USMB Coffee Shop IV

[ChrisL]

We even wore "funny" clothes.........

So you do civil war reenactments?

Used to, many years ago before I started doing WWII. That is the last unit I was with, 4th US Regulars.
No, I'm not in any of the pictures.

Interesting! Union or Confederate?

 

[gallantwarrior]

You all are tough to follow sometimes, but definitely worth the read.
So...once upon a time, I had a job that required me to do research and write about it. One of my resources was the National Archives (the Library of Congress was another). Lately, I've been pondering the Constitution and decided to do a little reading about the men who penned that particular document. I found myself sidetracked, and fascinated, by the correspondence of John Adams, both with his wife, Abigail, and Thomas Jefferson. If one were to consider the influence Abigail had on John, they significance of her opinion on his policy, one might already consider that we had the first de facto female president of the United States. The second thing I noticed was that, regardless of sometimes acrimonious disagreement, respect and friendship can still remain the tantamount emotion in a relationship...such as Adams and Jefferson had throughout their entire association. Two "love affairs", if you will...

 

[Ringel05]

We even wore "funny" clothes.........

So you do civil war reenactments?

Used to, many years ago before I started doing WWII. That is the last unit I was with, 4th US Regulars.
No, I'm not in any of the pictures.

Interesting! Union or Confederate?

Uummmmm, blue........ and we're not talking 1st Manassass or Philippi..........

 

[Pogo]

Dropped a full wheelbarrow on my toe before I wised up and use steel-toed boots. Took a year to grow it back.

The wheelbarrow?

I thought he meant the boots.

 

[ChrisL]

We even wore "funny" clothes.........

So you do civil war reenactments?

Used to, many years ago before I started doing WWII. That is the last unit I was with, 4th US Regulars.
No, I'm not in any of the pictures.

Interesting! Union or Confederate?

Uummmmm, blue........ and we're not talking 1st Manassass or Philippi..........

And which side are you on when you do WWII reenactments? It must be kind of fun to play the bad guys sometimes. Lol.

 

[Nosmo King]

While most of the nation prepares for Trick-or-Treat tomorrow night, our city fathers have decided to delay Halloween until Saturday. Why? Because there is a high school football game scheduled for Friday night. The team is currently 0-9.

But, it did give the delivery guy an extra day to drop off what I'm supplementing the big bowl of Reese Cups with! This year I'm also giving out glow stick necklaces. I want those wee bairn to be safe on the streets and lighting them up with glow sticks is one way to make that happen.

Good idea, glow sticks, wish I would have thought of it...

Much better than letting kids eat candy or other edibles from unknown sources these days and nights.

The idea came from a local news report about a movement to provide non food items for kids with food allergies. They said if you paint a pumpkin teal green, it's an indicator to parents that you are giving out non food items.

But, in my world, painting a pumpkin teal, hell, even knowing what 'teal' is, is an indicator of deeper personal issues than should be discussed in the Coffee Shop!

I have a better idea, why don't the parents paint their food-allergic children teal green? That way, providers of yummie goodies would know when to turn the porch lights off and declare themselves in absentia. Teal and orange...really? Any decent, self-respecting person would know how badly those colors clash!

Just too damn many Shreks and Hulks and dinosaurs out there to tell the difference between a food allergy sufferer and a kid in green face paint.

Just think, they could have selected the color 'plaid'!

 

[Ringel05]

We even wore "funny" clothes.........

So you do civil war reenactments?

Used to, many years ago before I started doing WWII. That is the last unit I was with, 4th US Regulars.
No, I'm not in any of the pictures.

Interesting! Union or Confederate?

Uummmmm, blue........ and we're not talking 1st Manassass or Philippi..........

And which side are you on when you do WWII reenactments? It must be kind of fun to play the bad guys sometimes. Lol.

I started out Confederate, my brother in law got me into it and he was a Virginian. My last Confederate unit was the 27th Virginia, Stonewall Brigade before I took a couple of year hiatus. Joined the 4th US when I got back into reenacting, heck my family fought in the Iron Brigade.
Many of the guys in the 4th also did WWII, 2nd Gebirgsjager (mountain troops), was talked into doing that and liked it so much I eventually dropped doing any Civil War events. A year into doing WWII we found out I was a near twin for a Gebirgsjager General and suddenly I was a "part time" General........ My rank in the unit was Unteroffizier (Buck Sergent)

 

[Pogo]

This time of year always recalls an interesting day... it was almost exactly seven years ago...

I had been asked to evict the previous tenants of this old farmhouse. They had pretty well trashed the place inside and out, so I was commuting each day from Asheville with brooms and shovels and implements of cleanup. I'd bring water and a sandwich and go home at sunset. At one point I found a refrigerator for sale in Asheville, rented a truck and went to pick it up. The house didn't have electricity yet, but part of the prep.

Halfway there I stopped at a roadside flea market that had furniture out, and found a really nice supremely comfortable queen bed that I still have. And a couple of other items. And the guy who sold them to me looked exactly, I mean exactly in every detail, could have been a twin -- like Mahmoud Ahmedinijad. Except he had a thick Appalachian drawl.

Got the stuff to the house, got everything in, and it was late afternoon. I stopped and thought, I could take the truck back and call it a day but... I have a bed here now, have clean sheets over there, got some food and candles... I could spend my first night here and see what it feels like. OK, new adventure. I set up the bed, lit the candles, I'm munching my food, and by now it's pitch dark out and I'm grooving...

Suddenly BAM BAM BAM comes a knock on the door.

A knock on the door? Who even knows I'm here? Oh shit, they've come back to kill me. I should've brought a gun...

Well, better see what's up, I thought, adrenaline racing. I open the front door and...

...no one there.

Until I look down. It's a little girl and she says,

"TRICK OR TREAT!"

Arrggh. It's October 31st. And she's in costume.

"Oh, uh" I stammer. "I uh, I'm sorry, I just brought some things in and I uh, didn't know I was gonna be here and I forgot, uh I forgot that it was uh... that it was uh....."

She parks her hands on her hips and sneers, "that it was Hallowe'en?!?"



She had me cornered. What a faux pas. I had to send her away emptyhanded.
A surreal kind of day.

That girl's no doubt grown up too big to trick-or-treat by now but perhaps a black cat perched in a tree is an appropriate decoration should some of her younger siblings venture forth.

 

[ChrisL]

So you do civil war reenactments?

Used to, many years ago before I started doing WWII. That is the last unit I was with, 4th US Regulars.
No, I'm not in any of the pictures.

Interesting! Union or Confederate?

Uummmmm, blue........ and we're not talking 1st Manassass or Philippi..........

And which side are you on when you do WWII reenactments? It must be kind of fun to play the bad guys sometimes. Lol.

I started out Confederate, my brother in law got me into it and he was a Virginian. My last Confederate unit was the 27th Virginia, Stonewall Brigade before I took a couple of year hiatus. Joined the 4th US when I got back into reenacting, heck my family fought in the Iron Brigade.
Many of the guys in the 4th also did WWII, 2nd Gebirgsjager (mountain troops), was talked into doing that and liked it so much I eventually dropped doing any Civil War events. A year into doing WWII we found out I was a near twin for a Gebirgsjager General and suddenly I was a "part time" General........ My rank in the unit was Unteroffizier (Buck Sergent)

That must be a lot of fun.

 

[Tresha91203]

I was just looking at the little rectangular thingee stuck the front of my computer and marvel that it allows my computer to communicate 100% effectively with my wireless keyboard and mouse. And how I don't have a clue how it does that but what an amazing thing that is.

Radio frequency. One is a transmitter, the other is a receiver, and the transmitter sends RF signals to the receiver, most commonly in the 2.4GHz range.

Don't listen to him, Foxy. It's pixies, I tell ya!

 

[Ringel05]

Used to, many years ago before I started doing WWII. That is the last unit I was with, 4th US Regulars.
No, I'm not in any of the pictures.

Interesting! Union or Confederate?

Uummmmm, blue........ and we're not talking 1st Manassass or Philippi..........

And which side are you on when you do WWII reenactments? It must be kind of fun to play the bad guys sometimes. Lol.

I started out Confederate, my brother in law got me into it and he was a Virginian. My last Confederate unit was the 27th Virginia, Stonewall Brigade before I took a couple of year hiatus. Joined the 4th US when I got back into reenacting, heck my family fought in the Iron Brigade.
Many of the guys in the 4th also did WWII, 2nd Gebirgsjager (mountain troops), was talked into doing that and liked it so much I eventually dropped doing any Civil War events. A year into doing WWII we found out I was a near twin for a Gebirgsjager General and suddenly I was a "part time" General........ My rank in the unit was Unteroffizier (Buck Sergent)

That must be a lot of fun.

It was, expensive too....... To do it right ain't cheap, to do it wrong is to be ridiculed......

 

[Tresha91203]

When Hobbes comes down, show him a video of a hawk picking off a cat in a tree. Scared straight programs can work.

This particular tree is completely devoid of leaves and has no neighbor-trees. He couldn't possibly be more visible. And we have hawks and owls here constantly.

I swear... for as many times as that cat has stranded himself up in a tree, all I can figure is he either LIKES sitting up there, or he's too stupid not to climb up there again. But, my guess is one of these times it will end in tragedy. I was actually letting my cat out to walk around a little last winter, until I saw a massive hawk out here sitting very near in a tree. Was probably waiting for that tasty little LUNCH to walk out of the house. She doesn't go outside anymore.

Here's where he is -- that dot against the background of the sky.

Holy cow! Has he come down yet?

 

[blackhawk]

 

[007]

Oh, good news on the local weather tonight, they're predicting possible... now get this... SNOW FLURRIES for around here. It's already SNOWING in northern Wisconsin. This is why I could go to Alaska and feel right at home. The weather isn't all that much different.

 

[Pogo]

When Hobbes comes down, show him a video of a hawk picking off a cat in a tree. Scared straight programs can work.

This particular tree is completely devoid of leaves and has no neighbor-trees. He couldn't possibly be more visible. And we have hawks and owls here constantly.

I swear... for as many times as that cat has stranded himself up in a tree, all I can figure is he either LIKES sitting up there, or he's too stupid not to climb up there again. But, my guess is one of these times it will end in tragedy. I was actually letting my cat out to walk around a little last winter, until I saw a massive hawk out here sitting very near in a tree. Was probably waiting for that tasty little LUNCH to walk out of the house. She doesn't go outside anymore.

Here's where he is -- that dot against the background of the sky.

Holy cow! Has he come down yet?

No, but it's only Day One. Generally he does 3 or 4. But the last time he got himself down.

 

[Tresha91203]

When Hobbes comes down, show him a video of a hawk picking off a cat in a tree. Scared straight programs can work.

This particular tree is completely devoid of leaves and has no neighbor-trees. He couldn't possibly be more visible. And we have hawks and owls here constantly.

I swear... for as many times as that cat has stranded himself up in a tree, all I can figure is he either LIKES sitting up there, or he's too stupid not to climb up there again. But, my guess is one of these times it will end in tragedy. I was actually letting my cat out to walk around a little last winter, until I saw a massive hawk out here sitting very near in a tree. Was probably waiting for that tasty little LUNCH to walk out of the house. She doesn't go outside anymore.

Here's where he is -- that dot against the background of the sky.

Holy cow! Has he come down yet?

No, but it's only Day One. Generally he does 3 or 4. But the last time he got himself down.

He's on the list in my head. Parenting is tough. ♡

 

[Sarah G]

You all are tough to follow sometimes, but definitely worth the read.
So...once upon a time, I had a job that required me to do research and write about it. One of my resources was the National Archives (the Library of Congress was another). Lately, I've been pondering the Constitution and decided to do a little reading about the men who penned that particular document. I found myself sidetracked, and fascinated, by the correspondence of John Adams, both with his wife, Abigail, and Thomas Jefferson. If one were to consider the influence Abigail had on John, they significance of her opinion on his policy, one might already consider that we had the first de facto female president of the United States. The second thing I noticed was that, regardless of sometimes acrimonious disagreement, respect and friendship can still remain the tantamount emotion in a relationship...such as Adams and Jefferson had throughout their entire association. Two "love affairs", if you will...

There is an HBO series called John Adams that they play every year on the 4th of July. You may already know both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4. It's about 12 episodes long, it marathons all day and it's so good. The series stars Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney and in it his wife is depicted to be a very strong female and quite influential politically and personally. He was pretty dependant on her and expected her input.

They followed the period and I was reminded at one point that there was no such thing as general anesthesia if you needed an operation. Nothing perfected anyway.

You might be able to find it on Net Flix or Hulu. You should check it out. I have the book this series was based on by David McCullough too.

 

[Ernie S.]

It's Thursday!!! Been rather busy around here today. Toe is still sore. I called my foot doctor yesterday and wouldn't you know that they were closed on Wednesdays? I've been going to him for about 3 years now and I didn't know they were closed on Wednesdays. Anyway... I have an appointment with him on Monday afternoon. Right now the toe is infected so he called in a prescription for an antibiotic for me and I'll pick that up when the pharmacy calls to say it's ready. Have to soak the toe in Epson Salt twice a day until I see him on Monday. If it isn't infected he will most likely take the nail off on Monday. I sort of hate it. I mean, I've been growing it for 63 years and I've sort of grown fond of it. Hate to see it go. It being Thursday, Mrs. BBD is over at the neighbor's house quilting and will be there until around 4:00 or so. So, it's me and Taco, Nellie and Jingles - plus two house cats against the world today.

Been reading the posts. Interesting stuff here today. I've started putting together my Christmas list and will start my Christmas shopping pretty soon. Mrs. BBD has already reminded me that she isn't interested in anything from Victoria's Secret. I don't know why she wouldn't be. There's so many interesting things in that store. However, I rarely go in there any more because for some reason it makes my pacemaker speed up every time I go in there just to look. Also, the sales staff seem to get tired of me asking "What's that?" Guess this year I will buy Mrs. BBD's Christmas present at Farm and Fleet.

I worked maintenance at the Supermax prison in Boscobel for a little over two years. It was a pretty demanding job since everything we dealt with was either made of steel, concrete or both. But one time I smashed my finger nail good. Turned all black and swelled up, so went to the doc and he drilled a little hole in it to drain off the pressure. A few days later the nail was looking pretty funky so I went back to him. He was giving it a look and commented that it was about ready to come off, and with a quick, unexpected tug, he pulled it off. Didn't really hurt, but guess what... IT GREW BACK. So don't worry, pard, my bet is your toe nail will grow back too.

Common practice for me. If I manage to smash a finger so that blood builds up under the nail, I always use a very small drill bit to open the nail and let the pressure off. Magically relieves that pulsing, painful pressure.

A doctor once showed me an easier way. He reached in his desk drawer and pulled out a paper clip, straightened it out a bit and heated the end with a Bic lighter. He then poked a hole through the nail, literally like a hot knife through better. I've done it to myself a few times since.

 

[Pogo]

Oh, good news on the local weather tonight, they're predicting possible... now get this... SNOW FLURRIES for around here. It's already SNOWING in northern Wisconsin. This is why I could go to Alaska and feel right at home. The weather isn't all that much different.

Got snow in the forecast for Saturday here.

And I'll be gone to West Virginia where it'll be rain.
Ya can't win.

 

[Sarah G]

For the poor little trick or treaters tonight:

34°
LOW
Cloudy
Rain / Wind
Rain / Snow / Wind Early

I usually sit outside so I don't have to keep running to the door but it's gonna be too cold for that.