A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

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Roaring Forties

By Jimmy Johnson


Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
A lot has happened since we visited last. A Super Bowl was played. Harper Lee is publishing the sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Friends in the Midwest and Northeast are being buried in snow still. There are new pictures of Fidel Castro. It’s been a busy few days. Speaking of Harper Lee, I lived in Monroeville, Alabama, and worked as a reporter for the weekly “Monroe Journal” when I was a young man. Monroeville is where Harper Lee was born and raised. She would fictionalize it as “Maycomb” in her famous novel. In my day, the book and Ms. Lee were not the industry they would become, but the town was very proud of its Favorite Daughter, who was living in New York City at that time. The only bookstore in town was a religious bookstore on the town square. As a matter of course, it had for sale autographed copies of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” available to anyone with a few dollars. Did I buy one in my almost two years in Monroeville? No, of course not!

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82 responses to “Roaring Forties”

  1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    General benefit to anyone: View http://www.missingmoney.com/ to see if any state or province is holding assets in your name or in the name of a relative. Totally free, too.

    I have already checked on those of us whose real names I know (not many) and did find at least one “hit” and several possible “hit”s. Charlotte/NH and Galliglo are two which come to mind.

    Even if your present state is not shown (or a state of previous residence), there are links to the missing state’s site if one exists. California is one such which has its own site; so does Illinois.

    Look up your friends and relatives, too – even deceased ones.

    Does it work? Yes. I found a insurance claim for a friend and her sibs, and they collected whatever the amount was.

    The site keeps updating, so place the site in your lists of favorites and check it now and then. It’s interesting as well as potentially useful.

  2. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    Let me add that the opening page demands your current state (or any state you want to enter) but the succeeding search pages give you a choice of states/provinces or “all”.

  3. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    CEP- There is a finders fee for my step-dads supposedly lost Treasury Bonds, which means I have not found them or any proof of them except three cousins alleging they saw records of them from him Interestingly, two of three want to buy the old house I have to sell after my mom’s recent death. My daughter is cynical and says they know where it’s buried!

    I somewhat facetiously made that comment to Ghost but it really isn’t a total joke. Among the many things I have to do in next couple of months .I as always start there but people who distrust are inclined to try to hide their assets. I was extremely disappointed not to find a deposit box full of gold yet, so perhaps the TBonds are equally vaporized?

    Sometimes I think the old soldiers of fortune do this to appear wealthy and impress the young.

    Now Sand, I think you are real of course. But my step-dad while in China to help liberate it did not get out with Chinese millions! My friend down the street did get out of Viet Nam with those little adorable tea cups that Antique Road Show said were worth millions. I think finding this out did not make him enjoy them more, but less.

    Love, Jackie

  4. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    The only thing of value that I got out of my military service was the last honorable discharge. All the objects on our shelves, we purchased and they hold only treasured memories that remind us of where our feet have been.

  5. Galliglo from Ohio Avatar
    Galliglo from Ohio

    CEP: Alas… I am not any of those people on the list for missing money! Oh well…

  6. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    My state has taken quite a bit money from me, every year for many years, but I don’t expect them to give any of it back. Even if they hadn’t spent it, which they have.

    Knew a crop duster, about whom the word on the street was he had flown a B-26 for the CIA during the BoP invasion. He probably had.

    “…last honorable discharge”, sand?

    As I said before, Jackie, good luck with your T-Bill hunt. 🙂 No “hidden treasure” stories or rumors in my family…no treasure to have been hidden.

  7. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Beginning to wonder about Trapper Jean. She’s been absent from here a while.

  8. emeritus minnesota biologist Avatar
    emeritus minnesota biologist

    Jackie: The 8 Dec. ’14 New Yorker has an article, “The Vortex” about the ISIS/Syria crises. Not encouraging. [Vortex because it centers on the city in Turkey which continually receives more refugees from Syria.]

    Especially the dogs?

    Peace?, emb

  9. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    GR6, at every reenlistment you get re sworn and then given a discharge for the enlistment just ended. Seems like someones idea of a cruel joke to play on NCO’s.

    The state money gifting is legally called escheatment. The holder of unclaimed assets are required to make a good faith effort to locate and return funds to the lawful owner, escheat. If they fail to escheat, funds go into state receivership. Every state has its own rules for: publication of and time limit escheated funds must be held before they go into state treasury general funds.

  10. TruckerRon Avatar

    Funny thing, but selecting the emoticons and pasting them into a text box “reveals” how they’re coded. GR6’s post above (#7, by my count) includes:

    🙁 😉 😉 😀

    Which come out as
    🙁 colon open paren
    😉 semicolon close paren and
    😀 colon D (capital D)

  11. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    GR6, are you saying crop dusting and medium bomber piloting are interchangeable skills? I always thought officer types were overrated. 😉

  12. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    TR, if WordPress excepted emoji, this is the rich sets we could be communicating in. 😀

  13. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    🙂 :0

  14. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Last one didn’t work.

    😮

  15. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    That one did. Colon and 0 (zero)

  16. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    I think…I forgot. :0

  17. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Nope… 😮

  18. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Colon o

  19. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    sand, Agricultural Applicator Pilot is simple compared to piloting a Flying Prostitute, er, B-26, in combat. (High wing loading = No Visible Means of Support)

  20. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    GR6, have to poke on officers once in awhile. 😉

    Jackie, for the record the Che pic was a gift. Spent a goodly amount of time studying him.

  21. emeritus minnesota biologist Avatar
    emeritus minnesota biologist

    GR6:

    I think USAF had B26s at RAF Sculthorpe, nr. Fakenham, Norfolk. In ’52-’53 my former roommate bought the farm in one, over W. Germany. His wife had just been able to move to the UK, to join him.

    Metacrawled “RAF Sculthorpe”. Base has now been abandoned. Photos, but I’m not able to put any of the bldgs in context. It was no more attractive when it was occupied.

    Peace, emb

  22. emeritus minnesota biologist Avatar
    emeritus minnesota biologist

    I was postal officer, an unnecessary job. First Sgt. ran the P.O. I signed things.

  23. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Message to Mark: I was able to move/reserve my space in the Wooden Boat School’s Elementary Sailing (no it is really elements of sail) to the week before the 4th of July so I can be there for the Great Schooner Race and even possibly Windjammer Days the previous weekend. This is a massively crowded weekend up there so I am going to try and finesse my way onto said water in a classic sailing craft sailed by someone who knows how for the events. I think I can stay a little extra at the school if my bed isn’t already rented!

    What that would do is free me up to go to Nashville, TN for the Charlie Daniels Jam you suggested. I love events like these where any and everyone may walk out on stage, as unlikely as Pavarotti singing with Daniels? So, I tried to link to the ticket information from the information and it wouldn’t go there. And I like benefits that raise money for military veterans too which this one seems to do.

    So, give me a ticket link please and any hints about what else goes on around this event/time?

    Love, Jackie

  24. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    emb, try looking at this first, then the street level view. You might recognize more from picking out locations you can see from the aerial view first. It’s worked for me.

    https://www.google.com/maps/place/MoD+Sculthorpe/@52.8538845,0.7425452,630m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x47d782c0258ba8f1:0x837534ee23fe35e1

  25. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    I highly disapprove of those who liberate anything from anyone under any circumstances, be it for “higher powers” like WWII leaders and the liberators who tried to take it home after they repelled the enemy. Doesn’t make it right who does it.

    I happen to agree with repatriation but it is sometimes difficult to identify who the “true owner” is. Is it military invaders like Napoleon or do the obelisks belong to Egypt? Does England own it or those like Greece they took the friezes from? Did they in turn get it from someone else? It is an endless cycle, like tigers chasing the tail of the other tigers in a giant circle. Thoughts like this sometimes keep me from enjoying museums.

    Nothing worse than taking a horticulture and having her learn.

    I need to go see if I have more volunteers willing to get out in a boat with me this spring and summer. I will have wives redefining “boat porn” if they ever knew the meaning anyway.

    Love, Jackie