USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Gracie]

Meanwhile...it is 94 degrees in this hell hole. I am so eager to go back home to the beach.

91 here at this hour which is pretty normal, even a bit mild for June in Albuquerque.

Just whacked my hair. It was finally back down to my waist. Now it is a tad below my shoulder. Gonna cut it more tomorrow. Too damn hot here for long hair.

 

[Foxfyre]

Meanwhile...it is 94 degrees in this hell hole. I am so eager to go back home to the beach.

91 here at this hour which is pretty normal, even a bit mild for June in Albuquerque.

Smelling the fire that was in the Bosque just south of Central Ave.

And both Angel Fire and Eagle Nest were being evacuated this afternoon. That breaks my heart because that is such a beautiful area with such strong personal connections for me and my family..

 

[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,
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.

June 3 is repeat day. I said June 3 is repeat day.

 

[Nosmo King]

There is a tradition here in East Liverpool of 'Shop Dogs'. Small businesses folks would take their dogs to work every day. I don't know if calling it "a tradition here in East Liverpool" is fair because the human/dog love affair spans the ages. So it's a natural thing in our culture to find a fuzzy face and wagging tail in anyone's business. I like it.

There was Lexy who held court at Don Ekert's Camera Mart down on Market a block and a half down from The Diamond, East Liverpool's Times Square. Lexy was a big ol' Beagle Labrador mutt. Larry Walton was the owner of Lexy and the Camera Mart, not Don Ekert. Don went to war in the Pacific and got shot down in The Solomons.

When I was going to the Camera Mart doing errands on the high school newspaper, The Keramos Echo, Lexy would spring to her paws and wiggle her way beside you so you could rub her ears and scratch her crown. Ten years later, when I was having snapshots processed from Mom and Pop's Silver Anniversary party, Lexy struggled to her paws and slouched over, still eager to have her ears rubbed.

Ed Klein was a tax accountant who had a terrier mix named Josh. Josh was walked everyday up and down the sidewalks of St. Clair Avenue. It is typical of the steep streets here in the upper Ohio River valley and so Josh's legs were ripped! Josh met his end on that very St. Clair Ave. when he dashed out into traffic and was caught by a Buick.

Ed was despondent as any dog owner would be. But, Ed found another terrier mix and named him Josh again. Ed was George Foreman before Mr. Forman decided to name all his sons George. But Josh II was a mean dog. I recall sitting in Ed's office one Spring while Josh sat in his dog bed sneering and moaning if I happened to lean forward and sign anything.

The woman who is the office manager at the cemetery Pop lays enriching the soil has a sweet Bison Frishese (spell check is baffled and I don't feel like googling 'frishese').

The little ball of white fuzz named Maggie would pose and sit up while ensconced in her red plaid dog bed. I remember because plaid is my favorite color. When doing something like cemetery business, it's a comfort to have a friendly dog at hand.

Now, if I were a betting man, I'd bet that every town, large and small had businesses with dogs doing what dogs do best right there beside their masters. I can't imagine that not happening in New York or New Philadelphia (a real place just sixty miles or so southeast of here). People just love their dogs and vice versa. It's just what we do.

 

[Foxfyre]

Meanwhile...it is 94 degrees in this hell hole. I am so eager to go back home to the beach.

91 here at this hour which is pretty normal, even a bit mild for June in Albuquerque.

Smelling the fire that was in the Bosque just south of Central Ave.

And both Angel Fire and Eagle Nest were being evacuated this afternoon. That breaks my heart because that is such a beautiful area with such strong personal connections for me and my family..

Update: that earlier newscast got it wrong. Neither Eagle Nest or Angel Fire were evacuated but both were offering refuge from those in the Philmont and Cimmaron areas who were. Darn media, you can't believe anything they tell you these days.

But it is still devastating for the areas that burned. The Philmont Boy Scout Ranch is such a beautiful area and was really ravaged by the fire losing several buildings. And the Cimarron area is one of those amazing places like no other, and for it to be blackened is just heart breaking.

Hopefully the good rains we got Sunday will knock down the fire danger for a few days. We are still a month away from when we can expect our summer monsoon season with higher humidity and more moisture to begin.

 

[Foxfyre]

There is a tradition here in East Liverpool of 'Shop Dogs'. Small businesses folks would take their dogs to work every day. I don't know if calling it "a tradition here in East Liverpool" is fair because the human/dog love affair spans the ages. So it's a natural thing in our culture to find a fuzzy face and wagging tail in anyone's business. I like it.

There was Lexy who held court at Don Ekert's Camera Mart down on Market a block and a half down from The Diamond, East Liverpool's Times Square. Lexy was a big ol' Beagle Labrador mutt. Larry Walton was the owner of Lexy and the Camera Mart, not Don Ekert. Don went to war in the Pacific and got shot down in The Solomons.

When I was going to the Camera Mart doing errands on the high school newspaper, The Keramos Echo, Lexy would spring to her paws and wiggle her way beside you so you could rub her ears and scratch her crown. Ten years later, when I was having snapshots processed from Mom and Pop's Silver Anniversary party, Lexy struggled to her paws and slouched over, still eager to have her ears rubbed.

Ed Klein was a tax accountant who had a terrier mix named Josh. Josh was walked everyday up and down the sidewalks of St. Clair Avenue. It is typical of the steep streets here in the upper Ohio River valley and so Josh's legs were ripped! Josh met his end on that very St. Clair Ave. when he dashed out into traffic and was caught by a Buick.

Ed was despondent as any dog owner would be. But, Ed found another terrier mix and named him Josh again. Ed was George Foreman before Mr. Forman decided to name all his sons George. But Josh II was a mean dog. I recall sitting in Ed's office one Spring while Josh sat in his dog bed sneering and moaning if I happened to lean forward and sign anything.

The woman who is the office manager at the cemetery Pop lays enriching the soil has a sweet Bison Frishese (spell check is baffled and I don't feel like googling 'frishese').

The little ball of white fuzz named Maggie would pose and sit up while ensconced in her red plaid dog bed. I remember because plaid is my favorite color. When doing something like cemetery business, it's a comfort to have a friendly dog at hand.

Now, if I were a betting man, I'd bet that every town, large and small had businesses with dogs doing what dogs do best right there beside their masters. I can't imagine that not happening in New York or New Philadelphia (a real place just sixty miles or so southeast of here). People just love their dogs and vice versa. It's just what we do.

I am a fan of the A&E long running show "Project Runway" where clothing designers compete for a very nice prize over the course of several weeks. And once they get their assignments, they usually visit a NYC fabric store called "Mood".

The proprietor of that place has an English bulldog who has the run of the place though he seems to be pretty sedentary. His name is "Swatch." I love that. And after reading your anthology this morning, it now occurs to me that this must be a northeastern thing, i.e. taking your dogs to work. I love the notion so long as they are safe and cared for there. Much better than leaving them home alone or boarding them.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I just did a google search for a book I have about martyrs by John Foxe. I saw the third volume of 1684 which I have, and it was priced at £850 But I have all three volumes. But volumes one and two are from the 1632 edition.
I wonder what it is all worth. Whatever its worth I am bound to make a profit if I sell it because I only paid ten pounds for the 1684 volume.

I KNEW THERE WAS MONEY IN OLD BOOKS.

The reason there is money in antiquarian books is that most book sellers have no idea what they are worth.
So if you see a big old book in a secondhand book shop and it has the letter F in place of the letter S it means its printed before 1800 and may be worth something. It helps if you can read roman numerals because they are usually dated in numerals not numbers. There are a lot of old bibles around and most of them are not worth anything, but some are very valuable and its worth knowing which ones.

I've collected several old atlases. Places that don't even exist any longer are depicted. They're more history now than a reference for places.

 

[gallantwarrior]

This whole town is nothing BUT hoarders. Everyone I have met...they all are hoarders. I have not gone in ONE house that is not full of crap with tunnels and paths through shitloads of junk. Not one. And this town does not have any ordinances that I know of..or are enforced, because all have crap in the front yards too. The rich section of town...it is intermingled with crappy trailer trash looking homes that aren't even trailers although the majority of homes here ARE trailers. I swear..I have never seen the like. Northern Cali is so very different than central or southern cali.

Some of us have known that for a long time. But it doesn't seem to be an improvement, does it?
How ya doin', Gracie!? I think about you often, especially now that summer is here and all is green and gold. My chickens are doing a great job keeping the mosquitoes under control. Sitting outside is actually pretty pleasant when you are not passing for the local blood sucker smorgasbord.

 

[Nosmo King]

I just did a google search for a book I have about martyrs by John Foxe. I saw the third volume of 1684 which I have, and it was priced at £850 But I have all three volumes. But volumes one and two are from the 1632 edition.
I wonder what it is all worth. Whatever its worth I am bound to make a profit if I sell it because I only paid ten pounds for the 1684 volume.

I KNEW THERE WAS MONEY IN OLD BOOKS.

The reason there is money in antiquarian books is that most book sellers have no idea what they are worth.
So if you see a big old book in a secondhand book shop and it has the letter F in place of the letter S it means its printed before 1800 and may be worth something. It helps if you can read roman numerals because they are usually dated in numerals not numbers. There are a lot of old bibles around and most of them are not worth anything, but some are very valuable and its worth knowing which ones.

I've collected several old atlases. Places that don't even exist any longer are depicted. They're more history now than a reference for places.

Burma, British Honduras, Belgian Congo and Brigadoon?

 

[gallantwarrior]

Hot today, 68F!! I almost decided to sleep in the car with the ac running. At least the house stays nice and cool. I have determined that my two turkeys are far more productive than any of the hens. Each turkey lays an egg a day, and one of them is "broody". I'll have to trick her by putting fake eggs into the nest next time she comes out to eat. I'll build a nest box this weekend and see whether I can convince her to lay her clutch in that.
This so-called power system installed by my partner sucks. I'm setting up a meeting with a company that designs the things for real next week. We have most of the major components, just need actual solar batteries and an idea of how to properly wire things together.
I got a refresher course in dealing with a hoarder this past weekend. I've been loading junk onto the trailer to take to the dump. I'm cleaning three different places, including here in Willow. I've been stacking stuff to go since last summer. One of the items included is an old charcoal grill. It's rusted out, the wooden slats are rotted, the legs are falling off, and as I dragged it to the trailer, a wheel fell off. Well, rule #1 for hoarders is: never let them see you dragging their precious treasures away. Rule #2: if they see you, don't ask them to help you load it. I asked and was...well, rebuffed is a polite description,. I waited until he was busy elsewhere and loaded it myself, buried it under several bags of trash and other stuff, pulled a tarp over the whole thing and strapped it down. I came back the next morning and that grill is now piled over in the treeline. Guess I'll have to wait until he goes back to work, after his vacation is over...

I've heard that hoarding is actually a mental illness and that these people cannot help themselves from hoarding. So, you will go through all of this trouble to clean up and within as little as a few months' time, these people will have started "collecting" more things. They are apparently people who have a mental illness severe enough that it interferes with their lives and their health.

That's why, after rooming with my partner for about a year and a half, I bought myself that travel trailer and moved out. There's more to that whole story, of course, but I'll leave that alone for now. I cleaned the place up when I moved in; installed new floors, paper and painted the walls, mowed the yard and bought a gazebo for the hot tub. It didn't take very long for the yard to be filled up with junk again. I've mentioned before that my partner turns out to be a passive-aggressive type personality, too. Passive-aggressive is apparently such a successful coping mechanism that even if the "sufferer" admits they have the problem, there are few know successful ways to break them of the action. He was able to mask this initially, at least until we had started a business and bought property together. I wonder now whether there might be a link between the passive-aggressive personality and hoarding? I'm dreading the time when we finally get around to selling the house in Anchorage.

Have you ever watched the TV series on I think A&E "Hoarders"? The gist is that loved ones of the person overwhelmed by his/her obsessive compulsive hoarding employ a team of experts to deal with it. (If the process is televised, presumably A&E pays all the fees and expenses.) The team works with the hoarder who agrees to allow them to clean the place up. Several truckloads of junk, trash, garbage will be removed from the home, sometimes which is extremely stressful for the hoarder but with counseling they allow it. Invariably the owner is then thrilled with his clean, presentable home.

They always have a postscript at the end of the show reporting how the person is doing weeks or months later. Some have managed to stop their hoarding compulsion. Others they sadly report that the home is filling up again.

I've never seen the show, but I've heard of it. Since the partner's place has been cleaned a couple of time (by ME), and has always reverted to being a hoarder's dump, I doubt my partner will ever become human. Now, he's started converting the Willow place into a dumping ground. I absolutely despise living like this. Every piece of junk has potential, he can fix it, he can! The charcoal grill is a great example. It's rusted, rotted, and falling apart. We have a nice propane grill now that he's agreed is a lot more efficient and easier to use. But he can weld a patch, cut some wood strips...etc, etc. But why? We only need one grill. It's not like we have loads of friends visiting. No one who's been here wants to come again. How much fun is it, witnessing one partner bullying the other. And Mr. Passive-Aggressive loves to make drama for the company.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Today's homework: There are three people in this photo. Can you find all three?

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby!

 

[ChrisL]

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,
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.

June 3 is repeat day. I said June 3 is repeat day.

Oooo. That is a really pretty picture.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Meanwhile...it is 94 degrees in this hell hole. I am so eager to go back home to the beach.

Your 94 equals our 68! Hotter than the hubs of hell for us. I just want to nap in my air conditioned car.

 

[ChrisL]

Today's homework: There are three people in this photo. Can you find all three?

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby!

Oh, now that you said that, I can see the baby in the outline of the trees. How cool!

 

[ChrisL]

Meanwhile...it is 94 degrees in this hell hole. I am so eager to go back home to the beach.

91 here at this hour which is pretty normal, even a bit mild for June in Albuquerque.

Just whacked my hair. It was finally back down to my waist. Now it is a tad below my shoulder. Gonna cut it more tomorrow. Too damn hot here for long hair.

You could always wear your hair up. That's what I do when it's really hot. I am so used to my hair scarf that when I wear it up, I sometimes feel chilly because my neck is exposed. Lol.

 

[Foxfyre]

Today's homework: There are three people in this photo. Can you find all three?

By the way, once you see the baby, it is difficult to see anything else.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I just did a google search for a book I have about martyrs by John Foxe. I saw the third volume of 1684 which I have, and it was priced at £850 But I have all three volumes. But volumes one and two are from the 1632 edition.
I wonder what it is all worth. Whatever its worth I am bound to make a profit if I sell it because I only paid ten pounds for the 1684 volume.

I KNEW THERE WAS MONEY IN OLD BOOKS.

The reason there is money in antiquarian books is that most book sellers have no idea what they are worth.
So if you see a big old book in a secondhand book shop and it has the letter F in place of the letter S it means its printed before 1800 and may be worth something. It helps if you can read roman numerals because they are usually dated in numerals not numbers. There are a lot of old bibles around and most of them are not worth anything, but some are very valuable and its worth knowing which ones.

I've collected several old atlases. Places that don't even exist any longer are depicted. They're more history now than a reference for places.

Burma, British Honduras, Belgian Congo and Brigadoon?

Brigadoon didn't show up in any of them, although Africa has changed a great deal over the years.

 

[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,
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.

June 3 is repeat day. I said June 3 is repeat day.

Oooo. That is a really pretty picture.

It comes from an on line collection of the world's most beautiful gardens.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Wow! Just...wow! I cannot express how depressed and demoralized I am right now. The partner took a month off and is starting his third week of vacation out here. He was supposed to get the footings done for the barn and we were supposed to raise the frame and set the roof trusses. Well, he's finished four of 24 footings, the backhoe is still inoperative and all the goats are now in one small fenced enclosure because no new fencing has been installed. In other words, he's done pretty much nothing and has informed me that we might have half the barn up by the end of summer. I'll spare you all the names I was called yesterday when I griped about having to pick up empty drink containers and snack wrappers scattered all over the place. I'm just tired and burned out with caring and trying. Any suggestions (legal and moral) will be welcomed. How do I deal with this type of slovenly adversity? I know how Gracie feels, faced with a mess on every lawn, at every corner. Help!
Oh, and add to that the fact that Jim Croce's "Cat's Cradle" has become my theme song because my daughter is busy and has little time to chat like we used to...

 

[Gracie]

Wow! Just...wow! I cannot express how depressed and demoralized I am right now. The partner took a month off and is starting his third week of vacation out here. He was supposed to get the footings done for the barn and we were supposed to raise the frame and set the roof trusses. Well, he's finished four of 24 footings, the backhoe is still inoperative and all the goats are now in one small fenced enclosure because no new fencing has been installed. In other words, he's done pretty much nothing and has informed me that we might have half the barn up by the end of summer. I'll spare you all the names I was called yesterday when I griped about having to pick up empty drink containers and snack wrappers scattered all over the place. I'm just tired and burned out with caring and trying. Any suggestions (legal and moral) will be welcomed. How do I deal with this type of slovenly adversity? I know how Gracie feels, faced with a mess on every lawn, at every corner. Help!
Oh, and add to that the fact that Jim Croce's "Cat's Cradle" has become my theme song because my daughter is busy and has little time to chat like we used to...

Get out of the partnership if you can. I'm sorry, GW. I know exactly how you feel. But if this hoarder called me names..I would be out of here immediately and he would be picking up his teefers to boot.