USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Dajjal]

We were up at 3 a.m. this morning rushing to meet the ambulance to let them into Aunt Betty's house. She managed to call us that she had fainted at least twice and was on the floor. Somehow she had managed to get back in bed when we and the EMT's got there but had no recollection of when or how she got into bed. Pretty scary. However at E.R. she checked out, diagnosis was severe dehydration, they pumped her full of fluids and she was good to go home around 9 this morning. We kept her here at our house for observation today and tonight. If she is feeling good in the morning, we'll take her home as she will surely insist. Scary though. She is 91 and lives alone. And until Dana gets home in early December, she has absolutely nobody checking on her or who is there for her besides Hombre and me.

So with such a short night last night, I'm headed to bed early.

I had an old lady living on top of me and she became infirm. I used to hear her fall down in the night, and I was the only one around to help her. Eventually I was given a key, and when she fell down I used to go up and pick her up off the floor. Finally she went into a care home.

 

[Dajjal]

 

[WelfareQueen]

.

Thank you for asking, Foxy. My mom is hanging in there. In fact, she felt well enough to join us to celebrate WQ's birthday dinner yesterday. The kids joined us as well as we dined al fresco at our favorite waterfront place.

Oh shoot. We were so busy yesterday and being the weekend, I didn't check my calendar so missed WelfareQueen 's birthday. So apologies and belated

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WQ!!!!

Don't forget no more, Foxy.

Every time it happens I make a mental note to not let it happen again. But as much as I hate it, I probably will. By the way, I did switch cakes. I don't know what WQ's first name is, but I'm pretty sure it isn't Liz.

That cake is perfect for Michael!!

Which one? The one wishing Liz a happy birthday? Or the more generic one? He looks like a Michael though. One of my favorite names since we gave it to our first born.

You're good Foxy. Yeah.....my first name is Michael.....but hey....if you want to call me Liz that's okay too.

 

[Dajjal]

 

[Foxfyre]

Finally dug out my box full of photos (a paper ream box) and started scanning the photos in and saving them to disc....... This is gonna take a while..........

For our Christmas a few years ago, our son and his wife and daughter were running a side business videotaping weddings and other special occasions, editing, captioning, setting them to music on a DVD. So since he had the equipment and expertise to do it, he took all our many full photo albums, organized and scanned them all onto a DVD with captioning and a musical background. It was a very special gift.

 

[Hossfly]

.

Oh shoot. We were so busy yesterday and being the weekend, I didn't check my calendar so missed WelfareQueen 's birthday. So apologies and belated

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WQ!!!!

Don't forget no more, Foxy.

Every time it happens I make a mental note to not let it happen again. But as much as I hate it, I probably will. By the way, I did switch cakes. I don't know what WQ's first name is, but I'm pretty sure it isn't Liz.

That cake is perfect for Michael!!

Which one? The one wishing Liz a happy birthday? Or the more generic one? He looks like a Michael though. One of my favorite names since we gave it to our first born.

You're good Foxy. Yeah.....my first name is Michael.....but hey....if you want to call me Liz that's okay too.

Did you quit working again?

 

[WelfareQueen]

.
Don't forget no more, Foxy.

Every time it happens I make a mental note to not let it happen again. But as much as I hate it, I probably will. By the way, I did switch cakes. I don't know what WQ's first name is, but I'm pretty sure it isn't Liz.

That cake is perfect for Michael!!

Which one? The one wishing Liz a happy birthday? Or the more generic one? He looks like a Michael though. One of my favorite names since we gave it to our first born.

You're good Foxy. Yeah.....my first name is Michael.....but hey....if you want to call me Liz that's okay too.

Did you quit working again?

I wish. School is out this week for Thanksgiving, so no young impressionable minds to educate. Next week I'll be back at it full steam so I am enjoying the time off while I can.

 

[Foxfyre]

Every time it happens I make a mental note to not let it happen again. But as much as I hate it, I probably will. By the way, I did switch cakes. I don't know what WQ's first name is, but I'm pretty sure it isn't Liz.

That cake is perfect for Michael!!

Which one? The one wishing Liz a happy birthday? Or the more generic one? He looks like a Michael though. One of my favorite names since we gave it to our first born.

You're good Foxy. Yeah.....my first name is Michael.....but hey....if you want to call me Liz that's okay too.

Did you quit working again?

I wish. School is out this week for Thanksgiving, so no young impressionable minds to educate. Next week I'll be back at it full steam so I am enjoying the time off while I can.

I am thoroughly enjoying retirement, but sometimes I am tempted to go back to work so I could get more rest. (Those impulses pass pretty quickly though. )

 

[Foxfyre]

So, Thanksgiving falls on the 23rd this year. It’s also the two-year anniversary of my husband’s death. I’m having a difficult time thinking of anything to be thankful for. Intellectually, I know things could be worse, but I feel like a ton of shit has landed on me recently, and now this. I can barely even try to pretend for the kids. They’re 20 and 21 years old; it’s not like they’re little.

Two years seems like a long time. But, for this, it’s nothing.

Sorry to deposit this here, but my family frowns on self-pity and I am just drowning in it right now. I’ll go back to my self-reliant tough girl routine soon, probably Monday, but I had to wallow today.

This is definitely the older person part of the board. As such we face this type of crisis more than we want to. I was juyst saying to Mrs. Liberty we need to widen our circle of people, because we are losing some due to the time of life we are in.

I gave the eulogy at my Uncle Ed's funeral a year ago September. He was 90 when he passed--private pilot and then WWII pilot. He wanted to fly after the war but job openings were tight with so many returning home, so he went to college in a pre med program. He was a certified EMT but had not completed pre-med when he was called to be a commercial co-pilot and quickly earned the left seat, his true dream job. A long time acquaintance, he fell in love with and married Aunt Betty, a beautiful registered nurse, which was his first marriage, her second. After his flying years, he became a master locksmith and precision machinist until he finally retired and he and Aunt Betty moved to New Mexico. His life had been full of interesting people and events--he was the pilot that flew Batista out of Cuba for instance--and together they enjoyed a wide variety of special friends and family.

But at his memorial service, I looked out at the some 30 people in the small chapel at the funeral home, and I was inspired to relate all that--it wasn't in my notes. And I commented that as far as Uncle Ed had traveled, all the many hundreds if not thousands of people who had called him friend and/or loved one, one by one those people became distant memories as they moved on and/or died. And as his world contracted, year by year, all that was left of his immediate family was one niece and her children/grand children and all that was left of his life was pretty much the people in that room.

We never know how important we are to some people. And yes, I would like to know that I was important enough to at least some that they will be there to see me off when the time comes.

 

[Nosmo King]

A dear friend of mine was fretting about a birthday gift for her ten year old grandson. I suggested a fishing pole as every young boy should avail himself of the Ohio River and fantasies of being a Huckleberry Finn of the north.

So she bundled herself up against the chill and drove to nearby Wheeling West Virginia and Cabella's Sporting Goods. Cabella's is a massive store featuring tens of thousands of square feet of all things hunting, fishing and camping. It is, in fact, one of West Virginia's premier tourist attractions.

She has no idea about fishing tackle. She gazed up and down at the aisles of fishing rods and took one at random to the fishing counter. A helpful clerk greeted her.

"May I help you ma'am?"

"I'm looking for a fishing rod and reel for my ten year old grandson."

"Well," said the clerk "That is a great gift for a boy! But I must tell you that I'm totally blind. Perhaps if you were to drop the fishing rod on the counter, I could tell you more about it by the sound it makes."

Puzzled and incredulous she did what he asked and dropped the rod and reel on the counter.

"What you have there is a Zebco model 404 fiberglass rod. It's five feet long and fitted out with Zebco's model 414 reel." said the blind clerk. "It's easy to operate, light enough for a small boy to handle. An ideal choice if I don't say so myself. And, you're in luck! That particular combo is on sale this week! Only $40.00. A savings of 20%!"

"Then this will do nicely" she answered.

She then reached for her wallet in her massive pocketbook. As she drew out her credit card she lost grip and the card tumbled to the floor.

"That sounds like an American Express." said the clerk.

She looked down at the card and damned if it wasn't her American Express card! She bent down to retrieve the credit card. As she stooped, she broke wind.

"Very well, ma'am. That'll be $55.00" said the clerk.

"$55.00? You said the fishing rod was on sale for $40.00!"

"Right you are, ma'am" the clerk explained "$40.00 for the rod and reel, $7.00 for the duck call you just blew into and $8.00 for the can of bear repellent you just opened."

 

[SeaGal]

I gave the eulogy at my Uncle Ed's funeral a year ago September. He was 90 when he passed--private pilot and then WWII pilot. He wanted to fly after the war but job openings were tight with so many returning home, so he went to college in a pre med program. He was a certified EMT but had not completed pre-med when he was called to be a commercial co-pilot and quickly earned the left seat, his true dream job. A long time acquaintance, he fell in love with and married Aunt Betty, a beautiful registered nurse, which was his first marriage, her second. After his flying years, he became a master locksmith and precision machinist until he finally retired and he and Aunt Betty moved to New Mexico. His life had been full of interesting people and events--he was the pilot that flew Batista out of Cuba for instance--and together they enjoyed a wide variety of special friends and family.

But at his memorial service, I looked out at the some 30 people in the small chapel at the funeral home, and I was inspired to relate all that--it wasn't in my notes. And I commented that as far as Uncle Ed had traveled, all the many hundreds if not thousands of people who had called him friend and/or loved one, one by one those people became distant memories as they moved on and/or died. And as his world contracted, year by year, all that was left of his immediate family was one niece and her children/grand children and all that was left of his life was pretty much the people in that room..

...beautiful, Foxfyre.

We never know how important we are to some people. And yes, I would like to know that I was important enough to at least some that they will be there to see me off when the time comes.

So true...a kind word here, or a thoughtful deed there can mean more than we could know. A favorite song (bittersweet) has a verse that goes...

I hope the sun shines the day they lay me down
And there's lots of flowers and that line of friends is long
'Cause they found more good than bad
When I'm good and gone

'When I'm Good and Gone' by Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White. It's a beautiful song, and can be heard on YouTube.

 

[WelfareQueen]

An old and slightly blue Jackson Browne song.


Redneck Friend

 

[Ridgerunner]

My 1st born is Michael also. The name Michael means "Like God"

 

[Foxfyre]

Harriett laid her first egg today and is spending all her time on the ntest. M1 is bringing her food--usually fish but today an opossum . First time I've seen that in all the time I've been watching this eagle family. From time to time they will switch off and M1 will incubate the egg(s) so Harriett can stretch her wings a bit. We're all expectantly awaiting a second and maybe more eggs. The incubation time is pretty close to 35 days.

Live Eagle Cam

 

[Big Black Dog]

Nice to hear from you SFC Ollie. Hope you are well. You’re a fine fellow and I wish you all the best.

 

[theliq]

Sorry the pic I had posted didn't take. So I have updated my Profile pic for those who may care. It has been a very long year. As most of my friends here know I lost Mrs O a year ago. No I am not dating. Not sure I care to. I had stepped down from my position as Commander of the local American Legion Post. last election they put me back in. I have turned down County Commander again though. I have joined the Circle of trustees at the Butler institute of American Art. Quite interesting and something a little different. I have become a member of a group that cares for a county Veterans memorial and next month I will become a lifetime member of Vietnam Veterans Of America, where I will be taking a leadership role....

But i must brag on my Beautiful granddaughter. 19 years old, she is a full time college student on the Deans List, she works full time at a modeling agency, and she has purchased her first house.View attachment 161337

Really Nice Post,as usual Ollie,God Bless You and all your family past and present...steve

Hey theliq, welcome back to the CS. Now if you could find and persuade Noomi to come back we would have our Australian division back intact.

I will try,We just found the Latest Coffee Brand "TRUMP" a little toooooo bitter for our taste.

Don't Blast Me Foxy and all, it was just a little tease

But I will contact Noomi she is a Great Girl(Aussie of course) steven

 

[Foxfyre]

Good night darlinks, I really do love you guys.

And we continue to pray and/or send good vibes and/or positive thoughts and/or keep vigil for

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Nosmo's mom,
Rod, GW's partner,
Kat's sister,
Boedicca, her dad, brother, and family,
Sherry's Mom for treatment to be successful,
The Ringels in difficult transition
Dana, Foxfyre's friend recovering from heart transplant
Mr. and Mrs. Gracie in difficult transition
Saveliberty for positive resolution for difficult transition,
Mr. and Mrs. Peach174 for full recovery from setback,
Strength and stamina for gallantwarrior in his relocation project,
Ringel's injured shoulder and general wellness
And for our students, job hunters, others in transition.
Drifter for resolution of difficult situation,
ricechickie on the anniversary of remembrance,
Saveliberty's family in the passing of Mrs Saveliberty's mom.

And the light is left on for Noomi, Freedombecki, AgainSheila, Esthermoon, Dalia, and all others we hope are okay and will return to us.

 

[Compost]

Harriett laid her first egg today and is spending all her time on the ntest. M1 is bringing her food--usually fish but today an opossum . First time I've seen that in all the time I've been watching this eagle family. From time to time they will switch off and M1 will incubate the egg(s) so Harriett can stretch her wings a bit. We're all expectantly awaiting a second and maybe more eggs. The incubation time is pretty close to 35 days.

Live Eagle Cam

I love this! A while back I followed a heron nest action cam. The only thing cooler was when a pair of doves set up a nest right outside our living room window. Talk about front row seats!

 

[Dajjal]

 

[Foxfyre]

Harriett laid her first egg today and is spending all her time on the ntest. M1 is bringing her food--usually fish but today an opossum . First time I've seen that in all the time I've been watching this eagle family. From time to time they will switch off and M1 will incubate the egg(s) so Harriett can stretch her wings a bit. We're all expectantly awaiting a second and maybe more eggs. The incubation time is pretty close to 35 days.

Live Eagle Cam

I love this! A while back I followed a heron nest action cam. The only thing cooler was when a pair of doves set up a nest right outside our living room window. Talk about front row seats!

I think what makes this eagle cam so special are the moderators for the chats. They are so well informed and really give a blow by blow of what is going on during the times we aren't watching. And the site also keeps a running record of when the eggs are laid, when they hatch, what prey the parents bring back to the nest etc. And you do get really involved with the eagle family.