I loved the good ol’ army surplus stores, and as a boy, I would go over to them with a fist full of changes and some bills and pick up a odd surplus item or two to dink around with.

I had a Vietnam war era canteen… aluminum, not plastic, and it leaked. But I would wear it with my web cargo belt as I rode in my hikes thought the nearby forests. I also had a mess tin, with massive silverware, fit for a giant, but I really never did anything with it.

When I was 13 years old, I had a surplus German world war II pith helmet from the Africa Corps that I wore all the time, and I would wear it as I spent my summers golfing and then swimming. My friends all got ones as well, but theirs hardly lasted past a week. It would get wet… one excuse or the other …and be ruined. But unlike them… I treasured mine.

My brother had a cameo dentist smock that was really cool, and for a spell I lusted over it. It looked really cool. Don’t quite know how he ran into it, but the Army and navy store was constantly getting new and one-off items throughout the Summer months.

One week before I left for China, I went into the “old” store and I hardly recognized it. Mostly empty with a warehouse “feeling” to it. Many cheap goods, and not much to interest me. I bought a black backpack and it was the only thing that survived my trip to China. The rest of my belongings were lost in transit.

I suggest that if you have an opportunity, take your early teenagers to a local Army and Navy store and let them explore. Who knows what they will find.

Today…

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve lost and found?

I bought a house and was moving out of the previous home, in which I had a 6-car garage full of toys, along with many items stored outside. That month, I sold six Harleys, brought home three more, and sold them. Now that I would have half the storage space, I sold several other items, such as boats, offroad vehicles, and toy haulers.

When each of these items was sold, I would rubber-band the cash in $10k bundles, and anything less would be placed on the top shelf until it could be bundled with other funds. I’d frequently toss the bundles into the safe for the time being. At some point, when I did the math in my head, I felt I was missing a $10,000 USD bundle.

I had too much on my plate with the move to be concerned about whether or not I had lost money. But I’d catch myself doing the math in my head while driving or having a meal, and it wasn’t adding up, so I’d somehow lost a bundle.

The safe was left at the house due to its size and weight. I had to come back for it after enlisting some assistance in moving it. I had already emptied out its contents while rearranging a few of the internal shelves.

Once I realized I was going to be transporting the safe on its back instead of upright like before, I decided to remove all the interior shelving this time, as it would have come apart while being transported on its back. That’s when I found the missing $10,000. bundle.

It’s a good thing I hadn’t sold the safe with the cash inside.

What’s the fastest you’ve wiped a smirk off of someone’s face?

I used to work for a large rehab company. I was a licensed occupational therapist. One year, we had a new girl start there, who was from Europe. She was also also a licensed therapist, but had two years of additional training. She was also on a work visa. At first she was friendly and agreeable, but soon began to show her true colors. She started making snide comments about people behind their backs, and then proceeded to say them to their faces. She told me that where she came from, I wouldn’t be considered a real therapist, because I had only studied for two years.

We had a few Rehab assistants that she proceeded to lord over, because she had a college degree and they did not. But they worked hard and did their jobs. One day she sat with us at lunch; myself, and two rehab assistants. She proceeded to make rude comments about certain ethnic groups in the company, claiming that they had chips on their shoulders. I told her that her remarks could be construed as racism, and that she had better knock it off. She scoffed, and went on making rude comments. When she left the room with a big smirk on her face, one of the aides told me that she had been making unflattering comments behind my back, too. I decided that she needed to be taught a lesson. I contacted our clinical director and reported her behavior, especially the racist comments.

An hour later, she came walking down the hall, smirk replaced by copious tears. She had been warned that if she continued with her behavior, she would be shipped right back to Europe.

What did you say to your boss that made them quit their job?

I was an assistant manager for a large auto parts company. Our district manager (DM) was a real POS. I avoided him as much as possible. One day he came to our store, very pissy, and the manager was trying hard to appease him. After the DM left, I looked at the manager and told him he just brown nosed to his ankles. He didn’t say anything, just gave me a funny look. Two days later, after his “weekend”, he handed in his notice. He looked so relieved and happy those last two weeks!
He was dating another manager, so we all heard when his dad, a real sweetheart who used to come in frequently, passed away. Other than his girlfriend, I was the only person from the company that attended the funeral. He told me then that my comment was a major wake-up call and that he realized he was no longer willing to work in that environment. His new job made him much happier.

Why didn’t junk food cause obesity in the olden days?

I grew up in a semi-rural area, the child of homesteaders. We had food. Food was never good or bad, it was on the table, and you ate until you were full.

We ate very well, but worked for that food.

My mother had a huge chicken coop, so lots of eggs and chicken.

We planted and harvested about 2 acres of fruits and vegetables of all kinds that could grow in our area. My father had a greenhouse about the size of a single car garage, so we were able to extend a growing season.

Summer weekends were spent in the bush, picking all sorts of wild berries.

We made our own jams, jellies, cordials, chutneys, different kinds of pickles, canned fruits and berries. We processed veggies for use during the winter. This involved sterilizing jars, picking and cleaning foods, slicing, dicing, blanching food, boiling sealing jars, bagging and freezing.

My father bought the rest of the food we couldn’t grow or source naturally.

Sundays, we always had a huge roast, all kinds of roasted root veggies, and devil’s food cake with 7 minute frosting. Most often, dessicated coconut was also put in the frosting. This is exactly what it looked like

During the week, a normal meal was soup, meat and 2 veg, salad, some kind of pickle, and dessert. Dessert was usually fruit, either fresh or home canned in heavy syrup, and ice cream.

When I was young, our home had a wood stove – so fire wood had to be chopped. We didn’t have running water, so water had to be carried by bucket. We had a coal furnace, so coal had to be shoveled in, several times a day, outside of the summer months.

Because we didn’t have running water, we used an outhouse, which was in the far corner of the property. Even going to the toilet, you walked half a block each way.

When I started kindergarten, the school was almost 2 km away from my home (just over a mile). The only time you were allowed to stay at school for lunch is if the temperature was colder than a high of 0F (-18c). So most days, I walked about 8km, just to go to school and back (x2).

The girls all played jump rope at recess. Do children still do that?

We very rarely ate outside our home, except as guests at other people’s homes. When we would go on camping vacations, our first meal out, and last meal coming home would be KFC – the real stuff they used to make with the cream gravy. So if that is the fast food we had, we had it twice a year.

We used to get a bottle of soda when we went to Grandma’s house. That was about every second week. But we used sugar like crazy. Tea and coffee always had at least 2 tsp of sugar in it. Canned fruit was all in heavy syrup. When the large bottles of cola began to be sold, they were terrifically expensive. The 2 quart bottle was over $4. Considering the first apartment I ever rented a couple of years later was $125/month – you can see what a luxury item Coca Cola was.

Basically, I would say we ate very well. There were plenty of treats, but we were always walking/running and working in the yard. Even the simple things took a lot of work. There was no turning on the tap, that water had to be hauled into the house.

So what I would say is this.
Previously, there was little junk food. My mother even made home made marshmallow.
Food was processed at home or in restaurants (eg. no pre-formed patties)
There was no plastic sort of food, such as Cool Whip (introduced in 1966)
People didn’t eat away from home very much.
People had to work much harder for food.
People worked and walked much more in their lives.
The food of the past is very different than the food of today.

For those who conceal and carry a firearm, what life threatening moment made you grateful for doing so?

My previous answer from a similar question:

I am a 100% disabled USAF Veteran, and I carry a concealed handgun legally. I have had all the background checks that the FBI and Federal Government require and although not of sound body, am of sound mind (my ex-wife may disagree!). I was legally carrying when I stopped in San Antonio to get some fuel. I was in my pickup truck which is wheelchair equipped and it was on the back of the truck and I have Texas Disabled Veteran plates on my truck.

I used my credit card to get the fuel and this was about Christmas time. I am a Christian and love that part of the year. As I was finishing up I was approached by a young man in his late teens and early 20’s who had been watching me since I arrived. I am Italian, and he isn’t (you will figure out his heritage in a moment). He asked how my “Christmas was going?” I replied, “It’s a great time of the year!”. He stated “I’m having a horrible Christmas; I don’t have any money and my kids and wife will get nothing from me this year – can you help? I replied that I carried no cash and he had seen me “use my credit card at the pump!”

He then became directly confrontational and pointed his finger in my face and stated “Then you can take your honky ass into the ATM, use that card and get me some cash!” I backed off 2 steps and stated “I don’t know you and I am not in the habit of giving anything to people I don’t know”. His response was to pull back his jacket and show me a large hunting knife handle that was stuck in his pant and state “What if I show you this knife?!”?

My response was to draw my weapon and point it at his chest and state “What if I show you this gun?” He backed off quickly realizing the crippled Veteran was not as easy a target as he thought!

I was unaware but that store clerk was listening in on the speakers that are at the pump and had summoned the police. They arrived as I was pointing the weapon at the suspect. As soon as they arrived I reholstered and the store clerk told them what she had observed, and I verified the situation.

The Officer asked “Why didn’t you shoot him? He has been a problem for months around here!” My response was “he backed off and I think he would have bolted had you not arrived”. He was taken into custody for attempted armed robbery and I testified at his trial about 11 months later. He was given 7 years in the Texas Department of Corrections. Turns out he never had a wife or children.

What was I given? My life. It could have gone very wrong was I not armed. It could have ended in the worst way.

Guns aren’t meant to fight fair. They are meant to win. They are meant to give people control over what happens to them and to protect themselves, the public, and even you from serious bodily harm or death.

It’s not cowardice – it’s prudence.

I am here today because of that weapon which I still carry faithfully – always knowing it’s there but also always hoping I never have to use it.

It is and was an equalizer.

What moment completely changed how you saw someone?

“Can I trust you?” she asked me quietly as we walked in the school grounds.

She didn’t even wait for me to reply.

“My father was diagnosed with cancer. Two years ago. Of the prostate. He was under treatment since then, but these days, he’s been getting worse. And we don’t even have that much money, we’re a simple family.”

---

Sarah was the ‘weird girl’ in the class. Or that’s how the others saw her.

She was always energetic. So much that you’d think she was high on caffeine every day. She had a prominent personality, something so sun-bright that you couldn’t help but notice. And being talkative and making loud, obnoxiously lame jokes were a fundamental part of her.

Sarah was just so full of life. The fullest you can be. The fullest I’ve ever seen someone.

I think that’s what began, slowly but surely, irritating others in a way.

She would laugh at her own awkward jokes and people would roll their eyes. She’s so random and so extra, they’d say.

She became the class clown.

---

One day, during the sports class, the conversation written above took place.

And I couldn’t help but silently wonder: how/why was she so buoyant and full of life all the time?

A second later, the tone of her voice shifted.

“You wanna know why I’m so cheerful all the time?”

It’s like she read my mind, I swear. I looked her in the eye, then quickly looked away.

But what she said left me open-mouthed because it was completely different than what I expected.

“You know, I believe that you have to create what you want for yourself. As I see it, everyone has to create their own happiness. There is no other way out. I have so many things to be sad about. But that is exactly what I won’t be. I just work like that,” she shrugged.

And suddenly, just like that, I saw her in a whole new light. And I’m not even exaggerating. It was literally like depicted in the movies.

In fact, I felt guilty, on behalf of my class, that we’d been so utterly stupid.

---

Not to be dramatic or anything, but Sarah taught me things that I have not learned from anyone else.

I’m not gonna lie and say that since that moment, I’ve been the happiest person alive. I haven’t. It’s a slow process. But I see myself getting there very soon.

Sarah reminded me that one has to create their own happiness. You can’t rely on life or its circumstances to do that for you. She was a living example of the quote: “When life knocks you down, smile and stand up taller than ever before.”

I like to call Sarah my ultimate friend.

According to BBC, the China-EU trade talks end without reaching a agreement, which suggests that there are still unresolved issues, possibly related to further opening up of the Chinese market in the specified sectors, how do you view it?

Let’s see the issues :-

First EU told China they were not buying enough EU Products and importing enough EU products and the Trade deficit was widening quite a bit between the two nations

China replied that most of the EU Imports they formerly imported, they now had excellent quality import substitution within China like Industrial Chemicals or Industrial Technology Machines or ICE Cars

China also said the EU had restricted things they were most keen to import like EUV equipment or Deep UV Lamps or High Grade Etching Equipment

So China said “We have an open market. Bring your products and COMPETE. We have no tariffs here on your products”

The EU want China to keep buying ICE Cars and Industrial Technology at 3 times the price just to ensure a better balance of Trade

China said “How is that Capitalism? Free market?”

EU couldn’t respond

China did point out that Chinese imports of Advanced Lenses and Pharmaceuticals from the EU had risen by 41% across 4 years

---

The EU claimed China was violating and helping Russia bypass their sanctions. In fact I believe this was their main purpose in visiting China. They accused China of selling to Russia all the Industrial Spares and Manufacturing Parts plus enough goods to keep their purchasing intact

The Chinese replied they were not at war with Russia and EU sanctions were not sacrosanct to other nations. China brought out Lithuania and Australia and asked the EU if the EU recognized Chinese Sanctions on either nation and honored them

China asked if tomorrow China sanctions Taiwan, would EU agree to follow the same and not help Taiwan bypass sanctions

Ursula mumbled something about democracy and China told her to “Get Laid”

---

The EU finally accused China of protectionism and subsidy of NEVs that allowed NEVs to be sold cheaper in Europe

China categorically rejected this as wholly untrue and explained how EV subsidy was aimed to help CHINESE CITIZENS buy EVs and spearhead EV transition fully by 2030. They explained how the subsidy was at the tax level and the manufacturing subsidy provided to BYD was used only for their sale price to Chinese Citizens

The EU of course knew this very well

They have advisors who told them the same story

China then pointed out the EU subsidies to their mobile providers of almost € 63 Billion to help them buy the more expensive Nokia equipment for their 5G instead of Huawei

Again Ursula mumbled something about Democracy and China told her again to “Please get Laid” emphasizing on the “Please”

---

Simply speaking China is bewildered at all these leaders repeatedly coming to China and demanding things that are entirely against free market and capitalism

They offer investments but into the most mundane things like mass manufacturing and medium grade manufacturing that China isn’t interested in anymore. China has much more money than all of EU combined and can easily bankroll their manufacturing

They want TECH INVESTMENTS, the ability to identify good tech and invest in the same

EU doesn’t want this at all because of US orders

EU wants the World to remain in 2010 but the world is in 2023

What are you banned from? Why?

**Wanted to add, I only just realized I misread the title as WERE banned, not are. My apologies!**

I was banned from my local Walmart because I miss scanned an item. I went to self checkout one day because I had 4 items and wanted to teach my sons how to scan items. To make the story easier to understand, I had a tshirt, set of bras, shorts and some socks. While scanning, we had accidently double scanned the bras rather than scan the shorts, honest mistake. We finish up and as we are heading out, loss protection stops me and says “My name is XXX I’m with loss prevention please come with us” I was genuinely confused, my son got scared because of how aggressive they were but we complied. While in the security room they proceeded to rummage thru my bags and asked to search my purse. Again, I complied, but they never explained why I was pulled in. They searched cameras for probabaly 20 minutes. At one point, I hear one of the workers call across the radio “We need security detail for an escort.” I started getting REALLY scared and demanded an answer. Finally, they explain I miss scanned an item, because of this I am being escorted out of the building and will not be allowed back on property, should I step foot on property I will be arrested. I was baffled! They didn’t even give me a chance to fix my honest mistake! Needless to say, again I complied, but I put in a call the corporate after leaving, they reached out to me and lifted the banned immediately, apologized, and fired the entire loss prevention team. It wasn’t the first time they had abused power!

What’s the fastest you’ve personally fired someone else and why?

Immediately.

This guy was new and he was hired by someone else and put on my team. He messed up because he said he got his degree the same time I did. At the same school. In the same program.

I always research my team beforehand. But, this time it was pretty short.

He failed out his third year and didn’t come back to school. At least not mine.

I figured maybe he fibbed and graduated later. I checked with my school. No record of graduation.

He walked up to my team after he got to work. Asked him to follow me and we went to HR.

We sat down and I asked him about his degree. He repeated his resume exactly.

I stood up, said thank you and good luck. We’ll be going in another direction. And HR did their thing.

We don’t ask about degrees, but we do check your resume for lies. And, we don’t care if you have a degree. Just don’t lie about it.

That means that you are probably going to lie about your work. And, that is pretty toxic.

What is one thing you regret doing the most?

Committing a felony. I didn’t set out to break the law, I was a law abiding citizen for 59 years.

I was suffering from a deep depression and began self-medicating with Methamphetamine. The depression and drugs led me to some questionable online activities which, to me, seemed harmless. Without my realizing it though, I had crossed into the dark web.

My first inkling that I was in trouble was when 7 sheriffs came to my house with a search warrant. 6 months after that I was arrested on 23 felony charges.

Over the next 6 months my lawyer negotiated that down to 5 charges in exchange for me pleading guilty which I eventually did – I did not have the money to pay for a trial defense, and even if I did, a loss would have meant that I would die in prison – I was 60 years old.

I was extremely fortunate, mostly, I think because I was a first time offender, with a lifetime of abiding the law. I was sentenced to 5 years probation and 3 years prison suspended – no jail time unless I screwed up.

I lost a very successful career and income as a software engineer – no one would hire me with a record. My wife died of a stroke, partly due to the stress of the legal proceedings. Her family completely disowned me (my own family was gone) so I was completely alone in my grief.

I was forced to retire at 62 and live on social security (my first wife got my retirement in the divorce) and I have almost no friends.

Because of one mistake fueled by depression and drugs, my life was destroyed. I have to submit to monthly drug tests and meetings with my probation officer (a significant expense on social security as I have no car and he is 30 miles away), and in constant fear of having my probation revoked for breaking a probation rule (anyone who’s ever been on probation will understand what I mean).

If I could go back to mid 2018 and seek professional help for the depression, I would do it in a heartbeat. If I had sought treatment then I wouldn’t be where I am now.

EDIT:

I have received a lot of comments with people complaining that I’m not taking responsibility for my actions – this is completely wrong.

I take full responsibility for what happened to me. I made the decision to self medicate with meth rather than seek mainstream treatment. It was my decision to engage in the actions which led to my crime. Nobody made me do it but me.

I was arrested on evidence I cannot deny and sentenced fairly according to the law. I was a law abiding citizen for 59 years and believe strongly in the rule of law and the need to uphold it. I have absolutely no complaint about how I was treated as the result of my actions. The legal system and all of its agents acted exactly as I expected in doing their part to enforce the law and maintain societal controls.

That said, I have no doubt, with God as my witness, that I would have NEVER broken the law had my faculties not been impaired by drugs – in a sober state I would not have engaged in the actions that led to my crime. My values and critical thinking were subverted by the drugs – there is plenty of medical and psychiatric evidence of this. That is not an excuse, it is a simple fact.

What is the smartest thing you have ever done in an interview?

I wished the interviewer luck in finding a candidate with the credentials they were looking for, when it became known that I didn’t have the right credential to teach what they wanted me to teach.

They waited until the interview to tell me that they were specifically looking for a teacher with a Reading Specialist endorsement, which I didn’t have. They could have checked my resume before they called me in for the interview to see I didn’t have that, but whatever. My lack of the proper endorsement brought the interview to a quick close, and I wished them well in their search for someone with that particular endorsement. I knew they’d have a hard time finding someone with that who was willing to work at a private school. Public schools, which pay better than private schools around here, are quick to grab the Reading Specialists.

About three weeks later, I’d completely forgotten about that interview, and they called me in for a second interview. I checked their school calendar. They were two weeks away from opening day. I knew they were desperate. I was desperate to find a position too, so it all worked out. I went in for the second interview, and they offered me the position, even though I didn’t have the specific endorsement they wanted. Private schools are flexible when it comes to those things anyway.

They remembered me from the first interview because I was nice to them. I ended up working there for two years. It was my first real teaching position, and I loved it. I got the experience and connections I needed to make finding new teaching positions in later years so much easier. The first position is always the hardest to get.

More Than a Feeling

You feel like rolling up a joint. Eh?

What should we make of the Hong Kong’s “Safe and Orderly Election” that required 10,000 police officers to be deployed across the city?

Were you here? I am here and I was here on Sunday election day.

Yeah and? You hear 10,000 police deployed across the city! OMG.

What I saw? I went cycling early in the morning. I passed the election polling station, a small queue and a load of villagers.

The two police officers? They were stood about 10 metres away outside to one side.

That’s not an unusual sight. You see police standing around busy bus depots and MTR stations. The only ‘heavy’ presence was a couple months ago where desk job police were walking around. I scooted in between them and NOTHING happened.

We Have a Problem – The Actual WAR INVASION of the USA **IS** Planned and now, We have a date range . . .

World Hal Turner 11 December 2023

America, we have a problem.  While it has long been rumored that foreign countries are planning to invade the continental USA, we’ve never seen evidence of any such actual planning; until now. . .

For years we’ve all heard rumors of Chinese troops being massed in south-central Mexico, but never any proof to bolster such claims.

Two years or so ago, we all found out that Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada signed a Treaty with China allowing the deployment of People’s Liberation Army troops in Canada, and the Treaty prohibits local Canada governments from having __any__ say where those troops are, or what they do while in Canada.  That Treaty has been verified and __is__ real.

So if one believes the rumor about China troops in south-central Mexico, and we already have confirmation they’re entering Canada, that would mean invasion of the continental USA would be possible from both the north and the south.

Then, too, for years, we’ve all heard rumors that Venezuela would send troops to Cuba, to join with Cuban troops to invade Florida from Cuba — but ZERO evidence of any such planning has ever been offered or produced by anyone.

NOW, THOUGH, we have something very real, from deep inside Russian Intelligence.  

Below from inside the Russian FSB, we now have concrete proof an actual INVASION of the United States of America is, in fact, being planned, and the date range for that invasion has already been decided.   It appears we have less than one year.

The evidence, obtained from inside Department “C” of the Central Security Service of the FSB of Russia, appears below, and is for SUBSCRIBERS TO THIS WEBSITE, ONLY.  

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As a mechanic, what was the biggest mistake you made when fixing a car?

Back around 1990, I was about 23, two babys and wife at home, and got laid off at the light bulb factory in Plymouth Florida. So I went to work selling veggies at the flea market and working on VW’s while looking for a job. I had been rebulding Bug motors for some time and it had become quite a routine. Well I had this old bus, it was a 1962, 23 window Kombi wagon. Pulled the motor, did the thing right, line bored, new cylinders, pistons, all the bearings, oil pump, Bosch 009 distibutor, new carb, everything top-knotch. The owner wanted it right, so he spared no expense and I was happy to oblige. The afternoon arrived and i finally had the motor back together and up in the bus. It was bolted in and I was hooking up the wires and needed a new connector to hookup the new distributor and when i went into my shop to find one, i noticed this little silver thing laying on the bench. Picked it up and eyed it carefully. It was half of a cam bearing. Yup, I had left out half of a cam bearing shell. Had to pull the motor back out, break it all the way back down, and sure enough, there was one shell missing. Put it in and back together it went. Ran like a top for years! Thankfully, I didn’t try to fire it up!

Campfire Dutch Oven Chili with Cornbread

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

Chili

• 3 pounds ground beef (90% lean)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, ribs and seeds removed, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes & green chilies, undrained
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle beer
• 2 (8.5 ounce) boxes cornbread mix (including ingredients to prepare cornbread)

Optional Toppings

• Sour cream
• Sliced green onions
• Shredded Cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Heat briquettes up in a chimney, then make a layer of hot briquettes on the ground, a fire ring, or other metal structure.
2. Place the Dutch oven on the briquettes and allow Dutch oven to get hot.
3. Add oil to the Dutch oven and sauté onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño pepper stirring occasionally until tender, approximately 4 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute.
4. Add ground beef to Dutch oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking beef into small crumbles and stirring occasionally until browned. If Dutch oven starts to cool off, add more hot briquettes on the bottom.
5. Add chili powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, black pepper and salt; cook for 1 minute.
6. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes & green chiles and beer; bring to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes.
7. Prepare cornbread mix based on box instructions and pour over chili, spreading into an even layer.
8. Heat approximately 20 additional briquettes. Cover Dutch oven with lid and place hot briquettes evenly on the top of the closed lid.
9. Cook for about 10 minutes, checking halfway through. Check to see if cornbread is done by sticking a wooden pick into cornbread. If the wooden pick comes out clean, it is done.

Nutrition

Per serving: 479 Calories; 174.09 Calories from fat; 78g Total Fat (6.22g Saturated Fat; 0.34g Trans Fat; 2.31g Polyunsaturated Fat; 8.39g Monounsaturated Fat;) 84.98mg Cholesterol; 960.63mg Sodium; 41.14g Total Carbohydrate; 5.28g Dietary Fiber; 31.5g Protein; 4.19mg Iron; 614.17mg Potassium; 10.92mg Niacin; 0.6mg Vitamin B6; 2.67mcg Vitamin B12; 6.87mg Zinc; 21.17mcg Selenium; 91.78mg Choline

This recipe is an excellent source of Protein, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Iron, Zinc and a good source of potassium.

What is the fastest you wiped that smirk off your manager’s face?

I worked as PC tech early in my career for a man that was a total control freak. Very military. One of his expectations was that everyone was sitting at their desk exactly at 8am. No excuses. Well, I was transferred under his department after my previous manager retired. I had been working without complaint for over a year.

If I knew I had a busy day I would come in early to get things done without interruption. I had been late a few times during the previous month as I was a new Father. But, as I said, I came in early, and stayed late so my work was never affected.

I also was a contractor, not an employee. And my contract wasn’t a 8 to 5 time clock, but a work level, number of tickets thing.

Anyway, this particular morning I came in about 30mins early to finish up a repair from the day before. No sooner than I had walked into my office the Plant Manager walked in. He was having a problem. So, off I go.

Well, it was about 45 minutes later when I walk back in to get a replacement hard drive. There stands my Boss. He starts in on me about me not being at my desk. Yelling at me like I’m a dog. I just stand there. Finally, he says I’m fired. I’m to pack my “stuff” and leave. Which I do. As I’m about to leave I tell him, Oh by the way, the Plant Manager (his Boss) was waiting on me. His face dropped.

I walked out.

About an hour after I got home I get a call from my company. The Plant Manager called them. He told them he wanted me to come back. I declined. He then called me. He paid me directly to come fix his computer. And my Boss got fired.

Who was the one kid at school who you never believed could make it as far as they did?

This kid was the other way around. He was considered as a brilliant geek, and I believe he suffered a lot from the constant bullying by the other kids. He scored very well in Olympiads, and also scored high marks on subjects such as Math, Physics and Chemistry.

In his spare time, he read Math books, studied Bridge and entered in semi-professional competitive Bridge games — I guess that was one of the reasons why he was seen as a geek.

Several teachers were convinced that Terry would ace university and become a brilliant scientific researcher, but reality turned out to be very different. He first tried engineering studies but failed miserably, and then spent some time in the professional Bridge circuit, but he never reached the level he thought he would.

Some years later, I was a surveillant at a Linear Algebra exam for freshman Informatics students (I was a postdoctoral researcher at the time), and there he was, trying once again to obtain a degree. And he flunked again. Not much later he left academics, and I kind of lost track of his life.

At reunions, those that do not show up are the people that died young, those that hate their past more than anything else, and those that failed in life. The future definitely turned out differently than Terry had hoped.

But luckily, we did not know this when we were seventeen.

What is the best way for a groom’s mother to help with the wedding without stepping on bridesmaids or other family members toes?

My MIL was absolutely the best. Once we had settled on the number of guests we could afford to invite, she offered to contribute toward the wedding so that more guests from their circle of family and friends could be invited. Because I wasn’t sure if we could afford an open bar, she offered to cover it and did so. She organized the rehearsal dinner and did an absolutely splendid job. The day after the wedding, she put together a breakfast for some of our out-of-town guests at her home. On the wedding day, she stayed low profile so that my mother could join me in getting ready with my bridesmaids (and this I regret, not asking her to join us, but I was young and naiive at the time and it didn’t occur to me). On the day of the wedding, she took care of little things that others didn’t, like collecting the bridal gown after I’d changed into my travel clothes. When we traveled to another city, she asked a family member who was visiting her for the wedding to let us use their apartment so we didn’t have to pay for a hotel. She’s the best MIL one could hope for!

What is the oddest conversation you’ve had with a telephone scammer?

Not the oddest but one of the funniest.

I was down the pub one summers day pre-Covid with a good mate of mine called Dan. Dan’s originally from Texas, ex-US Army 1st Sgt, and now living in the UK with his lovely wife. He’s been here long enough to have a good grasp of the British sense of humour.

We’re having a drink and chatting when my phone goes off, a number I don’t recognise and I answer, putting it on speakerphone. A thickly-accented Indian voice (who claims to be called ‘Hank’) on the other end tells me that he is the FBI, that i’ve got multiple warrants out for my arrest etc, but that if I pay them I won’t have to be arrested-bear in mind i’m in the UK and the FBI has no jurisdiction over here. Having sunk a few pints by then, i’m in the mood for a wind-up. I ask for details of these warrants, tell him that they’ll never catch me, then I ask him if he knows Special Agent Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson’s character in ‘Criminal Minds’). He replies that Agent Hotchner is on holiday at the moment. I tell him that I know this as he’s sitting right beside me, and he’d like a word with him. I hand the phone to Dan and sit back to enjoy the show. Dan goes all in, quoting legal codes, threatening traces, freezing of their assets, criminal charges, the works! Needless to say the call ended not long after

Would China be better off if they backed the Ukraine and ditched Putin? How would that work?

China has a really sweet deal with Russia right now. I can not think of a single reason to change it (from China’s perspective.)

1. China is desperately short of fossil fuels and Russia is a huge exporter of fossil fuels. They are even willing to build multiple pipelines to get natural gas to China.
2. Everything Russia sells to China goes at a 40–50% discount because of China’s manipulation of its two-currency system.
3. Everything Russia buys from China comes with a 40–50% markup. Same reasons. Some things that are sanctioned go for as much as 4,000 times their original cost.
4. China is selling Russia billions a year in heavily marked up “dual use” goods such as military grade tires, military vehicles, body armor, night vision devices, helicopter engines, field medical kits, and even entire field hospitals. They also sell them considerable sanctioned goods, especially electronics, that Russia cannot make for itself.
5. They are compatible authoritarian governments.
6. China and Russia make an impenetrable voting bloc at the UN. Together, they can block any international initiative against either of them.

Supertramp – Take The Long Way Home (BEST QUALITY SOUND)

So many of us can relate to this.

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

I once had a client who was, literally, the strongest man I’d ever seen. Harry was well-built and about 6′ 4″. Even though he was large to begin with, his sheer strength to size ratio was off the charts.

One day we were driving in the car together and a guy in a Mercedes cut Harry off in traffic. Harry expressed his displeasure at this move by honking his horn. “Mercedes guy” proceeded to flip Harry off and then he pulled over – I guess he was looking for a fight.

Harry pulled in behind him. He got out, then Harry got out. The other guy was about 6′ tall and slightly pudgy, but not small by any means. However, once Mercedes guy saw Harry, he hurriedly returned to his car. BUT, he forgot one very important thing. His sunroof was open.

Harry, usually a fairly reasonable guy, was beyond pissed off. He went up to the guy’s car, PULLED him out THROUGH THE SUNROOF, put him on the street, turned him upside-down and STUFFED him back in his car, once again THROUGH THE SUNROOF.

Then Harry calmly strolled back to the car, got in, and we drove off. I glanced in the side view mirror and could see Mercedes guy’s feet sticking up through the roof kicking around a bit. Too funny!

I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. Harry passed away a few years later, but I’ll never forget him or what he did that day. It was an awesome sight!

Running late

The other morning as I was running late for an appointment I drove past a park and from a distance, I saw this young girl sitting on the bench and it looked like she was crying… I continued to drive and I thought to myself “what if that was me or even worse.. my daughter”.

So, I turned around and pulled into a parking spot, opened my car door and walked over to her and set down beside her.

She was crying so hard that she didn’t know I was there until I tapped her on the shoulder and asked: “Are you okay?” She looked up at me and said “No” “He cheated on me” “I don’t want to even live anymore” I knew at this point, I needed to take as much time as I could to talk to this young girl.

We sat there on that bench and talked the entire afternoon about relationships, life, and future goals and when the time came we finally said our goodbyes so I walked back to my car and as I started to back out, I looked back at her and she was walking towards me with her head down.

When she came up to the window, she confessed to me that she thought about taking her own life and because of me stopping and talking to her she decided that wasn’t in her best interest anymore.

Needless to say, I might have missed an appointment but I also might have saved a life.

Is it true that Japanese people don’t eat or drink in excess?

Sweet, sweet summer child. Let me share with you a day in the life of a young Japanese Salaryman, if you’ll indulge me.

Clearly, you have never heard of the dreaded company 飲み会。

Ah, that magical moment when your boss tells the faculty, “Today was a good day, let’s go out drinking!”

“What’s that you say? You have plans? No, no, clearly you are mistaken. Because WE, the employees of the company have decided to go drinking. We have all made this decision, subconsciously, the very instant, I, the boss, mentioned it. 空気を読んで！ Are we not the pinnacle of unity and harmony?”

And now, you’re off to a wonderful night of drinking with your coworkers. Who must drink with the boss, as long as he wants to drink.

“What’s that you say? You don’t like drinking？ NONSENSE. You merely have not found the appropriate drink, which, I, the boss, know is just right for you. Have another cup with me!”

“Another!”

“Another!”

“Eh? Eh? You don’t feel so good. Fie, I say! You just need another drink. Perhaps a different sake.”

That’s going to go on for a bit, until you, the newbie, and your coworker, who has learned how to hold his liquor better, are on a street corner outside a hotel in Tokyo, the coworker kindly holding your head as you throw up everything you have ever eaten. They are kind and will give you water afterwards, as you swear you will never drink again.

Until the next mandatory company 飲み会。

What is the sneakiest thing you did in your workplace?

I worked at a company where they were getting rid of a bunch of flat panel displays. They were old and had a funky plug on them, but worked perfectly fine. I asked the powers that be if we could take them home, since they were just going to trash them anyway. I was told that if you can bag them up, you can walk right past security in the lobby and you’ll be fine. You can’t just carry them out the door, though.

It turned out that one of my coworkers had a girlfriend who worked in a place that sewed custom bags for various industries. I gave him dimensions and 3 days later, we had bags we could use. Between the 6 techs I worked with, We walked out with about a dozen displays. We benefitted, the displays didn’t end up in a landfill, and a new line of bags was developed at my buddy’s gf’s company. It was a win-win-win.

[Gotta Get A] Meal Ticket

Early Elton John.

Why are people with a big house, nice cars, and with kids still unhappy about their lives?

At some point early in my marriage, we had a relatively large 6 bedroom house on a golf course subdivision with a pool and clubhouse. I had bought the nicest Lexus sedan I could afford, and a large SUV for my wife. We had two young kids. And we were miserable.

It wasn’t just about the money. These things were expensive for sure, and definitely weighed down our budget, but we could afford it.

The problem was time. I was busy with my business, working almost 7 days a week. My wife was taking care of the babies AND helping with the business. We almost never took vacations. A rare weekend off was like a vacation.

I’d be reading or playing with the kids and the phone would ring. The laughter turned off like a switch while I go to another room to talk. It’s like the world paused while the family waited to hear if I had to leave or not. Sorry, gotta run! I’d leave before even hearing if the kids said “bye daddy.”

I’m sure you’ve seen the Disney movie, Aladdin. I was the Genie. Giver of gifts. Solver of problems. All powerful being. But no more than a slave. The business owns you. Clients own you. The mortgage owns you. Just like the Genie, I longed for freedom.

One day, my wife and I looked at each other and asked “what are we doing?”

I started interviewing for jobs and got hired relatively quickly. Within a few months, we closed the business, sold our house, and moved. It was like Aladdin setting the Genie free.

It turned out that I work half the time, making pretty much the same as before.. I still drive the same car, which is now 15 yrs old. We live in a house half the size of what we had. I see my kids more than most dads I know. I am an equal participant in their homeschooling. We go on vacations multiple times a year.

Life isn’t perfect, but definitely there is more happiness now.

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Addendum: Thanks for reading and the upvotes!

I’d like to add that it’s definitely possible to have a business or earn a lot and have a big house, nice cars, etc. AND afford family time. It’s not mutually exclusive at all. I know a lot of people who have it all. If you can find that lifestyle, go for it. I just didn’t have it in me, but that’s OK.

What does it feel like to be old, for example over 50 years? How does life change?

I applaud those who answer these types of questions honestly. After all, I believe that the younger ones who ask these questions want honest answers as to what they have in store. What they don’t want is old people trying to prove they’re doing great and that they’ve still got it, without offering any balancing disclosures.

I get irritated with people who answer these questions with only a list of all the great things they’re still able to do. They sky-dive, hike, kayak blah blah blah. They so desperately seem to want to come across like they’re still twenty. THEY ARE NOT. And the men nearly always have to show off about how they’re still sexually active (failing to mention they need boatloads of viagra to do it.) And no offence, but NOBODY wants to picture old people still at it.

Now some of these people are flat-out lying, and some are being honest. But, my irritation isn’t because some are truthfully still active and fit; it’s because, whilst crowing about their experience of older age, they’re leaving out the shitty parts of ageing.

It’s perfectly okay to admit that despite still being fit enough to kayak, and despite being generally content and more enlightened, you’re also struggling with physical issues, fears, societal prejudices, or sadness.

You’re struggling with friends who have cancer or have already passed.

You’re struggling with your own mortality.

You’re struggling with the knowledge that you’ll soon enough be of no real use to your children anymore.

You’re struggling with the saggy stranger you see in the mirror.

You’re becoming more invisible to the public at large.

You’re struggling with lessons learned too late in life.

You’re struggling with questions like ‘What the fuck was all that about?’

You’re struggling with dodgy knees, age spots and overall deterioration.

You’re struggling with energy levels and motivation (not all the time, but certainly some of the time.)

At times, you’re struggling with boredom; not every old person is sky-diving 24/7.

Your memory is not what it used to be.

Weight (for many) cannot be managed, no matter what.

The absolute worst part is losing friends and relatives along the way. Your social circle becomes smaller and smaller.

Then you have widows and widowers who have to grapple with a whole new way of life at their age after having relied on another person for decades.

It unnerves me that so many people are so hell-bent on proving something rather than sharing the reality, inevitability, vulnerability and, even the beauty, of life’s cycle. That you know your time is gradually coming to a form of decline and close, despite the fact that you might still be able to kayak.

There’s just something very self-congratulatory about those proclamations. Something which I imagine makes certain other older people feel like they’re failing or not doing enough, and that also sets young people up for thinking that ageing is one big picnic.

It’s okay to still be enjoying your life at whatever age without portraying ageing as a hunky dory affair. It isn’t. On some fronts, it’s way, way better, but on other fronts, it positively stinks. (Just as I imagine most teens would describe their teenage years.)

What is the most dangerous situation you have faced?

It was in the military boot camp. Finnish military is based on conscription; it is colloquially called as “penis tax”. It means if you are a boy, you have to serve in the military on pain of imprisonment. Girls may volunteer, and I volunteered.

Draft dodging is made almost impossible in Finland, which means the military gets almost the whole cohort to service (except those who are exempted for health reasons or who chose civilian service instead). It is a genuine cross-section of the whole society – which mean that the military does not get only the best of the boys to rank and file, but also the worst.

It means you have to serve with people you would attempt to avoid at any price in civilian life; bullies, thieves, blue falcons, pranksters, antisocial cases, substance abusers, weakly talented etc. And then there are always those, who have an intention to make other people’s time miserable.

We girls slept in a separate dorm, but practised with boys. And unfortunately there was such Arschloch in our company. He especially picked on us girls (as we all were volunteer), and especially me.

In the end his picking, teasing, harassing and pushing my button went far enough. My service motivation was already on the rock bottom, and to say, he had harassed me to corner.

I didn’t care anymore if I lived or died. I just wanted it to end.

Puukko, the Finnish knife, is the only civilian item along the eyeglasses which can be carried while in uniform. It doubles as a sidearm and Every Finn has one, and getting one’s first puukko is a kind of coming to age ceremony for boys and girls. So I drew mine. He drew his.

We were now staring each other, with drawn knives, ready to strike and fight to death. I was ready to kill. I did not care anymore. He stared me with expressionless gaze. It was as if his eyes had been bottomless wells. I could sense no emotion.

Then the drill corporals came. They separated us, and I got yelled upon and roasted for good.

Yet military is a strange place. It works on its own rules. In civilian life, this would have been either an illegal threatening or an attempted manslaughter, and prison would have ensued. But nothing ensued; we were told to get shut up and not to say a word on what had happened. The noncoms did not want any troubles and fuss. It was as if they wanted to sweep everything under the carpet. This is understandable as the materiél is heterogeneous: internal squabbles and quarreling happens almost daily. Everyone was aware I had been pushed and picked on, and they realized it was a primitive reaction.

Strangely, I was left alone after that. Nobody picked on me anymore. But it was the absolute nadir of my military time.

Why were Middle East refugees turned away and treated badly by Poland while Ukraine refugees are even been offered food?

Not only they are offered food, but also Polish families accept them in our homes (in fact I did too), and get everything free until they find a job or decide to leave. In fact, just today NGO’s helping Ukrainians stopped taking gifts. Their warehouses are full, there is more help than people that need it for now. (PS – Poles reading this – seriously, look at the FB groups what is needed, because there is more stuff that they need, and there are some things we lack. For example pampers’s and other baby and toddler stuff, as well as school utensils. But not everywhere, not in every city, watch your own, don’t just throw in gifts, volunteers are already overwhelmed with that kindness, nobody expected it will be so much)

Four main reasons:
1. For several hundred years we were one country:

(that red part)
We accept our families and relatives, that is normal. We see them as our kin.

2. Belarus president Lukashenko admitted that he deliberately flew Middle Eastern and African immigrants to our border in order to wage hybrid war against us, and use them as weapons. And Belarus is now a combatant country against Ukraine side by side with Russia. We don’t negotiate with terrorists like this man, neither we bow to such threats. So against as he called it “war” declared, we stood an army on the border. Pretty normal thing to do with somebody threatening you with war, isn’t it?

3. We strongly believe that a war refugee should stay in the first safe country. For Ukraine we are the first safe country.

4. In our culture, it is expected for men to fight the war, or rebuild their country. Not to flee. And from Ukraine, we receive women and children. Not 80% males in military age. Those, in Ukraine, stay and fight. They are not let our by Ukrainian forces anyway.

No matter if someone finds those reasons valid or not, those are them.

Why do some cultures remove their shoes indoors while others, especially in the West, do not?

As someone who hails from a culture where people typically their outdoor shoes before entering a home/temple/office/etc., I can only share my experience from that end of the spectrum.

The answer is simple and practical – we don’t want to track in dirt, mud, and the one billion other stuff that you can’t really see with the naked eye into our homes/temples/offices/etc.

For myself, I’m closer to the extreme end of the spectrum.

When I come home, not only do I remove my outdoor shoes and slip into my “indoor slippers” before stepping into my home, but I then go and change into my “indoor clothes” as well, before doing anything else.

Seeing people immediately plop onto their beds, still in their “outdoor clothes”, after arriving home makes me uncomfortable.

I also have an area in my apartment for setting aside “stuff I take outdoors but bring home”.
Like the bag I bring to work, and all the coats, clothes, I wear to work – they all get neatly placed in this area before I go change into my “indoor clothes”.

And this is not just at home.

Although not all work places have an “outdoor shoes off” policy, the game studio I work at does.

And it is strictly enforced – if you have a “brain fart moment” and forget to take off your outdoor shoes before stepping into the studio proper, you’ll have quite a few people springing out of nowhere, breathing heavily down your neck, who will smile and politely point out that you’ve violated the rules of the inner sanctum and would you please go and take your outside shoes off and use the mop to wipe that part of the floor that you’ve stepped on with your outside shoes.

There’s even been talk of implementing a demerit point system to cut down on colleagues who have these “brain fart moments” – although I think it’s unlikely, as I’ve seen it happen only twice so far this year, and usually both times the guilty party was deep in thought about something work related (which makes the transgression somewhat forgivable…) .

It applies to everyone.

Doesn’t matter whether you’re the Director himself, a Lead, a Junior, an Intern, an External Freelancer, a Client, or the Cleaning Lady – everyone takes off their shoes before stepping into the studio proper.

That’s why we have a “take your outdoor shoes off here” entrance area right after you enter the main door.

You immediately take off your outdoor shoes and put it into one of the four tall shoe cupboards located to the side of the main door.

We also have a couple of these “shoe benches” in this entrance area.
These are for people who need something to sit on while taking off / putting on their socks and shoes.

These “shoe benches” are also where we place our “inside slippers”.

It’s convenient – once we take off our “outside shoes” on one of these “shoe benches”, we can immediately reach for and slip into our “inside slippers” before then placing our “outside shoes” into the shoe cupboard.

We also have a few areas around the studio where there’s a low floor table with floor cushions to sit on.

These areas are used for group discussions, brainstorming sessions, tea-drinking sessions, I-just-need-to-take-a-short-break sessions, I-just-need-a-20-minute-nap sessions, etc

My favorite one is the one where it’s practically an indoor garden and we’ve outfitted the place to make it look like you’re inside a gazebo, with tea cups and tea pots on a side table.

Knowing that no one has tracked in dirt, mud, and the one billion other stuff that you can’t really see with the naked eye into the studio allows me to sit in these areas and enjoy my morning/afternoon tea with peace of mind.

3

What was the weirdest flex by a rich person?

Might not qualify as the weirdest flex but certainly one of the most bad ass.

Kerry Packer was Australia’s richest man worth around 8 billion some 20 years ago. His gambling feats were legendary. He would often go to casinos and win or lose 10 million plus in one sitting. One time he won $26 million playing 6 hands of blackjack at $200,000 each. That’s $1.2 million per hand.

On top of that, whilst some of these may not be 100% accurate (Urban legends can get twisted over time) they all have some element of truth.

He’s been known to tip croupiers and waitresses 100s of 1000s of dollars and paying off their mortgages. Once he accidentally tipped a waitresses tray and apologised and arranged to pay her $100,000+ mortgage. Another time a dealer was offered an $80,000 tip by Packer but respectfully declined, informing him dealers are not allowed to accept gratuities. Packer called over the Pit Boss and demanded the dealer be sacked on the spot. The Pit Boss fired her. Packer then pushed forward the $80,000 worth of chips before demanding the Pit Boss re-hire her.

But then came the Texan oil tycoon coin flip…

Packer was playing every box at a blackjack table and not allowing anyone else to play or back bet at the table. This was a common practice by Packer and indeed a lot of big gamblers. But one time there was a braggart Texan oil baron throwing his weight around, complaining and telling all and sundry he was a big deal. He’s rich, he doesn’t have to wait for a table and who was this buffoon hogging it…Packer doesn’t walk around telling everyone how good he is and he doesn’t like people who do…

So Packer swivels around in his seat only for the Texan to double down, pointing his finger at the face of Packer and yelling some choice words finishing with, “I’m worth $100 million!” Packer slowly leans back in his chair, pulls a coin out of his pocket, stares at the Texan and calmly says, “So you want to gamble hey? I’ll flip you for it.” He was serious.

As the Texan quietly slunk away into the shadows, Kerry turned back to the table and continued like nothing had happened.

Bad ass…

Cabbage Patch Stew

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground meat – beef, turkey, venison
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cabbage
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder
• Bisquick dumplings

Instructions

1. Cook and stir ground meat in Dutch oven until browned. Drain.
2. Add onions, cabbage and celery. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are light brown.
3. Stir in tomatoes, and kidney beans (with liquid), water, salt, pepper and chili powder. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer until cabbage is tender.
4. Meanwhile, prepare Bisquick dumplings. Drop by spoonsful into boiling stew. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes.
5. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Serve.

What’s the strangest wrong number you’ve ever answered?

I picked up the phone (old school landline back in the day) and heard an angry voice say, “Where’s my money?” Since hanging up would only have convinced the caller that I was indeed the object of his rage, I stayed on the line and had what was for me an amusing conversation.

“You have the wrong number,” I said.

“What are you trying to pull?” he said. “You owe me $600.”

Further questioning revealed my interrogator was a drug dealer, had fronted an acquaintance a considerable amount of money, and was trying to collect with the (incorrect) phone number he’d been given. He just wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I know where you live,” he threatened. “I’ll come over there and kill you “

“Do it,” I said. “Since I’m not who you think I am, it’s no skin off my teeth.”

The conversation went on, I was unfailingly polite the whole time, I eventually excused myself and hung up, and he called back and tried again. Finally I said, “Look, man, your friend cheated you. I hope you find him, but I’m not your man.”

“Yeah, thanks anyway,” he said in a dejected voice and hung up.

What famous person had a promising career and then destroyed it with bad decisions?

I’m gonna have to say Charlie Sheen takes this award.

He was making tens of millions of dollars each year with his Sitcom, Two & Half men.

In the acting world, sitcoms are the best gigs.

The acting demands are super easy. The scripts are cookie cutter. After a few laps around the track, you learn to crank these episodes out one after another.

You come in, you shoot, boom you are done. They shoot entire seasons over a few weeks sometimes.

But he started in with the cocaine and we all know what happened next:

And what stinks (for Charlie) is that, around this time, he had gone through a divorce and judges issued alimony/child-support payments based on his current income.

He was paying his ex-wife Brooke Mueller $55,000 a month in child support AND his ex-wife Denise Richards $50,000 a month.

His income instantly ceased when he was on TV, going on these crazy tirades that were funny in the moment but catastrophic to his career.

What producers wants to work with a liability like that? Who wants to be publicly targeted by one of your own actors?

Combine his alimony/child-support payments, his drug habit, and preference for high end prostitutes.

And you have a dead career, HIV and a quickly depleting bank account.

Stay away from drugs, kids.

As a teacher, have you ever been accused of something?

I remember when I had one ten year old in my class, and we were oil and water to each other. One day I chastised her for swearing in class and she told me that she was going to get me back and I’d be sorry (presumably for scolding somebody as important as she was). The next day, my colleague, a teacher who was senior to me, came to me to tell me the student had complained I’d hit her. When I told him that it was a complete fabrication on her part, he told me, and I quote, “Well, she wouldn’t lie.”

I told him that I was offended, since the clear inference was that he believed I was lying. And I resented the implication that I was a liar who would abuse a child.

I was very relieved when she moved to his class the next year and decided she didn’t like him anymore than she had liked me and began to spread stories about him. When he complained about her in the staff room, I looked him in the eye and said, “Well, she wouldn’t lie.”

How do pro-lifers feel after hearing about Kate Cox’s inability to receive health care in Texas?

In Boston in the early 1700s Cotton Mather introduced variolation for the treatment and prevention of Smallpox. In those days, Boston was a town (it didn’t become a city until 1822) of about 4000 people. Every year AT LEAST 30 percent of the population came down with Smallpox, a virulent disease which disfigured the survivors, turned their teeth black, and caused them enormous pain. In a town with only 4000 people where everyone literally depended on everyone else, having 1200 people laid up meant that at least another 1000 had to be caring for them – or digging graves.

And then came the miracle of variolation. For the first time the possibility of ending this horrible scourge was REAL. It was no longer necessary to organize long and tedious and useless prayer vigils. There was science and medicine that had a REAL IMPACT and saved many people from the hideousness or scars and rotten teeth or worse, death.

Do you think the citizens were excited about this? NO THEY WERE NOT. They tried to kill Mather; they tried to burn down his house. They tried to kidnap his children because they were innoculated and therefore “impure”. You see, catching a horrible disease and becoming scarred and even dying at the age of six month was GOD’S WILL. If GOD wants you to get sick, who are YOU to interfere with his plan? Those people were the worst kinds of hypocrites. They wanted to do whatever they wanted if they weren’t caught or “seen by God” (such as the city Father offering to commute Mary Dyer’s death sentence if she slept with him. She didn’t and she swung.) but other than that they have to “virtue signal” that God was in charge and therefore YOUR CHILD had to suffer and die from Smallpox (especially if mine did last year).

The people in Texas are largely brainwashed by religious morons who fly big jets paid for by the suckers who are willing to fight to let any number of women and children die in childbirth or otherwise because a Rolex-wearing priest told them it was GOD’S WILL and we are not to interfere with it (while those same pastors get plastic surgery and drive Bentleys)

Eventually, the people of Boston woke up to the benefits of variolation and inoculation and many of the people throwing bricks through the windows of Mather’s house during the day suddenly showed up at midnight with their children and begged for the scratch that would change their lives for the better, the same way that Republicans fly to Massachusetts from Texas when they need an abortion or real medical treatment but put their boot on the neck of the poor and force them to die or give birth to a rapist’s child. Ken Paxton is absolutely no different from the Magistrate who tried to extort sex from Mary Dyer – then hanged her when she refused.

How will the US sanction China for violating the Iran trade restrictions?

You mean China buying Iranian oil?

Or the recently concluded 400 billion trade deal?

China has set up special financial facilities for Iranian accounts that are immune to us Treasury sanctions, because the entire payment mechanism is independent of the US dollar.

In other words, the US cannot threaten hegemonic destruction, unless they are willing to attack key nodes in the Chinese financial system.

Besides, the US is ALREADY sanctioning both Iran and China. Iran’s sanctions approach that of an embargo while China has been busy fending off America’s “maximum pressure” strategy that includes illegal tariffs, the closure of a consulate, a genocide determination, the removal of Hong Kong’s special status, the economic slaughter of Huawei and other Chinese companies, and many, many more direct and indirect acts of malice.

China must have thought since we’re already under maximum pressure, what China does or doesn’t do no longer matters because America can always pin something on us.

With or without Iran, America will bring it on and up the pressure game.

What we don’t know is when the Chinese will start baring teeth and attack instead of parry.

How can I travel back in time and meet my younger self?

I don’t want to

My younger self is a guy who never took anything seriously in life, who never studied in the least, who was happy with a pass mark in most exams and was happy go lucky

I would pick the books, visit a friend named Sairam who was what you would call a Nerd on the LAST DAY and study from the beginning and get a 45–50 mark score without understanding too much

My 21–22 year old self went to a Grindlays bank interview, couldn’t answer a SINGLE QUESTION put to me on world affairs or anything else

I was literally like Santhanam in Vaalu

Total Humiliation

My rebirth was after this interview

My second innings began after this

Reading books in English, Dickens, Forsyth, Le Carre

Membership of British Council and reading books on History and Geography

Learning Economics in evening classes while working in the morning

It was a wake up call

Without that interview, I would have ended up definitely in a place where I simply wouldn’t even know what Quora is

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I like my older self better

How is the current situation of Hong Kongers residing in the UK?

It depends who you ask.

The British government may want to attract Hong Kongers for financial reasons. The British public may be less welcoming.

I think a large percentage of immigrants are experiencing dissonance between what they expected and what they are experiencing. Many are unemployed or underemployed because of language and education/skill incompatibilities. There will be culture shock, feelings of alienation, depression, family problems, financial issues, etc.

Whether they want to (or can) come back to Hong Kong is debatable. Some sources say many do not plan to, despite the problems they are having. If they left because of anti-China/anti-government sentiments, then they cannot reconcile themselves to return. If they were involved in the 2019 riots, they may fear arrest (or “persecution” from their point of view). But more likely, if they sold their property in Hong Kong, they cannot afford to start over.

The immigrants are only in UK on a five-year visa, after which they can apply for settlement and citizenship. I suspect that a lot of them will find that citizenship is not forthcoming. What happens then? Do their visas get renewed or do they have to leave? If they have to leave, where can they go?

Have you ever seen a rude or entitled customer get put in their place?

My husband saw a woman at the dry cleaners who was acting very badly. Rude, entitled, aggressive – nearly spitting her words – the customers behind her were visibly uncomfortable, eyes lowered, feet shifting. It was one of those cases where you cringe inwardly for the employee being berated unfairly. Even if she was having a very bad day, this was – in my husband’s words – “…way over the top.”

She then made the great mistake of believing that she had supporters among fellow customers. In a plea for crowd support, randomly turning toward my husband, she said: “You agree with what I’m saying, don’t you?” Sadly for her, my husband had witnessed the conversation from start to finish.

“No, ma’am. I heard it all, and, I don’t agree with what you’ve said or how badly you’ve acted. First, you treated this store employee with blatant disrespect while he is trying to assist you. Second, you’ve inconvenienced other customers waiting for your tantrum to subside. Third, I am a small business owner, and if you acted like this in my business you would be asked to leave. You need to get ahold of yourself, and you owe this man (the store employee) an apology.” The woman then spun on her heel and walked out – and my husband was met with applause from other customers and a look of sheer relief from the store employee.

I honestly cannot stand it when I see a store employee being verbally abused. Cheers to my spouse for being a stand-up guy!

Does anything good really come out from staying in your comfort zone?

I have a relative who has never been outside her comfort zone. She’s in her 70’s and lived with her parents until they died, and then continued living in the same house she inherited. She never leaves her home village, and doesn’t have a passport or a Driving License. She’s never left the UK. I doubt if she’s ever left England. She’s never had a romantic relationship and obviously never been married.

She’s remarkably unambitious and satisfied. She is very sweet and quite eccentric, and lives surrounded by toy owls and cats. She complains about her health issues, but she’s quite positive generally. She used to do the hairdressing at a local old peoples home, but lives off the state pension now. She’s poor but perfectly happy.

I’d say that living a happy life is for her a good thing that has come out of staying in her comfort zone. We aren’t all the same.

Dr Tongue’s Evil House of Pancakes YouTube