USMB Coffee Shop IV

[gallantwarrior]

Lowe's was all decorated for Christmas and playing Christmas music when I walked in on my way home. I had to stop in to get some glue traps to catch a poor little lizard...as I was coming out of my bathroom this morning, I saw him run under my bed. I wish that my son could have found and caught him to set free, but I'm not sharing my bed with a lizard.

Oh, and I will carve a jack-o-lantern, but I refuse to clean out the innards...that stuff gives me the willies.

In the Philippines we would have geckos in the house, running up the walls or on the ceiling. We had no problem with them as they ate bugs........ For us it was normal.

Yup, that's New Orleans too. They're handy; they eat cockroaches. And in New Orleans you need all the cockroach eaters you can get. It's fun to watch them stalk and strike.

In the islands we would hunt cockroaches with .22s........

I'm betting that was for sport, .22s being somewhat under powered for some types of roaches

 

[Foxfyre]

Checking in from beautiful downtown Roswell, NM........ Got here in a short 4 1/2 hours and was able to check into the hotel early. Grabbed some Jimmy Johns for lunch and we're now relaxing waiting to get ready for the interview this afternoon.

Let us know how it goes/went.

Okay, panel interview, two other applicants, both already in the system with specific knowledge of the job....... Getting the feeling the wife was interviewed to fulfill the legal requirements of interviewing x number of people for a specific job.
Now that doesn't mean she couldn't be considered for another position elsewhere in the state. We'll see.
BTW, that drive between Vaughn and Roswell is loooong........ even if it's only a little more than an hour.......

Having some personal experience and citing up close and personal experience of close family members, it is almost impossible to land one of the higher paying, higher level state or federal jobs unless you know somebody, and then that somebody has to have some clout . When we first moved to New Mexico we were assured by my BIL, a high level appointee under the immediate former governor, that the New Mexico government would hire according to merit. Merit would be determined by 1/3 experience and 2/3 scores on a proficiency exam. Hombre brought as much or more experience to the job as any other candidate applying for the position and he aced the exam--100% No other candidate scored higher than 90%. He never got a call.

We were subsequently advised by friends in high places that had my BIL still been in his position, Hombre would have been a shoe in. But without that connection. . . . .and that is true in essentially every state government and the federal government no matter who is in power. It isn't fair. But it is the way it is. Only way to get there other than via nepotism or cronyism is to go in at low level and gradually work your way up and even then there is a glass ceiling for those without connections. At least you can have some chances to establish some connections while working your way up.

But that road between Roswell and Vaughn is close to 100 miles with absolutely nothing in between. If you did it in a little over one hour, I bet there are cops out there still looking for you.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Good morning, everyone.

Last evening, a client of mine came by with some really outstanding whiskey, two small whiskey glasses and a big smile. He knew my dog very well. In fact, he often took care of the pooch for me when I was on business trips. He decided that it was not good for me to be alone last evening and so we drank a little whiskey, talked about the pooch, laughed (and cried) some and talked about archeology and great wines as well. He and his soon-to-be (I suspect) fiancee are doing a project together and I am helping them with the project. She is more beautiful than most models, just stunningly beautiful. And what a fine person, too.

It did me a lot of good. But by midnight I was so tuckered out, he said adieu and I fell asleep right on the couch. It's good to have good friends, they are worth gold. He is a semi-professional photographer on top of his real learned profession and had taken many pics of Klia, also with my daughter and he offered to make a really beautiful Photo-montage of el poocho for me. Cool.

Today is the day I visit my daughter. I was going to cancel (for the second time in 5 years) because the weather is just terrible today and where I visit her, I only get about 1 hour and 40 minutes to visit, but today, her mother needs her back 40 minutes early, so I would only see her for one hour and it's just totally illogical to pack her up in the car and drive home to my place: by the time we get here, we would need to drive right back. So, I usually just stay there and play with my daughter at one of many possible playgrounds, all of which she of course knows by heart. Wednesday is also ice-cream day for her (and me!), but it is storming like crazy right now. However, her mother just texted me that the little one is very upset about loss of pooch and really needs Papa right now, so I will definitely go and visit her. One of my clients, who is also a child psychologist, just telephoned with me and encouraged me to simply be there for her and be very honest, that that is exactly what kids want: honesty.

Kids and pets really are the best part of humanity, in my book.

Hope you all have a good day.

I just want to thank you for posting what is the best most real post that I have seen to date on this thread. I'll tell you statist that no matter the work involved no matter the timing making yourself available for people in life whether they need it or not can open the doors to things and opportunities that others don't get. The ability to help or influence another. Thank you for your post.

Thank you, natrualgas for the kind words.

BTW, the shortening of my name is not, I repeat, not "Statist", but rather, simply "Stat", if you wish.

I am in no way a statist. That's not my thing.

And the name refers to statistics and bulls (studs) in the German language.

Welcome to USMB.

Hengst = bull?

 

[Foxfyre]

View attachment 33144 View attachment 33145 View attachment 33146

Checked my two trail cams this morning and these are the critters I found on it. Couple of nice bucks and a pair of coyotes.

I think Santa is gonna bring us one of those this year.

Along with deer, raccoons, foxes, armadillos, possums and that squirrel academy pictured earlier, we have a bobcat who comes to visit. We get glimpses of him but I'd really like to see what goes on at night in our side yards. Our front yard is lake and the back yard is lake but we have a lot of traffic in the side yards.

Big Black Dog Any suggestions as to what we want to get? Anyone?

Speaking of armadillos, I have one nasty little creature that likes to visit often, and goes straight for my newly planted plants, and uproots them....I'd like to whop him on the head....

One well placed blast from a shotgun will take care of that.

Are armadillos good to eat?

Never tried one my gut instinct would be no.

Actually they are edible and properly prepared quite palatable. Sort of like high quality pork. I have read that there are areas of Mexico in which they are considered a delicacy and parts of South America where Armadillos are kept as edible pets.

The only problem is a suspicion--it isn't conclusive, but still only a suspicion--that Armadillos may be the only animal known to carry and transmit leprosy. So if you're going to eat one, I would suggest handling it with rubber gloves on and make sure the meat is thoroughly done.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Good morning everybody. Slept in again and it was good. Now enjoying my first cup of coffee and looking forward to a good day. Can you believe it is Wednesday again already? Was going to post a small camel here, but when I typed camel thumbnail photo into my browser to get one, I got links to all kinds of camel porn sites???????? Who would have thunk? So I didn't bother to keep looking but just imagine a thumbnail of a camel here.

<<<<<<small photo of sappy looking camel>>>>>>>>

(Since ads I see everywhere tend to reflect my browsing history, I'm almost afraid what will start coming up now.)

Sarah, I will take you off the vigil list for now and I am happy you're feeling so much better. But I will put you right back on whenever you need it.

And I too was moved by Stat's post.

And who knew that our very own Nosmo has been keeping us safe from forest fires all these years?

Tresha, I have been thoroughly enjoying your teaching on linguistics. Fascinating stuff.

And I related to your and Pogo's comments re the illiteracy of some in the family histories. I have dabbled quite a bit in genealogy and going through the old census records early in the 20th Century was fascinated to see all the various spellings of names of members of my family. I don't know if it was that the census takers were semi illiterate or whether whoever was providing the information didn't know how to spell the names.

But in these parts we're used to having pronunciations butchered:
Alamogordo correctly pronounced Ah-la-moe-GOURD-oh gets morphed into Allah-mah-gourd-ah.
Ruidoso correctly pronounced Rue-eee-DOH-so becomes Ria-doe-sah
And I won't even bother to explain how they mangle places like Tesuque and Pojoaque

More coffee. . . . .

You want some butchered pronunciations, come to Alaska...how do you pronounce "Tok"? Or try Tatitlek...

 

[blackhawk]

I think Santa is gonna bring us one of those this year.

Along with deer, raccoons, foxes, armadillos, possums and that squirrel academy pictured earlier, we have a bobcat who comes to visit. We get glimpses of him but I'd really like to see what goes on at night in our side yards. Our front yard is lake and the back yard is lake but we have a lot of traffic in the side yards.

Big Black Dog Any suggestions as to what we want to get? Anyone?

Speaking of armadillos, I have one nasty little creature that likes to visit often, and goes straight for my newly planted plants, and uproots them....I'd like to whop him on the head....

One well placed blast from a shotgun will take care of that.

Are armadillos good to eat?

Never tried one my gut instinct would be no.

Actually they are edible and properly prepared quite palatable. Sort of like high quality pork. I have read that there are areas of Mexico in which they are considered a delicacy and parts of South America where Armadillos are kept as edible pets.

The only problem is a suspicion--it isn't conclusive, but still only a suspicion--that Armadillos may be the only animal known to carry and transmit leprosy. So if you're going to eat one, I would suggest handling it with rubber gloves on and make sure the meat is thoroughly done.

I don't really think I will be chowing down on an animal that here is often referred to as an East Texas speed bump.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I got back about one hour ago from visiting my daughter. She saw me coming toward the Elementary School, took a running start, sprang into my arms with a force that almost knocked me over, hugged me, gave me a big old kiss and said "Papa, Du hast mir sehr gefehlt, Papa!" (Papa, I really missed you, Papa!"). Now, it's only been two days since I saw her, but the whole thing with the passing of our family dog really got to her and she was trying to tell me that she wanted to talk about it.

Since the weather was really nasty (Lord, it has turned really cold, really fast....brrr), we headed for the ice-cream cafe, but she didn't want ice-cream today. Instead, we ended up at a bakery with a sit-down area: she had a "Berliner" (jelly-filled) donut, I had one of the famous North-Rhein-Westfalian pretzels that are worth shipping overseas ( ) and some Cappucino. She was bound and determined to sit in my lap, munch her donut and be hugged by Papa. Glorious, just glorious it is to be a Papa.

After about 5 minutes, she then asked what happened on Monday with the pooch and I simply told her the timeline of how it all happened. She then asked if Klia is in doggy Heaven and I said that Klia is in a better place and waiting on us. The surprise for her was that I made a card for her with a picture of her and the pooch from just one month ago, on a Sunday where we were playing catch (she is learning baseball from Ami*-Papa!!!) and the dog was with us. In the card I wrote to my dear sweet daughter: "Klia now lives in our hearts, let's treat her well there".

It was a cathartic moment but good that it happened now. She needed closure of sorts and she needed to know that Papa is "ok".

She then did something totally unexpected. She turned around and asked me, in English (wow): "Papa, is it lonely at home now?" and I told her that yes, the place feels very empty, that is is up to us to fill "home" with our love and good deeds for others. She then drew a picture of Klia on the back of the card, thanked me for the card (which is not necessarily what 7-year olds do....) and then I took her back to her mother. On the way, I just kind of asked in a nonchalant way what she would think were we to stop by a dog kennel in the next months.... and she jumped for joy. Wait and see.

Now, that's a lot of personal information I am sharing, because I trust the CS crew here and it really does kind of reinvigorate my faith in humanity when I see my child (or any child, for that matter) respond the way mine did today.

She is learning to deal with loss in her own way. All I can do is to be at her side and love her, as I always have, and always will. Thanks for reading.

-Stat

*"Ami" is the German slang for "Amerikaner" (American).

Our children sometimes are far better connected to a special magic that seems to wear off of us as we grow older, more mature. Bless your daughter, and bless you, Stats.

 

[gallantwarrior]

It's videos like these that give me hope for the human race.

Embedded media from this media site is no longer available

Brilliant. Thanks.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Foxy,
If I might make a request for an addition to the prayer/good vibes list?
One of my students arrived late for a test this morning. He'd obviously been crying. He explained that his brother, a firefighter, had been involved in a gas explosion while answering a call. His brother has, at the least, a broken back, broken ribs, and burns over most of his body. Please include Sean's brother, Sean, and their family on the vigil list. Thank you.
I excused him from the test until he feels more up to the task.

 

[Ringel05]

Checking in from beautiful downtown Roswell, NM........ Got here in a short 4 1/2 hours and was able to check into the hotel early. Grabbed some Jimmy Johns for lunch and we're now relaxing waiting to get ready for the interview this afternoon.

Let us know how it goes/went.

Okay, panel interview, two other applicants, both already in the system with specific knowledge of the job....... Getting the feeling the wife was interviewed to fulfill the legal requirements of interviewing x number of people for a specific job.
Now that doesn't mean she couldn't be considered for another position elsewhere in the state. We'll see.
BTW, that drive between Vaughn and Roswell is loooong........ even if it's only a little more than an hour.......

Having some personal experience and citing up close and personal experience of close family members, it is almost impossible to land one of the higher paying, higher level state or federal jobs unless you know somebody, and then that somebody has to have some clout . When we first moved to New Mexico we were assured by my BIL, a high level appointee under the immediate former governor, that the New Mexico government would hire according to merit. Merit would be determined by 1/3 experience and 2/3 scores on a proficiency exam. Hombre brought as much or more experience to the job as any other candidate applying for the position and he aced the exam--100% No other candidate scored higher than 90%. He never got a call.

We were subsequently advised by friends in high places that had my BIL still been in his position, Hombre would have been a shoe in. But without that connection. . . . .and that is true in essentially every state government and the federal government no matter who is in power. It isn't fair. But it is the way it is. Only way to get there other than via nepotism or cronyism is to go in at low level and gradually work your way up and even then there is a glass ceiling for those without connections. At least you can have some chances to establish some connections while working your way up.

But that road between Roswell and Vaughn is close to 100 miles with absolutely nothing in between. If you did it in a little over one hour, I bet there are cops out there still looking for you.

One cop in an unmarked blew by me like I was standing still and I was doing 80........ He quickly disappeared from view.

 

[Mr. H.]

This is really neat, and it only happens this time of year.

The setting sun streams into the west-facing back porch window (streak on the floor), while at the same the sun reflects off the windows of the homes across the street and back into our east-facing front porch
window.

 

[Ringel05]

I deleted it. I'm discouraged by some of the backbiting in here recently, so I'm not going to give people a chance to target me.

Pretty sure the backbiting is a result of personal tension/stress some members are experiencing, there are some raw nerves most likely due to what's currently happening in their lives. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Truman123]

 

[007]

View attachment 33187

I'd have to say oxycodone and whiskey...

 

[Mertex]

View attachment 33144 View attachment 33145 View attachment 33146

Checked my two trail cams this morning and these are the critters I found on it. Couple of nice bucks and a pair of coyotes.

I think Santa is gonna bring us one of those this year.

Along with deer, raccoons, foxes, armadillos, possums and that squirrel academy pictured earlier, we have a bobcat who comes to visit. We get glimpses of him but I'd really like to see what goes on at night in our side yards. Our front yard is lake and the back yard is lake but we have a lot of traffic in the side yards.

Big Black Dog Any suggestions as to what we want to get? Anyone?

Speaking of armadillos, I have one nasty little creature that likes to visit often, and goes straight for my newly planted plants, and uproots them....I'd like to whop him on the head....

One well placed blast from a shotgun will take care of that.

Are armadillos good to eat?

Ewww.....I hear they carry leprosy.....I'd have to be starving and ew, no, not even then, could I eat armadillo.

 

[Noomi]

Haven't been here in awhile, hope all is well.

Had to get a new laptop cable yesterday as the old one broke. Hard not having a laptop for a day, I tell you!
Work is still the same old same old.
Am concerned about my darling friend. Apart from her irritating the hell out of me with her sullenness, I do hope nothing is wrong in her life.

Another friend graded to their green belt last Friday, which was well deserved. She has graded three times this year alone - a feat which for most students is near impossible.

This weekend I might head to the local showgrounds. Go on a few rides, get some showbags, take lots of pictures, see the circus. Its a once a year thing, like an annual fair, or fete, whatever you guys call it.

 

[Mertex]

View attachment 33144 View attachment 33145 View attachment 33146

Checked my two trail cams this morning and these are the critters I found on it. Couple of nice bucks and a pair of coyotes.

I think Santa is gonna bring us one of those this year.

Along with deer, raccoons, foxes, armadillos, possums and that squirrel academy pictured earlier, we have a bobcat who comes to visit. We get glimpses of him but I'd really like to see what goes on at night in our side yards. Our front yard is lake and the back yard is lake but we have a lot of traffic in the side yards.

Big Black Dog Any suggestions as to what we want to get? Anyone?

Speaking of armadillos, I have one nasty little creature that likes to visit often, and goes straight for my newly planted plants, and uproots them....I'd like to whop him on the head....

One well placed blast from a shotgun will take care of that.

I know....but we're not allowed to shoot guns in our sub-division.....I could kill him with my bear hands, he makes me so mad sometimes....

Maybe you should take up archery?

They have really tough shells.....I once hit one with a baseball bat and the damn thing bounced up in the air like a basketball. Besides, they only come out at night, kinda hard to aim at one in the dark from a distance.

 

[Grandma]

Are armadillos good to eat?

No. They carry leprosy.

 

[Mertex]

Haven't been here in awhile, hope all is well.

Had to get a new laptop cable yesterday as the old one broke. Hard not having a laptop for a day, I tell you!
Work is still the same old same old.
Am concerned about my darling friend. Apart from her irritating the hell out of me with her sullenness, I do hope nothing is wrong in her life.

Another friend graded to their green belt last Friday, which was well deserved. She has graded three times this year alone - a feat which for most students is near impossible.

This weekend I might head to the local showgrounds. Go on a few rides, get some showbags, take lots of pictures, see the circus. Its a once a year thing, like an annual fair, or fete, whatever you guys call it.

Good to hear from you Noomi....sorry to hear about your laptop cable breaking, glad you were able to get a replacement....I can't stand being without my computer...

 

[Foxfyre]

I deleted it. I'm discouraged by some of the backbiting in here recently, so I'm not going to give people a chance to target me.

Pretty sure the backbiting is a result of personal tension/stress some members are experiencing, there are some raw nerves most likely due to what's currently happening in their lives. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Yes, yesterday was just a bad vibes day for some I think with some real anger, hurt feelings, and honest opinion expressed. I suspect every one of us gets that way sometimes. And blessedly the storm blew over and we are able to love and empathize with those who need it, laugh with those who need it, hope with those who need it, joke with those who enjoy it, listen to those who have stuff to share, learn and ponder and wonder with those who are figuring stuff out. And everybody seems to have put the sand on everything else. Hey we're family. What can I say?