USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Gracie]

If I were younger..I would still try to get to the Ozarks/Branson area. Alas..too old now.

You're never too old to do what you want. You lay down when they put you in the ground.

Yeah....tell that to my body. lol

All things are relative though. Okay I can't have a dynamite beach body at my age or even count on being pain free on any given day. It would not be advisable for me to take up rock climbing or start training to run the Boston Marathon now. But I could take Ollie's ceramic class, learn to play the piano better, learn to do oil painting, write a book, or learn a new language. And it would not terrify me to move to a new place even at my age. Conversely, the old saw is true that it ain't over until it's over, and therefore we aren't ever too old to do many things, But also our time here is finite an I encourage those of you who are younger not to think you have unlimited time to do what you need to do. Sometimes it is best just to do it instead of waiting for the 'right time'.

But you guys have income...at least to live on. We don't get much in SS. And we have to rely on government help for medical and dental care. Hell, my sister in law moved to arizona and she told me yesterday that her front teeth finally fell out so now she lisps when she talks and she is embarrassed all the time. She can't get medicare yet..ain't old enough. And the county she is in denied her application for dental...nor has she seen a doc since they moved there. Moving to a new state and trying to figure it all out is not my cuppa tea. PLUS, MrG has heart probs now. They want him to get a pacemaker. He is weak often. I can't see packing him up and moving either. I just don't have the strength anymore to do this crap. So..I stay in Cali. Sure, this state is having some issues, and many are homeless...but the healthcare can't be beat for poor people like us.
And..I really don't want to have to defend myself on why I think a major move to an unknown state is a bad idea for myself and MrG. Sorry I even participated in the subject.

 

[Gracie]

Oh..and HI WelfareQueen Sherry !!
Tis good to see you and I will pray that things get better for the family and your personal situations you are dealing with. I am glad you and Sherry and dealing with everything with such strength! And..I am SO pleased and thrilled you two hooked up! What a blessing that is, for those who knew you both before..and after...and how you both were meant to find each other right here at USMB. Makes me smile every time I see either one of you.

 

[WelfareQueen]

Oh..and HI WelfareQueen Sherry !!
Tis good to see you and I will pray that things get better for the family and your personal situations you are dealing with. I am glad you and Sherry and dealing with everything with such strength! And..I am SO pleased and thrilled you two hooked up! What a blessing that is, for those who knew you both before..and after...and how you both were meant to find each other right here at USMB. Makes me smile every time I see either one of you.

Gracie, you have been a true friend for a long time.....to both of us.

 

[Foxfyre]

Good morning all.

Thinking of saveliberty and his family and Harper as she goes into surgery today.

 

[WelfareQueen]

Haven't posted a song in quite a while. This is one Sherry wanted me to learn from a band she loves called the Black Keys.



Act Nice And Gentle With Me

 

[Montrovant]

Haven't posted a song in quite a while. This is one Sherry wanted me to learn from a band she loves called the Black Keys.



Act Nice And Gentle With Me

Do you know any Matthew Sweet? That's the only artist I can think of offhand that I listen to that you might enjoy and enjoy playing.

 

[Foxfyre]

Haven't posted a song in quite a while. This is one Sherry wanted me to learn from a band she loves called the Black Keys.



Act Nice And Gentle With Me

Great guitar work. I think this one may be my favorite of all you have posted.

 

[Foxfyre]

If I were younger..I would still try to get to the Ozarks/Branson area. Alas..too old now.

No, you aren't too old as we aren't too old and we are older than you.

But we all weigh the options. I constantly say and believe that we never know what we can do when we are so reluctant or afraid to take a risk we don't try. But there is such a thing as common sense too and knowing that sometimes the better part of wisdom is prudence. When we know our limitations and what is the best thing for us to do in a given situation, sometimes taking the risk can be foolish.

All adventure is not wise. Despite how much we wonder if we can fly, it is not smart to jump off the cliff to find out.

 

[froggy]

It really doesn't matter where you are you can always adjust your needs to fit your finances

 

[WelfareQueen]

Haven't posted a song in quite a while. This is one Sherry wanted me to learn from a band she loves called the Black Keys.



Act Nice And Gentle With Me

Do you know any Matthew Sweet? That's the only artist I can think of offhand that I listen to that you might enjoy and enjoy playing.

I like him a lot. I'll try to get something together.

 

[Nosmo King]

We're butt up against the summer solstice and two notable things are occurring. First, the turning on of the air conditioning. Summer brings humidity in these parts and, while the thermometer reads 89, it is accompanied by 90% humidity.

But more important is the arrival of the lightening bugs. A more poetic name for them is fireflies, but poetry is in short supply, regrettably. As kids we caught lightening bugs in the back yard. Even though they were found everywhere in the yard, the best chances to catch them was around the stately blue spruces. I don't know if it was because the spruces provided just a little more shade, or the lightening bugs could seek shelter there, but we kids knew where to find them.

Before we learned the concepts of Zen Buddhism or hygiene, we would gleefully pinch off the tails of the bugs because that's where the glow came from. With a tiny pinch of nature's own magic, we would smear the glowing bug bits on our arms and faces like psychedelic war paint. We were compassionate, at least as compassionate as we could rustle up, and provide them with a mayonnaise jar with grass clippings in the bottom and a few holes poked in the metal lid using a ten penny nail and whatever hammering implement we could find.

Mom loved to watch us play and gather up as many lightening bugs as we could. But then she was tasked with making sure we had washed off all traces of big glow before we were finally sent to bed on a hot and humid June night.

 

[Montrovant]

Haven't posted a song in quite a while. This is one Sherry wanted me to learn from a band she loves called the Black Keys.



Act Nice And Gentle With Me

Do you know any Matthew Sweet? That's the only artist I can think of offhand that I listen to that you might enjoy and enjoy playing.

I like him a lot. I'll try to get something together.

I consider Girlfriend to be easily his best album, but I've never considered which songs would be best to play.

 

[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), post op surgery on Monday.
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Nosmo's mom,
Rod, GW's partner,
Kat's sister,
The Ringels in difficult transition
Dana, Foxfyre's friend recovering from heart transplant
Strength and stamina for gallantwarrior in his relocation project,
Ringel's injured shoulder and general wellness,
ricechickie for trouble free healing and wellness,
BigBlackDog for comfort and effective treatment
TK
Sixfoot for an accurate diagnosis and wellness,
Sherry's Mom for treatment to be successful, and wellness for Sherry's daughter, her dad, and family.
Wellness for Foxfyre's sister and Hombre's sister
Healing for Ringel and Mrs. R's Gizmo
Gracie
Nosmo's Uncle for good news and Aunt Roxie
Nosmo's Daisy
Hombre's sister

And we keep the porch light on so that many others scattered here and there can find their way back.

When you think you have exhausted all possibilities, in all likelihood you haven't.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Mom loved to watch us play and gather up as many lightening bugs as we could. But then she was tasked with making sure we had washed off all traces of big glow before we were finally sent to bed on a hot and humid June night.

How did we ever sleep? I learned at a very early age that without cross ventilation (2 windows) life pretty much sucked when the humidity was higher than a .25 cent bottle of catsup...
Camping in the backyard was always a big hit... The smell of a U.S. Army 2 man Pup tent straight from the Army/Navy Surplus was a fragrance one would never forget... Somewhere between mold and moth balls... The mayonnaise jar the King spoke of was always at the head of the tent a long with a flash light, because the lightening bugs didn't last all that long...
When we were young and first started "camping" adventure was always pretty close to home... The older we came to be, the more adventurous we become... Life was good...

 

[SFC Ollie]

Happy Saturday, I am home after 3 weeks of travel. I ordered roller skates off amazon. I got a letter in the mail for a job interview in Missouri. I don't know if I want to live there though.

I always wanted to live in Missouri. Branson area. So pretty, from what pics I have seen.

My Step son and Granddaughter live in Branson..... Nice place to visit....

 

[Nosmo King]

No good ever came from saying "When I was a kid..." so don't expect much good from this story I'm about to unspool for you. So, when I was a kid we occupied our time by building models. Some boys preferred model cars, some liked to glue together models of horror story characters. I built a pretty cool Dracula, but found it hard to paint well. So my Bela Lugosi shaped piece of molded plastic looked like a cross between a Transylvanian count and a circus clown.

My preference was models of World War II aircraft. Spitfires and Corsairs and Messerschmitts were carefully assembled and on display on the top of my dresser. Revel, the company that made model kits, would supply all the decals needed if you wanted your model plane to look like the very planes used in desert warfare, as a night fighter, during the Normandy invasion or defending England during the Blitz.

That left a surplus of decals. And that surplus went directly onto the frame of my Huffy bicycle. 20" wheels, butterfly handlebars and a banana seat, my Huffy was typical of the bikes ridden by the neighborhood boys. Bikes would be piled up along our side yard for pick up ball games as we had the largest lawn in the neighborhood. Then those bikes would be scooped up and peddled out to the Tasty Freeze for soft serve ice cream cones at a dime a piece.

That was just about the only place we would interact with neighborhood girls. They sequestered themselves away in playhouses playing, appropriately 'house'. They were honing their matronly domestic skills while the boys were active goofing off. I'm not sure what I learned by airplane glue and molded plastic. What skills did I acquire riding my bike around the neighborhood? When we built 'forts' in the woods, we used as much carpentry skills as a sparrow does building a nest.

My concern is today's kids. I don't see them riding bikes, playing football or serving tea in a tiny backyard playhouse. What future skills are they learning staring blankly at a video screen?

 

[Gracie]

My concern is today's kids. I don't see them riding bikes, playing football or serving tea in a tiny backyard playhouse. What future skills are they learning staring blankly at a video screen?

Or mowing lawns, willing to work for some extra cash but not wanting to WORK work for it. Nope. Kids nowadays are doing exactly as you said...sitting in front of a video screen...along with their dad who doesn't have a job nor wants one.

 

[Nosmo King]

My concern is today's kids. I don't see them riding bikes, playing football or serving tea in a tiny backyard playhouse. What future skills are they learning staring blankly at a video screen?

Or mowing lawns, willing to work for some extra cash but not wanting to WORK work for it. Nope. Kids nowadays are doing exactly as you said...sitting in front of a video screen...along with their dad who doesn't have a job nor wants one.

I'm not that bleak. As kids we played far more than we worked for wages. And with the much vaunted employment numbers, I don't think it's entirely fair to cast aspersions on Dad.

We mowed lawns and raked leaves and occasionally did that for others on the invitation of those others or on their behalf by our parents. I once spent a rainy, dreary November day shoveling three tons of coal for my spinster aunts. They gave me $5.00 for my work, but I was not resentful.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had never been on a golf coarse as my father called it "cow pasture pool" and thought it was silly... At the age of 11 or 12 a neighbor asked if I wanted to earn some money... Sure I piped up... I caddied for 2 golfers carrying their golf bags for 18 holes for .50 cents... As in most cases in my life... Dad was right... It was a silly game...

 

[Ringel05]

Last night when I closed the garage door (auto door opener) I heard a loud bang then popping noises....... looked up and sure enough one of the torsion springs had snapped.

They're here fixing it now.

Here's what a broken one looks like.