark
Me too! The blackened peas are soaking on stove and I will add the onions, peppers, garlic, bay leaves, ham, parsley, black and red pepper, some green onions and simmer a long time. Maybe eat on brown rice?
Turnips and mustard out in garden if I want folding money in the New Year. Might even cook corn bread? Can’t take the south out of us GRITS. No amount of sanding and shellac can do that.
Y’all have a great 2016, stay sober tonight or designate a driver, be careful out there of those who don’t. Love.
Dear Jackie, I hope those are Blackeyed Peas in your last post. Thank you ever so much for your inspirational and just plain entertaining words through the year — and especially today! And many thanks to Dear Ghostly for his always good, and interesting advice and stories. To Mark who is always so helpful — to emb, and c x p, and to Debbe so much for her lively adventures and comments — too many Villagers to name, you are all great. May every one of you have a healthy and happy 2016. Much love, Charlotte
Happy New Year, Dearest Charlotte…and many happy returns. 🙂
Oh, and Charlotte, Jackie may have meant “blackened peas”. Those Louisiana folks have been known to “blacken” red fish and other food items. 🙂
Maybe so, Dear One, but I don’t think blackened peas would be much good, any way we slice them.
Happy new year everyone. My life has presently been reduced to work and cats. I really, really, REALLY need a well-trained minion of my own to cover my days off. I had three more (Sun – Tues), which oh-by-the-way, coincided with the change-over to the new company’s payroll. Sunday was finalizing payroll on old system, and a single day on the new payroll, which had to be approved Monday. [Old weeks went Su -Sa, now we run Mo – Su.] I was not there for the carnage. (Darn. 🙂 ) There are STILL employees at other stores with NO IDEA what their sign-on is or how to clock in, aka how they get paid, view and retrieve paystubs and W-2s. Deplorable. I sat down each of my employees, made them sign up as I watched (and answered questions). Before I left, I also made sure to walk all my employees through the new clock-in/out procedure. I then went back to my last old store and spent a couple hours there trying to straighten things out. There was no excuse for any of this. MY boss said she had ninety-six people to fix and approve (and she missed one of mine). I get to figure it out myself come Monday. Oh our training? A two hour conference call and live-linked computer on a projector – that stayed frozen for most of the call. Yay technology. {/sarcasm}
On the kitty front, I finally discovered the cause of Thunder’s limp – a bite that got infected and abscessed. She has pulled out all of the surrounding fur, and provided a clear viewmof the wound. Through the miracle of Facebook, my cousin the vet made an online house-call with photos and assessment by proxy, and determined it has ruptured and drained and appears to be healing okay. She is calling in an oral antibiotic to the pharmacy down the street to speed the healing. Yay technology – utilized optimally!
Blacklight has tentatively been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and over-anxiety. She needs bloodwork to confirm the hyperthyroidism, but she travels so poorly, and the local vets are so unimpressive, we are still deciding on the best course of action. And yes, kitty-Prozac is on the table. She is chewing off her fur and making messes, all because Thunder sleeps on the porch. It has always been just her and I; as I am the traveler, we don’t get much company, so anyone or thing besides me is considered an active threat. Good gravy. :-/
Dogs have owners, cats have staff.
I turned the peas off just before they blackened. They are black eyed like the bird, juncos. Let’s see what Hal does with that!!!!
Happy and SAFE New Year
Watch out for the Loose Nut behind the wheel.
Lift a cup (of whatever beverage) to those that Stepped on The Rainbow
this year.
See you next year
OK, it went right down to the wire, but this has to be the weirdest actual headline of the year (from NJ.com on 12-30-15):
“Fight breaks out at Newark anti-violence rally”
Mindy from Indy, have a look at these: http://www.petsmart.com/cat/stress-anxiety-relief/cat-36-catid-200050
The ex and I used the Feliway diffuser when we had adopted a new cat the the others were getting antsy. It’s pricey, but it did help. It has a formula that simulates the hormones a safe, contented cat marks its territory with, and that really did make things go easier.
Mindy, the hospital I work for switched to something called LaborWorks a few years ago for their clocking system. When it works, it’s great, but every once in a while there is a hiccup. The biggest problem I have with it is calculating how to count partial hours when we lose work time due to software or hardware problems. My manager finally straightened me out on something, there is no way to correct a 10 minute deficit. You either end up with 15 minutes counted or 15 minutes deleted. But you can clock in with an employee badge or by number on-site, and using your computer if you work for home.
Live! Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.
Gary, I am putting my tentative travel calendar together this year for Dickens and I, I know Charlotte is in NH and we have some VT and eastern folks. I am going to try for the Wooden Boat School in Maine, my tuition is paid but I can’t do anything until after Texas 200 and Race to Alaska. I am not sailing R2AK but I’d like to meet them in Victoria on first leg, I have friends in it. Which end of Canada are you in? Maine or Washington or middle of your great country in Ottawa?
‘They are black eyed like the bird, juncos.’ All the juncos I know are black-eyed. Three spp. of vireos are red-eyed. Peace, emb
Love juncos. My young cats aren’t catching birds, neither are birds hanging around.
Jackie: Be patient; they’ll get the hang of it. HNY, emb
No way, those cats have a never ending buffet of cat food to keep them full and fat.
Best of New Year wishes to all my Village Friends from here in Arizona—sunny but chilly today.
Jackie, such erudition! Wikipedia tells us they are officially “Dark-eyed Juncos” — close enough. The birds are all over North America, several species; there is even a Volcano Junco! Who would have thunk it?
Miss Charlotte, look at those little button eyes, don’t they remind you of the eye of the pea?
I didn’t hold out on the peas, I ate a soup bowl full as pea soup with a scoop of fresh salsa on top. It is the recipe the Black Eyed Pea restaurant used to make, only I left out all the salt and sugar and bacon. I used to go to the original Black Eyed Pea when there was just one down in River Oaks. If you were from Houston we just called it the Pea, even after there were hundreds.