When I get wrong calls, I usually answer like a deep voiced mortician, and politely inform the caller that the party they are trying to reach is either: dead, dying in a hospital, under arrest, missing or drunk and passed out...I never get the same caller again. An easy way to deflect them is , find our the name of the nearest psychiatric hospital around you and use the name when answering your phone,ie "Good morning, Saint Elizabeth's psychiatric ward, reservations desk, how may I help you?"or similar variations for institutions fro the criminally insane, FBI UFO Reporting Command(with major city name) etc. etc. or as Lily Tomlyn used to do: Hello, is this the party to whom I am speaking? That throws people off! Be creative, have fun with wrong number calls! %D
This is not a nice thread to read first thing in the morning. I am truly saddened to read you are leaving----both forums and I do understand and sympathize with you on your assessment of them. It seems to be getting more negative and more boring at the same time. I have always enjoyed reading your contributions; you do have a good grasp on reality. I'll miss seeing your posts. I wish you all the best Jan. Take care, stay healthy, laugh and always have a bit of Monty Python type humour in your world! Ciao!
See the thread "Do Long Distance Relationships Work by MB Casey on the Int. Forums; there are some great answers and opinions, even by one person's mother who is involved in one. Hope it gives you "food for thought"....%)
I was not raised in a household where there were anything such as "gender-based chores" Everything was shared or done by whoever had the time, inclination/know-how, whatever. When I was married, we both shared all chores and projects; what one of us did not know, understand or do alone, we learned one from the other, showed each other etc. as I found to be a very harmonious way of living, be it refinishing antiques, putting up shelves or even cleaning the oven(that is not what I could term f u n by any stretch of the wildest imagination!)Yuk. Sometimes we even took turns working in or outside the home; sometimes we worked together and it was FUN; we helped each other; we learned from each other. To me that was the ideal way. From those whom I see around me today, far too many were "spoiled rotten" as the saying goes, and one or both are ,unfortunately...tragically, unfit psychologically for a "happy" marriage; marriage or Life is not all about them only. But never despair! Have patience! You'll find him! %)
To risk all is worth the gamble to win all when it comes to Love. I've risked all a few times, from one end of the world to another; despite not winning , it was still worth it...the price of finding one's true Love is priceless; some are lucky, fortunate to find theirs close by, others aren't, so we seek or stay tuned, as it were to a signal, call it what you will. One never knows what tomorrow may bring, at least for those who haven't given up wherein each day is as the one before: empty, anyway you look at it. Someone referred to depression as a disease, surely alone-ness can qualify as one. 3 cheers to those who risk all for Love! %)
....and here I was rather enjoying reading this forum, and it degenerates into juvenile tantrums....nothing on here called for those remarks...and both had some good things to say.....oh well, happy trails....
Since having joined this site just after it started, many of us have seen this very unfortunate event many times much to our collective dismay. There are a few that will miss, but the best are still here; some of us have learned when to bow out. All in-all,it is a great site with great features.You have my 3 cheers! Now, about the European Forums....ahhh, never mind...%)
Lovely, just what the world needs! More images to numb people's minds or provide a cheap shock thrill. I doubt that this 24/7 inundation will really help the poor peoples of that blighted region, in fact it may result in either a "who cares" attitude or a cheap thrill for those wanting to "see lots of death and destruction" I am not optimistic about any "good" that may emerge for so much coverage; it may me too much. There has been an on-going war/conflict there since I served with the French in Tchad in the early 70's; it has not changed. Back then it was the Arabic north trying to wipe out the black south to put very simply, in fact several of my old comrades joined them ; only a few came back, including my old C.O from Biafra, who recently turned up alive in Berlin. He had been reported as being executed in Khartoum back in the 70's. He had been put into a prison there and disappeared from the world. Thousands of land mines had been placed throughout the border area with Tchad and into the southern Juba area. In the mid 70's, then again in the 80's the UN was offered by some of us to show their inspectors maps and locations of the mined areas, we were told, that the UN doesn't deal with "les mercenaire salos" ...so much for the UN wanting to really help them. It got nastier and they even turned people over that were seeking protection, to the Khartoum authorities. It was not to be my last experience with these so called "humanitarians" of the UN or their soldiers while serving in another country there. They are as vile and corrupt and murderous as the any of the lunatic dictators anywhere.
Good response; I am very leary of meeting people about whom I know nothing, if I do, I let them choose the direction and tone. If they choose light and amusing, that's fine; if it is intense and emotional even outrageously political( even if I totally agree), I leave it alone and do "an exit, stage left", who needs the hassles with strangers who could be potential lunatics.....%)
or maybe she is "reading" a comic book and doesn't notice ..( I watched a woman do that once from the next room; so much for a Madam saying she is "attentive to her customers...) %D
Ok, I'll assume that here, you are referring to rescue dilemmas; There is a fire in your building, and you only have a few minutes before you have to get out; what do you do? Scenario 2: you have the choice of rescuing a very valuable painting or a homeless person lying unconscious in the stairwell.... scenario 3: the fire is raging and you're carrying out an elderly lady when you realize that she's too heavy and you may not make it out with her before the ceiling collapses.... scenario 4: you only have enough time to save an old cantankerous old neighbor whom you loathe or your pet dog/ cat.....
HA! For those who can't swim, they should always carry water wings! Granted this dilemma is a bit more complicated that a woman sitting on a bus, notices the man standing near her seems to be playing with himself....what does she do!? %)
No nation or a people hold a copyright to being the best at/in everything. We all are the best this planet has to offer whatever our respective differences are and those very differences are what make us all the best, for what would we be, who would we be without them. The key is finding how best we can all help each other keep and develop those things that truly make all unique and the best of our common planet. Humankind has many families and it is best for all of us to be in harmony with our "family members"....
To paraphrase Proust just a bit....remembrances of things said: "At last, there is a light at the end of the tunnel." Joseph Alsop,(syndicated columnist), Sept. 13, 1965 about the Vietnam conflict. "I do not believe the enemy can hold up under a long war." Saigon news dispatch, Feb. 25, 1968 "Come see the light at the end of the tunnel." Official invitation to New Year's Eve party at the US. Embassy in Saigon, December 1967, (one month before a large portion of it fell into the hands of the Viet-Cong.... "We're on our way up....the pendulum is beginning to swing." Quoted in the Washington Star, April 16, 1072, from an unnamed White House source... "We must never forget that if the war in Vietnam is lost...the right of free speech will be extinguished throughout the world." Richard M. Nixon, Oct. 1965 "One day it will be written: this was America's finest hour..." Richard M. Nixon, March 29, 1973, 2 months after America gave up on Vietnam and signed a treaty ending US military involvement there, Jan. 31, 1973. It is interesting to compare the tactics used.....and not used by the Viet Cong and the insurgents in Iraq. Just imagine how much worse things could be there, if the Iraqis had North Vietnamese "advisors".....
The European Space Agency released it's menu today for the Space station to be hand delivered by Charles Simonyi of Microsoft, who will be paying his own fare. The gourmet meals are by a French Chef,( what else!), Alain Ducasse. The selection will consist of Quail roasted in Madeira wine, combined with a light puree' of celeriac with a hint of nutmeg. Confit of duck filet with capers, shredded chicken parmentier, morsels of apple fondant, rice pudding with candied fruit and semolina cake with dried apricot; much to the dismay of everyone, especially the cosmonauts, there will be no wine, at least fro the time being. People are outraged and have flooded the Agency with e-mails denouncing such a barbaric denial. Each space agency has their own food "culture" for space flight; the Russians get canned jellied perch. Nothing is said about Vodka; NASA sends up dried, dehydrated BBQ beef(add water) and an assortment of "foods" out of tube in paste form. Europe said ours will eat proper meals; it will also effect the stamina of the cosmonauts and help them keep their muscular density, unlike the US astronauts, who sometimes return quite weak. The ESA is asking other well known chefs to design healthy and nutritional meals for space. No american type junk foods,
The "European media" and the american media are planets apart as to what is or is not reported. About 3 wks ago all the European carried Putin's clear warning to the US verbatim, that if the americans launched their missiles and made a nuclear attack on Iran, or anywhere in the Middle East, or on North Korea, it would not go unchallenged and would respond. He told the american govt. that they will not dominate this planet and that they are going too far. Unfortunately, the american media gave very little attention to Putin's warning.
War, if approached with the right attitude can be "fun" ...of sorts besides all the very obvious. But it ain't no Hollywood production. It can also be very profitable if one goes into it with that in mind and survives all its hazards including the usual double crosses by Governments trying not to honour their contract with you. And yes, it can be very uplifting in helping the weak defend their homes and lives. Unfortunately, however you then usually end up on the losing side and that is by far the most tragic because you survive to know the horror of what it meant for those who lost everyone and everything, including yourself; many or most of those that you fought beside where left on some long overgrown jungle path in a country that no longer exists. Except in your mind, in your heart. I've served in several armies, both in Africa and South America, beginning with the Biafran War under Rolf Steiner; with no prior experience other than military cadets, fresh out of university. Once I was recovered from that fiasco I joined the Legion on the personal recommendation of Gen. De Gaule of France. After the war in Tchad, I was on my own: for profit and why not, having been trained by the best army in the world and coming from a family with several hundred years of military tradition behind us, with several notorious characters being "robber barons" to Field Marshals in both Germany and Austria...hey, why not! Having fought for and against various Governments, I can honestly say that the ordinary peoples of this world do not need wars and to force it upon them is as criminal as one can get. It certainly is no place for "sunshine soldiers". Let the professional soldiers do it and if one must take place, being no other alternative perhaps keep it fairly "civilized"; not turn it into a free-for-all bloodbath with drug crazed shoot-em-up wanna-be cowboys playing at Hollywood. Despite all my former friends at the old Soldier-Of Fortune Magazine still maintain that american soldiers have no long term resilience for fighting. They have no centuries of military tradition to understand ethics and honour as a European soldier would. Americans do not last very long in this business; everyone quickly tired of their arrogant bravado and movie grandstanding. Usually they were "fragged" or shot out-of hand, especially in places like Angola, Cabinda and the Caprivi, not to mention Chile and Argentina and Paraguay...
For those that feel that they and others do not need others for love, children etc. there is a group called The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. Besides saying that people do not need other people, they also say that having children is the single most cause for environmental pollution. Their mandate is "phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed" in order to allow Earth's biosphere to return to good health. You can check out their ideas at Vhemt.org where they answer such pressing questions as : I'm extra smart, shouldn't I pass on my genes? What is wrong with having a love life that leads to having babies? Don't you like babies? Doesn't the economy need more consumers? And, the clincher:Are we all supposed to kill ourselves? Don't we need each other? Let's all check our own biospheres....%D
As Maryland is usually considered more of a "border state" than a Southern one, crossing the state line into Virginia on old Rt. 1 one you crossed the bridge, for many years there was a large shack like structure claiming to be a store. It had a huge sign on it: Liquor! Wine! Guns! Drugs! Bait!...God...everything a person could ever want from Life! What a welcome to Virginia or the South! %D
Yo! It only got better each time I had a chance to go there ! I loved working all through the deep south as a portrait photographer; met lots an' lots of fascinating peoples, especially on the back roads up among the evergreens as Chuck Berry put it! Operated out of Fayetteville,NC for a few wks; The amount of stolen military equiptment being sold was unbelievable! Weird place! Met a lot of musicians, Blues and Jazz players; this set off my painting the characters, which I still do, especially in and around New Orleans; oh hell, all over the Gulf States; I loved it there! %)
Who was Rockwell?? Google him...I'm surprised that you don't know... but don't let the connection(s) with The Nation of Islam or Malcolm X simply be as presented; they were over a long time and complex as the war in Vietnam turned on a lot of people's porch lights and diversities began to melt away. Alex Hailey was also privy to some of this when he interviewed Rockwell for his book Roots; horribly portrayed by that twit Marlon Brando. Could not join the Bundeswehr, wasn't allowed; new US occupation rules; the US and the puppet regime of Bonn, didn't like our family. , so to get the best training in the world, hey, join the best; no loyalty to any flag or country really; just pirates with the ol' skull and crossbones, and a dollar sign%)$$ ciao!
Fascinating, from the Romans to the Ottoman Empire! Hope it is well written that brings it all to life and not like so many others that put people to sleep!! I'm still going with The Island Of Seven Cities by Paul Chiasson on the discoveries on Labradorin Cruins by possibly 13th Cent. or older, of Chinese who settled there...I love archeology and all its mysteries that remain unsolved.
Wild? I took my daughter shopping...she had "nothing to wear"..$$$$$ and let run off to Paris for the weekend to attend a Fashion show...as a photographer and as a model...$$$$ oh God...$$$$$!! %D
solitare Forum Posts (4,041)
RE: Oooops....Wrong Number!
When I get wrong calls, I usually answer like a deep voiced mortician, and politely inform the caller that the party they are trying to reach is either: dead, dying in a hospital, under arrest, missing or drunk and passed out...I never get the same caller again. An easy way to deflect them is , find our the name of the nearest psychiatric hospital around you and use the name when answering your phone,ie "Good morning, Saint Elizabeth's psychiatric ward, reservations desk, how may I help you?"or similar variations for institutions fro the criminally insane, FBI UFO Reporting Command(with major city name) etc. etc. or as Lily Tomlyn used to do: Hello, is this the party to whom I am speaking? That throws people off! Be creative, have fun with wrong number calls! %D