"Letters to Miss Emily..."

[RedDog]

Have to go to the store myself. Westerner Days (our summer fair, midway and chuckwagon races) opened today and I had my first of many pancake breakfasts downtown I can walk to. There's one to walk to every morning this week. I have groceries to get and have been putting it off but I'm going to have to drive out now with the parade over and downtown streets opened up again. I've walked and bicycled for so many years to the same two markets that I now find myself driving to my joint for lower prices even before my staff discount. It's worth the 10 km (6 mile) round trip to take the Smart car.

I drove a different female home last night after I saw her out in the dark for the bus previous night. That's another passenger not on the empty transit bus taking 40 minutes to get home.

[backhoe]

Have to go to the store myself. Westerner Days (our summer fair, midway and chuckwagon races) opened today and I had my first of many pancake breakfasts downtown I can walk to. There's one to walk to every morning this week. I have groceries to get and have been putting it off but I'm going to have to drive out now with the parade over and downtown streets opened up again. I've walked and bicycled for so many years to the same two markets that I now find myself driving to my joint for lower prices even before my staff discount. It's worth the 10 km (6 mile) round trip to take the Smart car.

I drove a different female home last night after I saw her out in the dark for the bus previous night. That's another passenger not on the empty transit bus taking 40 minutes to get home.

My favorite "empty mass transit story" is the monorail in Seattle. It was built for the World's Fair when they held it there to ferry people from downtown to The Space Needle. Very Avant Gard back in the day.

In modern times only two types of people rode it- all the old winos & homeless who prowled the downtown, and tourists who hadn't a clue...

You'd look up and see that car shuffle by in the air and there would be one tight knot of panicked faces staring out the windows- and the rest of the faces were grizzled, grinning old bums.

[RedDog]

Believe it or not and no kidding but I was there as a toddler. One of my grandmother's sisters moved from Wisconsin to Seattle as a young woman and to this day my mother has cousins in Auburn, Renton and Ferndale in the Seattle suburbs with their children and grandchildren scattered all about the area as well. There are photos of me in the Space Needle elevator in my dad's arms in 1962.

[backhoe]

Believe it or not and no kidding but I was there as a toddler. One of my grandmother's sisters moved from Wisconsin to Seattle as a young woman and to this day my mother has cousins in Auburn, Renton and Ferndale in the Seattle suburbs with their children and grandchildren scattered all about the area as well. There are photos of me in the Space Needle elevator in my dad's arms in 1962.

That's very interesting- the last time I was there was for depositions in 1983-84. I loved the city but even then it was being overrun by refugees from California who were fleeing what their failed liberal beliefs had done to that once fine state- and bound on inflicting them on Washington. I hear it's moonbat central now.

[Alec Bachlow]

What is "moon bat central"?.. I liked reading about 1962. Being born in 1950 I always know how old I was by the last digit of the year..I was 12..can't remember much about being 12. The clearest memory of being twelve was being 10 and standing at the back of the old white school house (that Ricky Masons the janitors son burned to the ground) and hearing my friends say "can't wait till I'm 12. This is the first time I had a look at the "Letters to Miss Emily" thread..it's like an on going novel..

The name "Emily" is what attracts the readers...It's the perfect name that carries a tone of the past...any way- I might drop by again and have a longer look..

[backhoe]

February, 2003... I was going to post the scan but photobucket is down for maintenance. If it comes back before I finish this I'll include it.

Where I'm trying to take you is “things change, and they vary.”

We are all so ephemeral here on this Brave New World of the http://WWW...

I thought that surely I had scanned and saved that image you see... it went from wherever it was in Emily's possessions to the eggcrate where I remembered seeing it last, to a box labeled “Memories of my Emily...”

Her bridal veil sits on the top of those things... it's white, and no, neither one of us were “virgins” when we swore those vows before a Priest & a Pastor & God & everybody else...

I'd been married before and Emily was, err, a “musician...” Church, Temple, Symphony... as she put it, “the only difference between us and Rock N' Rollers ( Regarding sex, drug use, likker, and general sleeze... ) is we dress better... “

I loved you, Miss Emily... I can't put it any plainer than that. You had a thousand faults ( Or a million- when you add them up on a poor Fallen Angel, who's counting? They are always... “Numerous- Yea, even too numerous to mention...” A hattip top my Dad, who told me the story so many years ago... )

Well, you really are “gone, forever, to the Sea...'

Or maybe you flew to the Sun, or mayhap you are just a pile of ashes that I buried in my back yard beside the remains of those dogs & birds that were our little children.

And all that is a dead, dead world falling away behind me as I speed to the Sun myself.

It's been a week since I sprung Miss MaryAnn from jail and I finally heard back from her- an email last night that she “was just tired,” and a phone call after I had rolled over on my good ear and gone to sleep.

I surely hate being old and half deaf & blind- I used to be so big & fast & strong... but what are you going to do? Somehow you rode the roller-coaster of life this far-- you had the good, you had the bad. You... “saw the elephant” a few times and you still really cannot describe it... you wrote some words here- and took some pictures there. You had what passes in this small corner of the World for fame & fortune & celebrity... a long time ago your name was something to swear by... or swear at.

It was nice while it lasted.. Then, it went away. And that is alright, too. I may be old & deaf & blind but as far as I can tell I will get to stand at the dawn for one more day... I hurt, I can't move like I used to- but even that is of no great matter.

I'm still standing. That is.... sufficient.

-30-

[backhoe]

What is "moon bat central"?.. I liked reading about 1962. Being born in 1950 I always know how old I was by the last digit of the year..I was 12..can't remember much about being 12. The clearest memory of being twelve was being 10 and standing at the back of the old white school house (that Ricky Masons the janitors son burned to the ground) and hearing my friends say "can't wait till I'm 12. This is the first time I had a look at the "Letters to Miss Emily" thread..it's like an on going novel..

The name "Emily" is what attracts the readers...It's the perfect name that carries a tone of the past...any way- I might drop by again and have a longer look..

Moonbat Central is where all the crazy people go- while I personally think of George Monbiot, a more general reference is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbat

Or here:

http://moonbattery.com/?p=9444



“Letters to Miss Emily...” was an offshoot of this:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=132035
“Miss Emily has died”

June 14th, 2010- and what do you do when your world comes crashing down and somehow you are still standing?

I'm still trying to find the answer to that question. I first asked it over 30 years ago when my first wife fell over dead in my arms.

And I am still searching for that answer...

-30-

[backhoe]

Been a slow day at The LazyR- we goofed around yard & house, I went shopping- stretched out with Cole to rest my eyes- and awakened to a classic southern squall. Thunder & lightning, driving rain, gale-force winds whipping through the open house. Naturally there was a bill for the mailman outside & my custom is to pin it upright in the open box so he will see it & stop- I knew I should have mailed it when I went out earlier.

I dress so lightly in hot weather that I dry fast- unfortunately the bill was soaked, so I set it in the freezer in the stream of dry air. By the time I was ready to go to Winn-Dixie later it still was damp so I sacrificed the stamped envelope to see if the check had run. Amazingly it had not so I blotted it & the bill, separated them with dry paper, and made out another envelope.

When I went shopping again I dropped it at the PO, like I should have done this morning- got some things Walgreen's does not carry.

The squall really cooled thing off but the temps are getting into the upper eighties now. Nevertheless I’ll try to get by just with fans and see how it goes this evening. It's not so much the $10 a month the AC appears to cost- that's not bad at all- but shutting our quarters off where I can't hear. Still, I can't rest well hot & sticky so we'll see.

Right before Emily died I started re-reading my old Holt, Rhineheart & Winston series of science-fiction books from my teen years- one of the few things left from my old house on the Sound. I started reading them under the right-side cluster of palm trees at my parents. Trying to regain my sight. That picture of Emily I posted here with the porcelain pull-chain fixture? That was my reading light. FYI:



I had read through most of them, then “events overtook me.” They are in that closet with the boxes of my & her memories, her stuffed animals, and so forth. I pulled one of those I had left to read and even though the series was mainly written for teenage boys they held up well to the ages- they aren't bad yarns to read as an old guy.

As I mentioned upstream, things change, and they vary. I like this new netbook a lot- maybe there was some residual taint on the old one from Emmy's use of it- but for whatever reason I just love the Hell out of this new Aspire One... but? I have a strange aversion to reading with the Kindle app on it- I loved doing that on the red Acer.

Likewise for a year & a half I'd call in a Chinese takeout and eat from it until it was gone- when they added 25 cents to it? It somehow changed that- I've gotten only two since then... I guess it's not the 25 cents so much as the change. Just the change.

The temps are dropping again so the fans are a go- I meant to use the core cleaner I found at Auto Zone on the truck today but I am going to let that slide and concentrate on shutting the LazyR and myself down for the evening.

There are times- like now- that I can look back on these last two years plus with some detachment, a little equanimity, and even a sense of accomplishment. No, I never wanted a journey like this- nor did I ever even dream of it. There's a lot scary about the future- but I ( And my canine kids ) have come a long way. Kicking and screaming through a fair amount of it, but coming nonetheless.

Ahead. Drive, he said...

-30-

[RedDog]

Likewise for a year & a half I'd call in a Chinese takeout and eat from it until it was gone- when they added 25 cents to it? It somehow changed that- I've gotten only two since then... I guess it's not the 25 cents so much as the change. Just the change.

I was to work way early the other day (a common thing when I plan around traffic nightmares) and sitting there in the car I was eyeing this new Five Guys joint on the lot. Washington DC based. Supposed to be good. Thing is, I don't do fast food anymore. My body doesn't agree with it and I'm healthier and fitting old cloths again. I had to put a new hole in a belt.

So I try it. A bacon cheese burger and small fries (I couldn't believe I was even doing it). Try $13. without a soda. I was able to eat half of it and about a dozen fries, but it was an excellent product - sauteed onions and such. However... at my break in two hours... expelled to put it politely. Like I said, the old body can't do the fat and salt anymore.

I noticed a couple months ago that the Chinese Buffet here that was always $7. at lunch and $9. at dinner is now also $13. I'm earning less money and prices are spiralling. I'm noticing that service industry wages are also dropping here. The math won't work. Back to soup, sandwiches and fruit at home.

[backhoe]

Likewise for a year & a half I'd call in a Chinese takeout and eat from it until it was gone- when they added 25 cents to it? It somehow changed that- I've gotten only two since then... I guess it's not the 25 cents so much as the change. Just the change.

I was to work way early the other day (a common thing when I plan around traffic nightmares) and sitting there in the car I was eyeing this new Five Guys joint on the lot. Washington DC based. Supposed to be good. Thing is, I don't do fast food anymore. My body doesn't agree with it and I'm healthier and fitting old cloths again. I had to put a new hole in a belt.

So I try it. A bacon cheese burger and small fries (I couldn't believe I was even doing it). Try $13. without a soda. I was able to eat half of it and about a dozen fries, but it was an excellent product - sauteed onions and such. However... at my break in two hours... expelled to put it politely. Like I said, the old body can't do the fat and salt anymore.

I noticed a couple months ago that the Chinese Buffet here that was always $7. at lunch and $9. at dinner is now also $13. I'm earning less money and prices are spiralling. I'm noticing that service industry wages are also dropping here. The math won't work. Back to soup, sandwiches and fruit at home.

We have a 5 guys here and Emily used to love takeouts from them- the problem I had was it was incredibly noisy- the kitchen is open to the cashier & dining area and I simply could not hear a thing over all that white noise. What you describe would have been about $5 here.

When I see a house brand bag of shredded cheese jump from $2.99 to $5.99 in a couple of months I know we have dollar devaluation, or inflation, or whatever you care to call it.

My real problem with Wok N' Roll is that I either have to remember to carry an extra quarter, or I'll get back 3 quarters that will buy virtually nothing. They should have jumped it to $9 even. Of course if they had, I would go there less- even getting 3 or 4 meals from one takeout that is pushing the cost to what I can fix myself.

I really haven't economized of eating as much as I should- call it an easy way to give myself a small treat. Even so, most of the fast food joints here have a reduced, $1 menu- you can get a basic meal pretty cheap if so inclined.

[backhoe]

Once again "the Kid" poked me up early and I decided to stay up, do the wash, back up hard drives, etc.
It's hard to believe he's middle-aged already- he'll be six come fall. I still call him "puppy..."

But that's life- what is even harder to believe is that while we were sleeping firefox installed yet another "update," changing once again how it looks. It is rapidly becoming a worthless piece of junk. When you combine its ever-changing appearance with its useless online "help," it's enough to make you switch to Chrome.

Yes, google is evil despite their smarmy slogan, but their browser's better than whatever it is that firefox is trying to evolve in to.

It make you long for Netscape 4.7...

[backhoe]

Tea Party member here. It's been a slow morning at the LazyR so I'm placing this here:

http://minx.cc/?post=331187

ABCNews: Gee, Sorry We Reported James E. Holmes Was a Tea Partier Without Having Confirmed It

Yup. Couldn't wait to make that connection.

By the way: There are 24 James Holmes located in Aurora, Colorado alone. Idiots, like Brian Ross, who find a record on Google but don't exclude the possibility it's another James Holmes are amateurs. Even I know better than that.

Pro-Tip: Your job is to find the James Holmes, not merely a James Holmes. I've got a page open with around 6000 James Holmes in the US. Several of them, I'm sure, are Occupiers.

A few of them might traffic the racist hate-site ABCNews!

Is that where James Holmes got his sick ideas from? Stay tuned.

The Brian Ross Experience: Iowahawk has studied the techniques of master news investigator Brian Ross -- 33rd degree black belt in looking things up on Google -- and is emulating him.

In his Twitter feed, IowaHawkBlog is posting every single mention of a "Brian Ross" he finds in public records.

Hey, This Must Be Rush Limbaugh's Fault: So sayeth the genius lefties on Twitter, complied by Twitchy.

Posted by: Ace at 12:06 PM

42 Well we all knew this was gonna happen, didn't we? They keep HOPING that one of these times they will be right, and then they can condemn the whole movement because of that one person.

Of course, we are not allowed to judge an entire religion based on a few "confused" suicide bombers all over the world, because that would be wrong....

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, TX

Links at the source. Of course it's Rush's fault. Or BOOOSH! Or...

[backhoe]

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

Yep- so it is...

http://minx.cc/?post=331202

Let's set aside the "obviously insane" conclusion for now [Fritzworth]

One would think we have learned nothing from the 20th century...

[backhoe]

And just for the sheer deviltry of it?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/833678/posts?q=1&;page=6751





But on a more serious note?

[backhoe]

For more of THEG's bad attitude? Go here:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/833678/posts?page=7330#7330