Running Mate

by

Still running! I have to make an early run to the lumberyard this morning, but I wanted to keep things moving here. I’ve toyed with the idea of cloning myself, but I can’t help worry: what if instead of halving my pressures and problems, it doubled them? You know, the inevitable unforeseen consequence that has kept horror stories alive since Mary Shelley.
Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"

148 thoughts on “Running Mate”

  6. Not in disagreement at all with nothing wrong with Jsmis” form. Wish mine were as good. And my knees. I realay can’t walk very far at all any longer, much less run or jog.

    I don’t know that fixing knees will fix my ability to run and jog but it might improve walking. Now when I am wearing my Nubalance sneakers on padded track at gym I do better.

    But I don’t live in a land of padded tracks.

  7. All we can do is keep moving. If you can walk with assistance, it is usually better than being inactive. Shoes can make a big difference in walking, so I always tell people to make an informed decision. The local running store has had runners in the marathon for the last 3 Olympics and I always buy my shoes there. I could go on line and get a cheap pair, but my body would pay the price.

  8. My foot doctor sent me to two shoe stores that are neither cheap but very knowledgeable. There are more expensive shoes but I settled on NuBalance and Keens mostly in various colors and styles wih their pads replaced with better ones they sell.

    My orthopedist agrees with footwork.

    Of course I would love to wear the three inch scrappy heels that helped damage my feet and knees.

  9. And speaking of knees, I go in tomorrow (Wednesday) to get my right knee fixed. Finally. Yes, I know I won’t be running around like I did when I was twenty, or even forty, but it will help. I should be home tomorrow night, or at least Thursday morning, according to the doctor, and then comes physical therapy. rah.

    Jackie, I wish I could still wear my 5-inch strappy heels, but alas, that is not to be.

    Hi, Ghost Sweetie!

  11. Jackie: I have a message for you about your surgery, but this site is rejecting it for some unknown reason. I’ll try modifying and re-sending it later.

  12. Hi, Jean dear! Best of luck with your procedure, and of course we will all be awaiting word on how you did. Please let us know.

    And yes, I remember your 5-inch strappy heels and still have a mental picture of a six-foot-tall redhead wearing them. Be still, my heart. 😉

  14. Ghost you can always use jackie.monies2324@gmail.com if you can do it from a email account with secret coding yo maintain your anonymity. Just put Ghost at top.

    Supposed to be picking up my car this afternoon. On tub soaking get and dropped one of phones on water. May not have been water resistant.

    Next week is my birthday. Think my employees want to celebrate it here but I am thinking of a road trip in my present. Haven’t picked a place yet. Thinking about heading either south or west.

    Could toss a coin.

  15. Trapper good luck with your knee are you doing complete knee replacement or cleaning up? I would like to hear more. Where? How? Inquiring minds.

  16. Lost in A**2, thanks much for the reply to my question! (Jan. 24) I don’t know how I forgot the term “fountain pen”. The article about sketching with one was very clarifying… and good to see photos with a left hand doing the writing or drawing!

    ==mitch

  19. Thank you Mark. I am still in town at post office looking for packages. And my hair done.

    Hey, I am a bad influence. My sweet female yard man helper just traded in the old truck her dad bought from me and got a maroon 2001 Mercury Cougar. I’d have bought that.

    She is still shaking her head over that one. I am still buying her cool clothes so I told her wed work on her clothes some more. She likes masculine clothing but so do I. Don’t have right shape but like them. Mostly on men.

  20. Allow me to mention some terrorists who conspired to overthrow the rulers of this country: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. I was recently in the very rooms in Philadelphia where the terrorists plotted their nefarious acts. Officially I am a Methodist. Suppose the chump decides to get rid of all the Methodists. Who will object? If the President does it it can’t be illegal-Richard Nixon.

  27. Hi, guys. Catching up after several really busy days. Good luck to Jean and Jackie on knees. Mine is hurting right now, which reminded me to call the orthopedic doc to see if they have gotten the Synvisc they are trying to order for me.

    Jackie, props on “enmity grows hourly.” Great phrase! Also, a question about the near fatal auto immune attack. Was it triggered by something specific, or did it just happen?

    The busy days are happening partly because Saturday we adopted a rescue dog to be a new member of the family! (Yeah, I know we have a bunch of cat people here.) We have named her Lady, they say she is 8 months old, and she appears to be an American foxhound, at least mostly. We love her a lot already.

  28. Trucker Ron:

    Thanks for the memory jog (that’s not a pun on today’s retro strip).

    I had forgotten that the two men were found in Bowling Green, which surprises me.

    I was born there, still have two relatives there, and went to WKU for my freshman year.

    It was quite a shock to read that the men were there, of all places.

  31. Ruth Anne:

    Nice show. I’m lucky to have lived in Bemidji in a reasonably dark in-town neighborhood for 46 yr., ’59-’05. Have seen the real thing ‘live’ scores of times, often filling more than half the sky. Moved to a light-polluted town home in ’05, which has compensating advantages: somebody else does the outside work [e.g., plowed us out over last night] and am a short drive / walk from the hospital which I visit 3-4 x/wk. Today’s volunteer gig was a delight. Workout yesterday, and probably Th. and Sat. Can’t complain, and generally don’t. If I did, it would be political [see sev. posts above].

    Peace,

  32. Congratulations on the addition to your family, Nancy. I love beagles and similar breeds.

    I got to see some pretty impressive Northern Lights shows when I was at [undisclosed location] north of the Arctic Circle. Where I am now, not so much…except on-line. 🙂

  33. Nancy thank you for adopting. You know I love dogs. Rescued is my favorite breed.

    About near fatal auto-immune attack at 17. I had a VERY bad attack of mononucleosis or kissing disease in summer school. Ended up with a spleen that almost ruptured and in hospital a couple of weeks.

    Got out and between semesters went to Mississippi Gulf Coast beaches for a long fraternity rush party that involved very little clothing on beaches.

  34. Part way through big party I had major sun response that even Ded with glands swollen all over body and a fever so high I was semi concious. Don’t remember who played at the various dances, except it was rich fraternity and great bands. My date though, him I remember. He was special.

    Ended in hospital near death for days, cursing nuns, for which I am ashamed. I apologized to those little blue nuns until last one passed away.

    Question for Mr. Ghost you are a Southern man from a good family and a good university. We’re you in a fraternity? What was your opinion on the parties?

  35. Went to pick up Blackjack and they had to put him in shop for door dings. I am to go back tomorrow to pick him up.

    We went to Los Cabos to eat Mexican, I had seafood enchiladas, here came credit manager to get my signature before books closed at 9 tonight. I left their check but he needed my signature.

  36. Cornell had lots of fraternities & sororities. I was a confirmed Independent [and teetotaler, back when 18s could drink], member/officer in Independent Council, met Elaine there. ‘Nuff said. Don’t think fraternities on average are good for higher ed. Peace,

  37. I was asked to resign or kicked out of mine take your pick. I am more of an independent than they could deal with. I continued to attend fraternity parties simply because they were parties with fun bands. I continued as an independent but didn’t condemn or oppose fraternities.

    There never seemed to me to be any betterment of education in fraternities, simply an excuse to party. I was thinking about this tonight for an altogether different reason but Nancy’s question about how I nearly died from the sun exposure involved fraternity parties.

  38. Cats are in the West minister dog show this year. Chaos erupted. My Charlie is a breed known as Beaglish which apparently is real since Hal had in his vocabulary.

  41. Old Bear I plan to call Debbe tomorrow and I will tell her. I do not think she has access to a computer or WiFi but I did suggest she could use library or McDonald’s. Not sure how large town is.

    She misses all of us.

  43. We miss her also. Dogs have personalitys just like cats do. Dean Koontz wrote a wonderful book about his dog Trixie. I will find the book and give you the name tomorrow (today actually).

  48. I was independent as well. Of cours, frats were very controversial at Texas A&M when we were there, and not officially recognized by the university. They couldn’t recruit on campus, etc. I was too busy studying and courting my wife-to-be ( and still is!), not necessarily always in that order. 🙂

  50. Rusty you must have been VERY fit to be at TAMU back then, mentally and physically. We’re you Ineed Corps?

    You know I am legally an Aggie too, having more diplomas from there than anyone I know courtesy of their continuing education classes courtesy of the Benz School of Floral Design and Buddy’s donation to establish the Benz building on campus. A wonderful donation.

    Daughter is full diploma Aggie and worked for them awhile.

  53. Nancy, congratulations on your new family member! You have done a wonderful thing!

    About to leave for the hospital. I’m not sure if I’ll be home tonight or tomorrow, but I’ll let everyone know how it went when I’m able. See y’all on the flip side!

  57. Waiting to hear when to pick up Blackjack. He is in shop being “fixed.” Not same as cats and dogs.

    Got interesting call on car asking who I was buying for? I said myself but I could understand since most senior citizens didn’t drive Mustang convertibles.

    They asked what totalled vehicle was? I said 2015 Ford F-150 super cab I use to pull my sailboats.

    Do they think I am fronting for a money laundering drug ring?

  59. Debbe said to say she is praying for everyone and misses everyone. She said she thought her chicken stories must bore us all. I told her just contrary.

    She says they have library and McDonald’s but she has no transportation. Her dad wrecked his truck and hers was wrecked as well.

  61. Am here. Car wasn’t ready again! We went to Abuelas for Mexican food, I had avocado and spinach enchiladas with papa’s and steamed fresh veggies. Tony got tacos.

    It was my birthday free meal so at this rate I will be really fat, celebrating my birthday daily for a week. I have several more to use. And waiter treated me to cremation avocado dip to boot or butt.

  64. On the basis of 58 years of seeing no woodchucks [Marmota monax] on 2 Feb., I predict that Bemidji will have 6 more weeks of winter. Doesn’t matter if sun’s out or not; cannot see your shadow tomorrow if you’re asleep in the master BR w/ the shades down.

    Peace,

  67. That was a Hal. I typed crema and he doesn’t do Spanish. He put cremation again.

    Good news. Black Jack is safely in my Boat Palace to protect from vandals who might “key” him or cut roof. Why are people so cruel like that? They cannot tolerate someone owning beauty?

    Also to protect against cat vandals who jump on hood and get on top and use as a scratching post. I hope none got locked in with it.

  68. emb
    If Groundhog sees his shadow 6 weeks more winter.
    If not then there will be a month and a half.

    Jackie:
    In my boat & car shed there are kitty prints all over vehicles- but then they keep the
    rodent population down.

  75. For those on Facebook, several of my friends and I have begun a grass roots effort to fill posts with art and beauty. Any form of art, paintings, photos, sculptures, carvings, gardens, flowers, animals, nature. Anything you find beautiful and joyful.

    Please join us in this effort and invite your friends to join in. This is to show that art, beauty and love must survive.

    Llee, Nancy, Ruth Anne, Mark, emb, Smigz, anyone is welcome. I know some of you aren’t on Facebook but some are. Help us counter the unpleasantness.

  76. Jackie, I think that is a wonderful idea. I’m not on Facebook or any other social media,but I think they all could use a healthy dose of kindness. Definitely beauty.

  81. I love Groundhog Day. My favorite movie about kindness, love and self renewal. That is a very deep. Dark comedy and Bill Murray’s finest performance in my opinion.

    Ghost are you angry with me? You said nothing about Black Jack. Who is safely out in boat shop, now horse stable.

    Dickens and I must get up now. I have an appointment in Tulsa to see my beautiful blonde dermatologist for shin inspections. She is married to orthopedist in my python group I think. Or else cardiologist in that group. She married well.

    My friends love Jack but are mainly concerned about his ability to tow. I am not.

  85. Mark I have NO idea! On way to Tulsa and it is COLD out there! Wish I had put socks and boots on but running late. I am freezing. In the Honda not Jack.

  86. Michigan’s own prognosticating groundhog, Woody, saw her shadow this morning. Six more weeks of winter to go. I’m going to seed the spinach in the garden as early as I can this year. Really. I mean that. Uh-huh. Right.

    The squirrels are full of mating fervor. Two got into the garage this morning and were crashing around in there. I chased them out…now it sounds like they’re on the roof.

    Jackie, I keep forgetting to bring this up. You mentioned lime when planting potatoes. What does the lime do for taties? I’ve never planted them.

  87. No, no, Jackie. I’m not angry at all. It’s just been a tough week so far but hopefully will start getting better now.

    I did see the photo of you and Black Jack. It’s everything I thought it would be. In the same way that Bullet is “me”, Black Jack is “you”.

  88. I don’t think we even got into that Black Jack, the cavalry horse, was undoubtedly named for General of the Armies John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing, who was the commander of the American Expeditionary Force on the European Western Front in World War I.

  90. Lime reduces acidity. I had a lot of shade in my back yard and a lot of dead leaves and I put lime down to improve the lawn. It was a never ending battle and if I didn’t put the lime down green moss would grow. So I figured “It’s green” and let it be.

  91. Thank you Ghost. I must confess I have same issues when you disappear as does Dickens when I get out of the car. He thinks I am never coming back. Wonder why?

    Am at dermatologist office. Here is truck some of my friends think I should get, another Ford. They say they can see me driving this too.

    http://drivetuscany.com/black-ops/

  93. Blast from the Past: In January of the year I was in the second grade, our class did the monthly play for our elementary school. The play was about the important dates coming up in February including, of course, Groundhog Day.

    I played the part of the Groundhog. I walked out on the stage in pajamas and robe, yawning, stretching, and rubbing my eyes. About halfway across, I stopped; looked down and saw my shadow; and turned and ran back off stage. It was adorable.

    At least that’s what my mom told me.

  96. “I bet you were a beautiful baby, I bet you were a beautiful child.” Slightly changed lyrics.

    Got clearance from beautiful dermatologist. I LIKE her. She wants me to file against insurance company over Trigger. Gave me Earnest request .She said I should do it if it would help others then law suits were appropriste.
    So I told her about me. She hopes I will.

    Going to eat some salmon. I have to come back to get one growth removed. Nothing urgent.

    Ghost we could buy shares in the Black Ops truck. Told my lawyer guardian, he said the truck was me and so was the black Mustang

  98. We didn’t know what ground hogs were in Mississippi Delta. We did know about pretty girls who married rich plantation owners so we had a Tom Thumb Wedding.
    I was bride , my groom was grandson and heir to largest land holdings.

    I didn’t grow up to marry him, last I looked he was a bit taller than me but about as wide as I am tall and bald. He did inherit. Grade school plays are hardly predictive.

  100. Just had a delectable and marginally healthy lunch dinner breakfast at P.F. Change. Dickens is waiting for his chicken satay in car.

    I love Changs shrimp melon. Had chopped salad, cup of sweet and sour for appetizers, a small fresh fruit with shortcake for finishers.

    Happy birthday me until next week.

  101. Jackie, Blackjack is beautiful!

    Mark, I agree, and:
    I’m not sure who in the Village said this, but I fully agree. Paraphrased: “There are forums for politics and/or religion, this forum,i.e., The Village of Arlo and Janis, is neither.” Until and unless everyone adheres to this unwritten rule, I will no longer comment. I will check daily but will be silent. There has been too much animosity here in the last few weeks over those two topics.

    God bless us every one. God bless the USA.

  102. It’s a thought, Jackie. I’ve even got a name for it already…Wolverine the Urban Assault Vehicle. No namby-pamby hay-burner name for that bad boy. I’d pity the fool in a Prius or Smart Car that tied to cut us off in traffic.

    And when I was in the Mississippi Delta, folks there knew what “ground hog” was, but they called it “pork sausage”.

  103. Indeed I concur. I feel many already are dropping out and that makes me sad.
    While I do not think we should advocate for religions nor political issues that does not mean we should not advocate or hold them. The problem lies in what I think motivates, especially religion.

    The need to “witness” lies at root of much religious postings, the need is post an amen, post for prayer, tell people your joy in your brand of religion ask they join you to share it. While I respect yours and others (this is addressed to a hypothetical you) I simply don’t want to hear it. I will not be changed.

    This is how the political issues are as well. We hope we can convince “you” what the “truth” is. Your minds are already made up and you simply do not want to hear it, you will not be changed.

    So, as I post kitty cats, food, Dickens , art, music, cartoons on Facebook so will I here. Back to trivial and funny and food and car porn.

    Right now I need a Diet Coke. Love you all y’all.

  104. First we”d have to 1) meet in flesh 2) decide who got custodial rights 3) determine who got to be the side kick 4) Dickens claims lap rights (he prefers.men, thinks he is attack dog)

    Minor problems. I do love that truck. That’s a good name.

  105. About today’s strip, really so true. My meal.at P.F. Changs was like that. I am uncomfortable and stuffed. Fortunately I only have Dickens to worry about and he is asleep in back seat already.

    Does this happen to men? Does any else have Chinese food wear off fast?

    It was funny.

  107. Personally, I’ve never noticed the fulfillment of one appetite distracting from the fulfillment of the other. But perhaps that’s just me.

  108. I know I’m not the only music-lover here, or even the only one who enjoys finding and learning about new and different styles and performers. I saw P&PHS the other day (moderately tight sweater and very tight jeans, if you are interested, or even you’re not), and for some reason we began discussing our musical tastes and listening preferences. She turned me on to the group Mumford & Sons.

    Wiki describes them as an “English rock band” and a music reporter calls them a “folk rock band”. I’m still working my way though four of their albums on Amazon Music, but from what I’ve heard I’d call their music a rock/folk/country/bluegrass fusion. See what you think.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGKfrgqWcv0

  109. While he was on the phone with the president of Mexico the chump “offered” to send troops into Mexico to clean up the drug gangs. Remember the Alamo! You can’t make this stuff up. It’s Dr. Strangelove again.

  110. Yes, Mumford…is good. I have a couple of their albums. Mail lady brought a Jim Byrnes cd this afternoon. 🙂 And some art supplies. And a Wayne GRatz for when I want just piano music. Life is good!

  113. Actually the mainstream media makes up a lot of stuff; other times they fall for hoaxes. They’ve already retracted the Iraqi refugee’s story that the Trump ban killed his mother by keeping her in Iraq until she died of renal failure… she died 2 days before Trump issued the order.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/elderly-iraqi-woman-dies-trump-travel-ban-article-1.2961110

    What will they get wrong next? Will they retract the story?

    That’s why I no longer will believe any anti-Trump story for at least 72 hours. I’ll check the primary sources when they become available, as I did at the start of this post (“Running Mate”).

  119. At this rate, how long will it before the Village is just a handful of people talking past each other? Please, everyone, take a deep breath and step back.

  120. “Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” — attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Still true today.

    Thanks for cluing me in to Mumford & Sons. Y’all are right, it’s a fusion of several of my favorite styles and very well done.

    Ghost, did they know you?

  121. Well, here is some titillating or not news you can believe. I got hypnotized by the same viral cookies that got Arlo when he bought the ten gallon hat, lederhosen and the elephant.

    Valentines appears to be when they sell lonely women all the semi or not so semi-erotic underwear they can ship out from China where those poor people MUST think we are obsessed, especially larger women. Really obsessed.

    So I who never wore anything very remotely like this now have enough of said merchandise to get a large tax deduction for clothing necessary for ones employment, should I decide to go into business. Of course, that is a totally moot question since I have never considered that since my thirties during the Texas oil boom when older men in the Warwick kept sending me drinks and invitations.

    And I didn’t buy a hope chest then.

    Celtic love songs are beautiful. And I do know who Mumford is.

  125. Here is something one of my boat designer friends from the west sent me about a famous Black Jack who was a Formula 1 driver from Australia. Black Jack has had much admiration from my friends and has made me smile a lot.

    Jackie… there is another famous Black Jack that has a very specific auto pedigree. World famous Formula One driver from Australia who was the F1 World Champion 1959, ’60 and ’66. He was known on the track as Black Jack Brabham and was an incredibly respected driver with enormous skill and courage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Brabham

  127. I have seen the lava pour like this from Kilauea but perhaps not this violently? In the 1960s she began to erupt again explosively. I happened to be in park. We were literally too close because they weren’t exactly expecting it.

    But the close ocean lava was in small planes. The Royale Airlines belonged to company Mike worked for and they’d drop down low over waterfalls, lava, almost touching wheels to waves it sometimes seemed.

  131. Jackie: ‘We didn’t know what ground hogs were in Mississippi Delta.’ That’s because they don’t [or didn’t] range all the way to the Gulf. Will try to remember to find current distribution online.

    About verboten topics, esp. religion. See my last post, above, about the lava show. It asserts what most scientists consider likely facts about the physical universe. Some, of various sectarian persuasions [and a very few others], consider such assertions godless, false, demonic, atheistic, and worse[?], and label evolutionary biologists like me atheists. Sorry, if I run into some scientific info I consider of interest to us in the Village, I’m gonna* post it [*now in dictionary]. I will likely mention such things in my next sermon at BUMC.

    Peace,

  133. Some posters here some time ago sang a different tune; others may avoid comment. Half of polled Americans accept ‘alternative facts.’

    Searched online: ‘Marmota monax geographic distribution.’ All sites with maps show them well inland from the Gulf. One simply colors every state they inhabit, incl. MS and AL, and is thus misleading. They might be in N. LA. Maybe I can zero in there.

    Peace,

  134. Jackie: Searched some more. Distrib. in AR is mostly in highlands, not coastal plain, but map in one article suggests there should be records from extreme NE TX, but TX doesn’t report any. Distrib. seems to have changed little since the ’50s. Peace,

  135. The first ground hog I ever saw was on the Blue Ridge Parkway or in Virginia. We were driving in the famous red convertible with the top down and my cousin cried out “Look at that fat furry thing up on the side of the grass! Follow it!”

    We were on a road with no traffic at all and a speed limit of thirty I think. He wanted a photo and that silly critter ran right alongside the car like he was racing us and winning. Cousin was hanging over side of car with camera as seat belts didn’t exist yet nor much concerns about kids falling out chasing a ground hog.

    OK, I was a dubious character builder except two boys are lawyers and third a dentist and each has talked at length about my positive influence on their lives. He got his ground hog photos, I came across them in some old black and white five by three prints not long ago.

    Only I knew it was a racing ground hog but I smiled because I could see it still. And smell the air and the ferns and trees after that late afternoon rain. The sun broke through the clouds and directly shown onto the golden buffed browns of his fur.

  137. Saw mine all on East coast. Never saw one in South.

    I date myself every day so what’s one more? I loved and still love “Stranger on the Shore.”

    RIP Mr. Acker Belk.

  141. Here’s another I suspect you like Old Bear. It still makes me cry.

    https://youtu.be/sGWs1HK8iDU

    I have to take Black Jack to Tulsa tomorrow. I hope to leave early and take the scenic route along the Arkansas River. For one thing the roads may be secondary but they are way better than our primary highways which are awful.

    Getting the tracking gps so if I drive down a ravine I can be found.

  142. About tonight’s new A and J, when I was young and either just married or young and not yet married Mike and I went to New Orleans for a romantic weekend. In those days he’d let me eat whatever I liked. That night it was a muffelata sandwich. He didn’t like muffelatas and ate something.

    Despite my being really hot in those days I almost ended up sleeping alone. I’d brought half my sandwich back to room, they were large. The sandwich ended up being put outside door and I ended up brushing my teeth a dozen times and scrubbing anything that had garlic on it.

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