FWIW, St Petersburg, Oslo, and Juneau (Alaska) are about the same latitude. Time zones affect the sunrise/sunset points, of course, but those cities would get the same number of daylight hours.

Alaska's the only US state that's not entirely south of the UK, and it extends further north. I was surprised when I moved to the USA that summer evenings weren't anything like as light as I was used to.

So I got glasses about a month ago. They are reading glasses and I don’t really need to wear them, they just make the letters clear so I can, em, read the words. Anyway this morning I was having a hell of a time trying to read. The damn glasses have ruined my vision! I even went and washed my eyes to see if there was something in them.

Turns out you have to wash the glasses. Who knew?

*Facepalms*

Damn amateurs...

Just returned home from funeral #3 this year. Downright depressing! Don't know what's wrong with this year, it seems positively defective. Think I'll swap it for a new year end of December.

I´m sorry to hear that, stargelman This year has been a bummer for many it seems, me too but not nearly as bad as yours.

Lost our dear cat to illness and lost my job. Damn you, 2013

I wish all the best for 2014, stargelman. Lets hope you don´t have to go to more funerals in many, many years now.

This post has been edited by mirocu: Nov 24 2013, 05:32 PM

I hear ya, stargelman. Mrs Acadian the First died in 1999. Within a year, my sister's husband and my beautiful old great dane died as well. That proved Y2K to indeed be a disaster.

Hang in there; it'll get better. Yeah, let's plan on a new and better year for you come the end of this December.

That´s the beauty with a new year approaching; if the current one was crappy you´ll soon leave it all behind forever

Sorry to hear about Mrs Acadian

Thanks, mirocu. Mrs Acadian I was a Swedish import - a beautiful blonde who carried a gun. Her spirit animates much of who Buffy is - like the granddaughter that never was. I am fortunate also in that Mrs Acadian II (my Aussie Princess) is a real keeper and lives quite well and tolerantly with the ghost of her predecessor.

Maybe that´s why you and I get along so well

Glad to hear you have another Mrs Acadian to take care of you now and keep you in place

Sorry about your loss Stargelman. It's pretty depressing when several people go within a relatively short period of time and it can be hard to take. Hopefully next year will be gentler on everyone.


Didn't know you'd lost your wife, Acadian. My condolences, even though it has been some time since it happened.

I know the feeling. Trust me.

I’m also ready to kick this year to the curb. My funeral suit has stayed in the front of the closet lately.

A bit of good news, yesterday it was freezing and rainy so I actually ran a little way across a parking lot. Last year I was still sometimes using a cane and occasionally dragging a leg. Now I’m not even sure where the cane is.

Thanksgiving is underway in Grits World. Apple pie for breakfast is the traditional start. I hope everyone has a great day, whether you’re celebrating a holiday or not.

Glad to hear you are doing much better Grits!


Happy Thanksgiving!

ERMAHGERD HERPY THERNKSGERVING!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Chorrolians!

Yes, it's a U.S. holiday. But any time is a good time for anyone anywhere in the world to pause and count their blessings. Somehow, no matter how bad things are, there's always something to be grateful for. Like Grits being able to run across the parking lot (God, I appreciate that feeling too!) and enjoy apple pie for breakfast.

So it doesn't matter if you're a U.S. citizen or not -- happy Thanksgiving to all of you around the world and in all time zones!

So yesterday, as I was coming home from the grocery store- because, even though you have more food in the house than any 12 people could eat in a week, there is always something that you do not have… Anyway, coming back up the street, I see something in the ditch near the neighbor’s house. And I think it’s… no- let’s just go on and park and walk back for a closer look.

Yes. In fact it was. A partially cooked, partially raw, whole turkey. Lying in the ditch near the neighbor’s house. (Not the neighbors with the 20+ pink flamingos on their lawn, one of which is wearing a sequined shower cap- the flamingo- not the neighbor, but the neighbors who have been known to “discuss” things at sufficient volume for me to hear it while I am inside, with my headphones on).

So- this is one of those “best not to know” moments. My current favorite theory is that someone got one of those outdoor turkey fryers- the ones that use propane and a big vat of peanut oil, like Mrs. Treydog got me one year when it was like 20 degrees at Thanksgiving. And which I used exactly ONCE, after which I found lots of Youtube videos and stories of people setting their houses on fire with the things- even when using them outdoors, as they are designed.

So my current favorite theory is that someone, several miles away, made the error of bringing the peanut oil to a boil and then lowered in a still-frozen turkey, which was promptly launched into the stratosphere and came to rest where I found it.

But that isn’t really what I came here to talk about (10 points to anyone who gets the reference). Because I am the “tech person” at work, people bring me their computer and computer-related items. Which I do not mind- nice to feel useful.

So, a fellow brings me a DVD, which when placed in the computer, shows no files. Yet visual inspection shows has something burned to it. After some research, I find a program that is supposed to “fix this.” I finally got to it last night. So, I recover the video file which the program helpfully saves as an MPEG to my computer- which plays. Yay me. Except… MPEG is not how a video DVD is encoded. So another download (freeware this time) later, I am able to burn a readable video disk, which I tested on my PC and the DVD player connected to the television. It took 3 hours (partly because I was fumbling with unfamiliar software) and I was up until after 1 o’clock.

But, now that family will have a DVD of the 30 minutes of ultrasound of their baby. So I give thanks indeed. Happy second day after Thanksgiving.

This post has been edited by treydog: Nov 30 2013, 06:01 PM

The Fabulous Flying Turkey Trot!

And how wonderful that you were able to revive the US of the baby! Though I think you needed dedicated medical software to recover the file (the kind that costs over $25,000 just to install, never mind the workstation license fees!). Still, you managed to get it out, and that's what counts!

Happy second day after Thanksgiving, indeed!

Hmm, my half-baked turkey theory is that a grill rotisserie accessory failed to rotate while dinner was cooking. Bird was launched by cook’s wife upon the discovery.

That’s great that you recovered the baby video. They must be very thankful.

It's been nearly a month since mALX has disappeared and I have not heard back from her one way or the other. I make no assumptions on to what has come to pass upon her as I am not there. However, it was her wish that I return for a short while to ease her transition into re acclimating to the forums.

I no longer have a reason to be here.

Assumptions that I may have calmed down, or had a change of heart upon recent events are only that: Assumptions.

Even in the face of many tragic losses people lost sight of one fact: This life is the only opportunity you get to be kind to the people around you.

As such I gave myself until the first of December to decide one way or the other, and my time to move on has come. I joined Christmas Eve of 2005, and thus it seems apropos that this December mark my eighth year among you all, and all the unexpectedly close friendships I've developed and had in this time.

That is enough, and I do thank you all; each in your own way, for the time and events that I have shared with you. In this life, I still question who I am, but through writing and submitting my works I have discovered what I am. I am a writer. That is what this place means to me, and I do have a certain amount of hesitation and reasonable expectation of regret that goes along with this decision.

But I have still made it, and will not be convinced otherwise. I have given it the amount of thought and reflection such a decision requires, and ask that this be respected. I do not want to talk about it. (I really do not.)

For all the moment's I've had in tempest, and the words that are said with this letter, the difference is this comes from a place of stillness. I am calm, I am at peace.

Goodbye, Chorrol.

Yours, Black Hand.

Don't leave!!! First mALX disappears, now you're leaving too?!