From the time I left the parking lot of my condo at 8:45am until 6:00pm when I returned home, I encountered an amazing amount of aggressive drivers. Three cars in front of me making a U-Turn on a red light. New law? I can wait for the turn arrow. Thanks.
Getting cut off in the parking lot leaving a gas station and that driver runs a red light.
I'm in the middle lane of the turnpike and watching cars on the left of me zoom in front to get into the right lane cutting off cars that were cutting off cars trying to merge onto the turnpike. Shit like this all day!
Of course... it's Friday and a FULL MOON...
Every Thanksgiving, I get invited to my ex-wife's family Thanksgiving dinner and every year, I get elected to carve the turkey. This year was no different. The turkey was smaller than usual probably because they had spiral cut ham and traditional jerk chicken.
Yeah.... jerk chicken for thanksgiving.
In the past, when I sliced the turkey, I did so in even slices. It went different this time and did more of a 'Boston Market' random cuts. they must have liked it as the plate was empty after 20 minutes.
At least 25 people showed up and more were arriving when I was leaving at sundown.
I got to see a sister-in-law who doesn't come to family gatherings very often as she lives a few hundred miles away. It must have been ten years... wow, that long?
We chatted for a while and I gave her the update to my side of the family. She's been living with a boyfriend going on 20 years now and they recently bought a house together.
Some people prefer not to be married and it appears to be working for them.
I took home a plate of food and still have a few cuts of the chicken. I will finish that off tomorrow!
Somewhere around 1974 I came off the road as a traveling musician. Starving musician at that. I ignored a cavity on a molar that was so bad it required a root canal. General dentists did root canals in the 70's and my mother had me go to her dentist, who was trained while in the military. The guy was good and I was a client/patient until he retired and sold the practice to another dentist.
Most molars have 3 canals. I happened to have 4 on that tooth. I remember going several visits to have the work done, including the one where he used various reamers to get the pulp out and to verify he hit the bottom of each canal by checking without Novocaine. Silver reinforcing pins were inserted and a huge amalgam filling rest in the middle. Over the years, pieces would chip off the top and sides. I lost count but more than 15 dentists have been in my mouth in the 47 years and all recommended a crown.
Enough of the tooth came off and I was forced to crown it. So I got with one dentist who came as a referral. His work wasn't to my liking as food always trapped between the teeth and gum. If I didn't floss it quickly there would be a chance the gum would bleed. I had him make adjustments but nothing worked. I never returned.
A few years later, I met a dentist who did some work I liked and I asked she could replace the crown I disliked so much. The answer was yes and the size and shape of the replacement crown was correct.
The area was always sensitive and I had some issues dating back a year with swelling. Antibiotics worked at first and 6 months later the trouble returned. Now I'm up to an endodontist who's quick analysis says the tooth needs to come out. To be sure I get a 3D x-ray as he suspects there are cracks in the root that cannot be repaired.
On recommendation from an insurance agent, I tried another dentist who sent me to an endodontist who (unlike the first) specializes in root canal repairs that also includes removal of infected tissue around the tooth. Another 3D x-ray and he shows me a darkened area that is visible in the normal x-rays and greatly enhanced in the dimensional one. He can repair the cracked tooth but the bone is deteriorated to the point where I'll always have trouble. That confirms I need to have the tooth extracted.
Switching gears, I'm now going to a periodontist on a 'first available' appointment.
I'm not in pain... yet. The effects of the antibiotic last week is wearing away and it feels like something is trapped between my teeth. His office will be getting my x-rays and 3D CT scan so he'll have an idea of the situation before I arrive. His office said it's possible to do an extraction, bone graft and implant on the same day... I suppose that depends on what he finds when #19 comes out!
Maybe you remember the 1960's teen sensations The Monkees. They were 4 guys who played music, sang and acted. Originally contrived by Columbia Screen Gems and Don Kirshner, The Monkees responded to an ad in Variety Magazine.
They had some talent to play instruments, but studio musicians played on their recordings for the first few albums. It's reported Jimi Hendrix was hired for live performances (that later proved to be a failure) as pre-teens couldn't get into his music.
Davy Jones, died of a heart attack at age 66 in 2012, leaving 3 Monkees
Peter Tork died of cancer at the age of 77 in 2019, leaving 2 Monkees
Michael Nesmith died December 10, 2021 of naturel causes at the age of 78.
That leaves, Micky Dolenz as the only surviving member of the band.
Hey, hey, he's one Monkee...
The level of hate for one CS member had been building for a while and reached saturation by the end of summer. My thought is "If you don't like someone here, avoid their blogs" but that didn't happen. What did happen was a handful of haters followed him around and picked at his blogs like vultures, forcing him to delete their comments and locking his blogs while he was away.
Several members had wished he was gone and it appears their wishes were granted.
A few days ago in the middle of the night, the axe swung and he was gone... and so were a few other members including one who appeared most vocal in complaints about him.
I call that Collateral Damage or injury inflicted on something other than an intended target.
It doesn't matter who you know or how popular you are here. We are all guests and have some basic rules to follow.
The Florida Wildlife Federation is sending out educational signs about the Gopher Tortoise, a land animal known to dig long and deep burrows. People have confused them with sea turtles and placed them in canals where they drown as Gopher Tortoises don't swim.
Lots of stores about the Gopher Tortoise, link to one here:
Taught by a successful salesman I learned not to talk about Religion or Politics with clients.
Whenever they try to bring things up that are taboo, I steer the conversation away.
Design and price are the reasons for the meeting.
One of the strangest clients lingered on politics in the first meeting. After, I Googled their name to find a Facebook page with photos of them in costumes performing some odd bondage acts.
I priced the job considerably higher than it should have been. A week later the contractor notified me. They went with another cabinet company! Good.
Two rules. No Religion and no Politics.
I'm revising that to include a third rule. Nothing... not a word about the wife's looks.
I went to one appointment and the guy had a 'trophy wife' with stunning looks like a fashion model. I could see he was waiting for me to say something.
Sorry... no can do and that's a rule.
Witnesses reported a nearly submerged car in the Niagara River near the falls. It's believed it went in near a pedestrian bridge as it's snowing in New York and the roads are slippery.
The car was out of range for the State Park rescue team and they used a drone to determine the vehicle was occupied.
The Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter and lowered a rescue swimmer who was able to enter the car and pull out the only occupant, a woman who was motionless while being hoisted up to the helicopter.
Help came too late, the woman died.
After the rescue, emergency crews prepared to pull the car from the water and investigators will try to determine if the vehicle entered the water by accident or intentionally.
Link to news story:
The Mellotron is a musical instrument developed in England in 1963. It consists of a piano-style keyboard with recording tapes instead of strings. Each tape has several 'voices' so you can switch from sounds. Flute, human voice are some that I recall.
When you press a key, the play head runs along the tape and you hear the sound of that note. So if the Mellotron has 36 notes, there are 36 tapes, one for each note.
Unfortunately the tapes aren't endless. You only get 8 seconds before the tape ends. At that point, you have to lift the key a second for the tape head to retract and you can play the note again.
I recall there was an issue with Mellotrons and the musicians union as the recording studios who had Mellotrons didn't need to hire real musicians every time an artist wanted to add a track where the Mellotron had that voice on the tape. Want a violin to play a short solo? Use a Mellotron. Need 10 singers in a chorus? Use a Mellotron.
Here is a demo with explanation of the inner mechanism.
I rarely lose things. But it's highly possible I could misplace something for years.
Right now, it's 2 things on my list.
The first, I paid $250 for a dimensional dental x-ray they put on CD for me that I need for an upcoming appointment with the endodontist. They handed it to me and left the office and went directly to my car. It's not in the passenger seat and it didn't make it to my attache.
The other is a special 22.2 volt model aircraft battery. I had 2 and this past summer, I retired one model that uses them. I brought it back into my lineup 2 weeks ago. Unable to find the original 2 batteries I bought 2 more. Nowhere to be found, I've been looking in tool boxes, along with other standard 11.1 volt batteries and maybe... just maybe they are in a plastic case that slipped under the seat of my car.
If I'm lucky, I'll find them along with the CD.
(Note to self: Get a plan to organize things)
Every driver knows that blocking a fire hydrant could get you a ticket. In some states the fine is more than $110.
That doesn't appear to phase BMW drivers as they've become daringly notorious for parking near (and sometimes blocking) hydrants. The risk of a ticket would be nothing to someone who drives a vehicle valued at more than $100,000.
If you've seen a fire hose filled with water, it resists bending and at times unyielding. Therefore the connection to the hydrant is as direct as possible without curves or kinks. In an emergency, firefighters don't have time to play with BMW drivers blocking hydrants and they have been known to bust through side windows so they can get a 'straight shot' connection to the blocked hydrant.
Does this send out a message to a BMW driver (or any other driver) who blocks a fire hydrant? You betcha!
Okay, so it's a Series 5 at $50,000.
The BMW aHOLE mentality is still the same.
Story link:
I saw a story tonight where a couple were on vacation. He went off with family and she stayed behind. He allowed her to borrow his laptop because she didn't bring hers on the trip. She decided to create a folder with her name only to find one already there. Going through the folder she realizes he did background checks on her and her family prior to their marriage. When confronting him about it (in front of his family) he didn't think it was a big deal.
"She was horrified to find out just how extensive the background check was."
Angry, hurt she refused to discuss it in private and spent that night in a hotel. They cut the vacation short.
The woman posted an anonymous thread on the site called Reddit to get responses.
While some thought it was okay others thought it went into the 'creepy zone' that he also investigated her family. Some agreed she was right to be upset.
The story was picked up on Yahoo and some of the comments were all too real.
Typically 180 degrees of each other:
1) I support background checks. My friend's mom experienced domestic violence with her ex. She called the cops and went through the legal system. All to find out he had MULTIPLE arrests for domestic violence in the past. You can never be too careful.
2) In this present time, if I was getting interested in a woman, I would do a background check on her. You'll never know if there is something to be worried about unless you do it.
3) The wife was "hurt about the background check" and then "angry because she found out things about her family and friends that she never even knew."
4) (It would) be a little late to do a background AFTER the wedding.
5) Good job to the husband!!! All men should do the same before getting in bed with anyone.
6) The companies that provide these services regularly run ads: "check out the guy BEFORE you date him" and...women always check their husbands phones out....while very few men check out their wives phones (and if they did...oh MY GAWD...there'd be hell to pay).
7) He checked you out before you two got married. Chill woman.
8) People do that these days. Not surprising.
9) He did extensive background checks, then kept the files in his system! I wouldn’t want to stay around with someone who did that kind of thing.
My opinion is the writer was anonymous, therefore the story didn't give enough information about how or where they met or his financial status that would justify his actions. Not that what he did was wrong. However, his indiscretion for leaving that data on his laptop (and not in a secure/hidden folder) was short-sighted.
It wouldn't surprise me if that was enough for the woman to become alienated and head for a divorce.
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