Butler, Pennsylvania is a small city that was a one half hour drive from where I spent my High School years. This is a typical Western Pennsylvania city; steel, and blue collar work.

Downtown, in the city, was a restaurant. It was established in the 1920’s or 30’s and pretty much stayed with the same decor throughout the century. It was Art Deco “diner” style with stainless steel fixings and decor. With a big picture of the family founder over the door.

It was called “The Hot Dog Shop“.

And it served typical diner food, and was a great place for my family to go to as a young boy in my pre-teens and my teenager years.

I would often get such things as grilled cheese sandwiches, with sides of gravy laden french fries, and bowls of soup. So very delicious. Not to mention the mandatory cup of coffee.

About ten years ago, give or take, it burned down. What a great loss!

But….

They had insurance, and the rebuilt the restaurant and as far as I can tell, it is still operating today. Oh sure, the great thing is that the have not changed the menu. They have not changed the decor. In fact they kept everything else the same EXCEPT for the removal of the cigarette vending machines, the ash trays and the free packs of matches.

If you ever get a chance to go… please go there and enjoy a “blue plate special”. Good times! Good times!

Ah…

For today let’s start here…

As a student, what is the saddest thing you have found out about your teacher?

My 8th grade English teacher, Mr. Bishop, was one of my favorite teachers. He taught my sister four years before me, and the year he taught me, my sister was a new mother. He asked me about her and her new child frequently, like he really remembered her and cared about her. It was nice.

But I also remember a few times when he fell over in his chair during class. The kids all laughed at him, and he laughed right along with them as he got himself back up.

Sometimes, he’d seem to talk really slow or just “zone out” for a few seconds while teaching. We just got used to it.

One day, he didn’t come to school. We found out later that, while on his way to school that morning, he’d lost control of his motorcycle and crashed through a sign next to the road. He was fine… just shaken up a little, and his motorcycle was broken.

A few years later, when I was no longer his student, I heard through the grapevine that he had to quit teaching because he kept having “episodes” where he lost control of his body.

He had multiple sclerosis.

All of the incidents the year that he taught me were just manifestations of the disease. He either didn’t know it, or didn’t tell us. Probably he just didn’t tell us… it was none of our business.

That was 25 years ago now. He’d probably be in his 70s by this point. I’ve tried Googling him, but I can’t find anything. But that includes an obituary, so that’s a good sign, I guess.

Edit: I just Googled his name again, and found his obituary. He died in Jan. 2022.

Soul star

My employee was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness and has since been sluggish at work. How do I let her go nicely without it costing me?

If I have read this correctly, your dedicated employee is dying because of illness, and you want to get rid of her because she is sluggish aka tired.

Take a good long look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself that if you were in her position, would you want the same thing to happen to you?

This job is probably what is keeping her going through this tragic period of time in her life, and you want to take that away from her? Are you serious? What kind of a person are you? She has bills to pay, food to buy for herself and possibly her family, and a FUNERAL to plan for HERSELF! Show some compassion and understanding. Is this the reputation that you want to have? If you fire her, trust me, what you have done and why you have done it, will be spread to everyone, especially your contacts and/or clients (customers). Legally, she can sue you for firing her under the Equal Employment Opportunity Law.

Have a heart of flesh and not one of cold corporate stone. What you do, will come back on you, either for the good or for the bad. Choose wisely.

aliens first encounter

As someone who lives in the United Kingdom, what is the most ridiculous thing you have witnessed a tourist do?

Another tale from the shire horse farm which I used to work at. A group of French students came to the farm, along with a couple of teachers. The students were teenagers and right from the start they were causing trouble. The first thing was being kicked out of the gift shop for being caught trying to steal.

Then they came to the animal section where I worked. At first, they seemed to be behaving themselves, but after they left the farm animal section, a member of the public came up to me and informed me that one of the French teenagers had stolen a duck. Yes, a live duck. I immediately went to one of the teachers who were supposed to be supervising the students and asked them to unlock the coach, which is where the person had told me they’d seen the duck.

The teacher did so. The duck had been shut on the seating area, and was flapping around, terrified, and pooing everywhere. I managed to catch the duck and put it in a sack to calm it so I could get it back to the pond. The teacher then had the audacity to ask if someone could clean up the coach, to which I replied that since it was her students who had stolen the duck, then they could clean the coach. Then I left with the traumatised duck, who amazingly survived.

The French students were consequently kicked out of the shire horse farm and I for one hope that they enjoyed the trip back in their feather and duck poo encrusted coach.

What is your best “one time my dad … ” story?

One time my Dad and I drove about an hour to fly my radio-controlled helicopter. But that’s not the big thing.

This was way back in the early 80s, at the latest. Way before stabilization systems, autopilots, etc. I was about 13 years old, had gotten a paper route (yes, kids actually delivered papers to your door) and saved every cent to buy an RC helicopter. After several unsuccessful flight attempts at home (hovering is freaking *hard*), he suggested we go to a flying club where there was a guy who could teach me. Off we go!

We arrive, helicopter, fuel, cooler full of sandwiches and soda, ready to start my training! But… nobody’s there? Apparently, the flying club was off that weekend- we got our dates mixed up. Bollocks.

No matter- the field is open, we figure we’d just try more “self-paced instruction”. Fire up the heli, a few really bad hover attempts when all of a sudden:

I’m barely maintaining a hover when all of a sudden the heli peels off into this incredibly cinematic sweep- dips forward, tail sweeps around, engine throttles up- it was beautiful! My Dad was shouting “Oh yeah, that’s it!!”- but I was shouting “It’s not me! The radio is jammed!”

The heli, on its own, takes off on a circuit about 1 ft off the deck, and circles around- coming right back down the flight line. By now my Dad knows this craft is out of my control, and if he doesn’t catch it it’s probably gone forever- and he knows how hard I worked to buy it.

He jumps in front of it.

This is not a little drone- this is an aluminum-frame gas-powered 3ft rotor diameter with ash blades behemoth screaming down the runway at us. If it hit something on the ground and jumped up- it could have killed him.

It smashes into his shins, rotor blades splintering. The engine, no longer under load, starts to whine like a banshee- we pinch off the fuel tube and kill the engine. We collect the debris, and start home. Dad actually packed a couple of cold soda cans into his socks to keep the swelling down.

When we got home, I asked him why he would do such a foolish thing as blocking the heli with his body. He said “You worked so hard to buy this, and build it, and fly it- I couldn’t bear to see it take off and fly away on a full tank of gas and be lost forever. Let’s just fix this up.” BTW- he had bruises and blood pooling in his legs and feet for months after this.

That was almost 50 years ago. I could never bring myself to rebuild that heli, though we continued with a bunch of other projects that were somewhat less lethal.

In the grey

What is the most absurd code you’ve ever seen?

It was a computer science lab.

We were being taught loops in C++. As a test, the teacher gave us the following question :-

Print the following pattern.

Everyone of us started writing the code, trying everything (since at that time it was a high level problem for us). One of my friends had no clue whatsoever about the problem, but he wanted to score well in the test.

You know what he did?

He wrote the following code

#include<iostream.h>
void show();
int main();
{
char ch=’A’;
int i,n;
/* Here he wrote certain code just to
show that some thing was being done*/
show(); //called this function
//secretly
for(i=0;i<7;i++)
{
for(int j=0;j<12;j++)
{
/*wrote some more useless code
which had no
effect on output*/
}
}
return 0;
}
/*after leaving about 100 blank lines so
that you dont have to scroll the
function to show you*/
void show()
{
cout<< ” ABCDEFGFEDCBA\n”;
cout<< ” ABCDEF FEDCBA\n”;
cout<< ” ABCDE EDCBA\n”;
cout<< ” ABCD DCBA\n”;
cout<< ” ABC CBA\n”;
cout<< ” AB BA\n”;
cout<< ” A A\n”;
}

When the teacher came to check his code, he glanced at the code and asked him to run it.

HERE IS THE OUTPUT:

Teacher saw this correct output and awarded him full marks. Teacher no longer cared if the code was correct or not since it was producing the desired result.

I was like, “wow man at least you thought of such an idea!”

Edit 1:

Just showed this answer to my friend who is being referred here. He was amazed I remembered it to such precision.

The whitest thing

When a child actor acts in an R-rated film, what do the makers tell the child about the film?

As an experienced professional actor, whose children have acted in screen productions they were too young to view, I will attempt an answer.

The short answer is that the film is compartmentalised and the child actor will only experience a small subset of the film. They will only be told about what is appropriate for them to know.

The “makers” of the film communicate with the child in the first instance through the child’s agent and thence to the legal guardian (parent or otherwise). If they feel the role and the production are suitable they will agree to be available and audition. Then, if cast, it is up to the director to communicate with the child actor.

Under no circumstances will they be allowed to see the full script or be on set at all times in an “R-rated film”. They will not be invited to the full cast read through nor to extensive rehearsals. Film making is compartmentalised. Every single shot need not be in the same place or shot on the same day as the next shot. Things are not shot in order.

The production company is responsible for the wellbeing of the child actor and will allow the legal guardian to be on set when the child actor is called. They will also supply a chaperone and brief all the crew and cast about what is appropriate. For example I once played a character who murdered his family. I was never allowed to be seen by the child actors – no wardrobe, makeup, rehearsal calls were scheduled on the same day. In the shoots there were no shots framed to include both the murderer and the victim.

In another production, involving an infant, no crew or cast were allowed to make loud noises or wear perfume on set.

There are laws to protect minors on set in most jurisdictions. If they are obeyed the experience can be safe and rewarding for the child and one day, if they are old enough and choose to see the whole film, hopefully they will be able to be proud of their work.

What’s your most absurd dealbreaker?

I have a beauty for this question.

I tried to buy my family’s next home many years ago and my wife and I were blown away by the massive cubbyhouse in the back yard. Our kids were young and they would love it. We had other reasons to love the house too, one being that our good friends lived in the same street. Needless to say we were looking forward to buying this, our new home, and started the price negotiations.

A deal was struck and we signed a contract we were happy with. Part of the contract was to ensure that massive cubbyhouse was legal and had all the right government approvals. It did not and so our lawyer informed their lawyer of the problem. Instead of further negotiations and a price reduction or trying to gain the required approvals, the vendors thought it appropriate to cut it down and burn it!

Unbeknownst to me, this house was for sale due to the divorce of the previous owners and the husband thought it would annoy his ex wife to destroy the cubbyhouse. The problem was we had a signed contract for the purchase of the house including the cubbyhouse. They would have to make good and we were assured they would.

As is often the case the purchaser of the house we were selling needed another day or two to finalise their finances and asked for an extension to the settlement date which was agreed upon by us and the owners of the house we were buying. However on the new day settlement was to occur, the lawyer for our new house changed position and said that we had to give up on our demands for compensation over the cubbyhouse. We refused.

They then would not proceed with the sale and gave us the option to sue them later. To my lawyer’s amazement I cancelled the sale and walked away. I have no regrets either and I and my family found an even better house, we loved, shortly after. We loved our new neighbours too and enjoyed the next 13 years in that home.

What is China’s response to Trump’s claim that China wants him to lose?

China don’t give a shit. It is none of China’s business is the U.S. wants to choose a proverbial liar or a corrupt politician that is for the American’s to decide. China prefer to mind its own business. China’s government is answerable to its citizens. It wants to do everything to make China prosperous. And peaceful.

It is always ever ready for US miscalculations but it is the U.S. business if the U.S. wants to throw monies into bottomless money pit like Gaza or Ukraine or flex it’s muscles aimlessly bankrupting itself in the process. That is your choice. We the world knows better.

A man like Trump cannot even be a lowly official in most nation. We don’t vote a sexiest, racist, xenophobic, baboon into power. At best he stays running a small con till he is caught! Please vote him in for all we care!

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (4/8) Movie CLIP – Kirk Beats Khan (1982) HD

What are some signs that someone is not as successful as they claim to be (financially)?

1. They don’t have a circle of successful people.

A banker will have a group of financial friends while a start-up guy will surround himself with a bunch of start-up guys.

2. Wealth is quiet. Rich is loud. Poor is flashy.

3. They don’t care about time.

True wealthy men are particular in time because they know these are the most valuable resources.

4. They have fake rich hobbies.

Clubbing, drinking, and partying.

5. They always try to impress people with their wealth and possessions.

And they want other people to know when they have spent a lot of money.

6. They are name-dropping like crazy.

A real wealthy man will always keep things private and will never act in that way.

7. They tend to buy pieces where the logo is big.

For them, owning these items is about making a statement, not the quality of the product.

8. They may own an expensive car but live in a relatively cheap apartment or house.

9. They often do not have any savings or investments, even if they earn a significant amount of money.

10. They constantly brag about who they know or where they’ve been.

Have you ever walked into work only to realize that you were fired?

I’d been in my new corporate job two weeks. I’d been given an office on day one and by the end of week two had made it my own.

Family pictures, work calendar with my appointments and in particular my desk blotter. My desk blotter was a massive work tool and an important record of my days and weeks. After two weeks my office no longer looked like the office I was given two weeks earlier.

Monday morning I arrive at work and to my surprise a very confused man I had not met before was sitting in my office, behind my desk. I was just about to have a chat to him when my secretary grabbed me and told me the news.

The man sitting at my desk used to have my office. He had been fired during his leave but his boss apparently hadn’t told him yet. To make matters worse his boss wasn’t at work yet either. Awkward.

So I did the right thing. I waited in the boardroom until his boss showed up and did the deed. I had no time for his boss, he was a lazy, disorganised non performer who didn’t last much longer than the guy who just got fired.

I found the whole episode to be cruel. I don’t know how much earlier than me he got to work that day but he would have known instantly he no longer had a job when he entered his old office and saw it had been taken over. That just isn’t right and I felt extremely sorry for him.

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

Heh. This was years ago, at my current employer.

We’re a mailhouse: we take people’s mail, co-mingle it, sort it, and get a better rate from the Post Office. As we’ve grown, we’ve added inserting/fulfillment, and eventually, printing as well. Like a print shop, but built in reverse.

I was hired to be the print department, which I did for seven years before I became the IT manager.

As print designer, programmer, and general operator, I often had to talk with clients—sending proofs, getting information, etc., and I developed a good rapport with many, if not all, of them, sometimes better than the salesperson they were assigned to.

If there was something wrong with an order, I was often the first person they’d contact.

So it was with a large client of the banking world. They were a high maintenance/high-return client, so I always gave them my best customer service. This day, they called to find out about envelopes, which is not my department, but I knew whom to talk with and I told them I’d look into it.

I ran around the shop and got the info, and reported back: they were out of envelopes.

Oops.

I had neglected to loop the salesperson in on the request (they don’t have any production knowledge, usually, so never was an issue in the past), but our salesperson, for some reason I’m still not clear on, had lied to the client and told them we had envelopes in stock.

No envelopes meant that their time-sensitive prints weren’t going on time. So when I said, “Yeah, there’s no envelopes in stock”, you’d better believe that our client went into panic mode.

And of course, they called the salesperson back, who, not knowing that I had told them the truth, proceeded to lie…again. The client was displeased, told them what I’d told them, and demanded an explanation. There was much back-pedaling and BSing from the salesperson along the lines of “Oh, they’ll be delivered today, Toby just didn’t know…” blah blah.

My manager, the general manager, the sales manager, all called me in. “Why are you talking with clients at all?” They asked, incensed. I could tell that they were this close to just firing me on the spot.
“Because I have daily conversations with them about their jobs?” I offered.
“Not anymore. ALL communication goes through the salesperson.”
“Ooookay, but, just to make sure I understand this correctly, it was the salesperson that lied to the customer, right?”
“That doesn’t matter! You could have cost us this account!” Veins were popping on at least two foreheads.
“No, I’m pretty sure that does matter. If we’d been honest with them, there wouldn’t be a problem.” And that was the third forehead.
They talked among themselves for a moment and said, “Just…just no more talking with clients.”
“Your call.”

The next day, one of the client’s vice-presidents flew in from across the country for a surprise inspection. There were no envelopes. Because I was just a print jockey, I didn’t have to be in that room when those four people got chewed out. But I did hear (from the client) that they were glad at least one person in the company was honest, or they’d have had a huge legal fight (that they would lose) on their hands.

Yeah, we lost the account. And, yeah, relations with that salesperson and I were chilly from then on (months later, she left the company). But what hurt even more was that all those customers who were used to my excellent customer service were now getting the run around from their clueless salespeople. Several of them complained and accounts were shuffled around*, but eventually the people in charge figured out that the problem started when they took me out of the loop.

“Toby, it’s okay if you talk to clients again.”
“Oh, good.”
“Just…check with the salespeople before you report on production, will you?”
“You mean, in case we need to lie to them?”
*Uncomfortable fidgeting* “In case we need to apologize.”
“Okay. Because I’m not going to lie to our clients.”
“That will be all.”

I’m happy to report that in the dozen or so years since, our sales team has become far more adept at apologizing and rectifying situations, and our production team has learned how to order before we run out of stock. My work here is done.

*Yes, a few clients did even suggest that they’d rather have me as their salesperson, but that idea was rejected by everyone—I don’t do sales, for reasons obvious from this answer.

Truth

What was the most popular band in the 70s that isn’t popular now?

Ask a teenager who is into classic rock to name the biggest performers of the Nineteen-Seventies. They’ll tell you names like Queen, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Ask them “What about the Bay City Rollers?,” and they’ll answer: “Who?”

In the Nineteen-Seventies, if you liked popular music, you couldn’t escape the Bay City Rollers. From 1974 to 1977, they dominated the music scene, selling an alleged 120 million records. Yet you hear little about them today. It’s as if they’ve been erased from the collective memory.

Rollermania replicated the Beatlemania of the Nineteen-Sixties. Many however, felt the Rollers’ success was undeserved. As with all bands popular with young teenage females though, their success waned as their fans got older.

If you were female and under 14 in 1977, the Bay City Rollers were your world. No-one else wanted anything to do with them.

Time has not been kind to the Bay City Rollers. Unlike their predecessors, the Monkees, and their successors ABBA, the Bay City Rollers have not been declared pop geniuses. Classic rock fans have by and large spurned them. They are largely remembered today as an embarrassment. If they are ever mentioned at all in a documentary, it’s usually for laughs.

The Bay City Rollers’ record contract with Arista expired in 1981. Although this was the official end of the band, after 1981 versions of the Rollers continued to record and tour.

Eventually, nostalgia rescued the Bay City Rollers from obscurity. They appeared at the Punk and Disorderly 2010 festival, on the same bill with legends Stiff Little Fingers, Cockney Rejects, and Anti-Nowhere League. The ‘dag’ movement in Australia, which brought back faded performers and trends from the Nineteen-Seventies and Nineteen-Eighties, encouraged some to go to thrift shops in search of Bay City Rollers vinyl and memorabilia.

The Bay City Rollers saw little of the estimated £5 billion generated by their record sales and merchandising. Reportedly the nostalgia circuit enabled the Bay City Rollers to live the comfortable lives that their negligent and criminal management denied them, before death eventually claimed the main members.

I remember thirty years ago the Bay City Rollers undertook a low-key tour of Australia. This caused some excitement among the late-twenties females at work. One woman, who only listened to alternative rock, was quite excited that the Bay City Rollers were coming back!

You either hated them or loved them … the Bay City Rollers at the height of Rollermania. At least the Ramones admitted they liked them.

Kung Pao Beef

00100lrPORTRAIT 00100 BURST20200212145151299 COVER scaled 1

Ingredients

1 pound beef boneless sirloin or flank steak
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 dash white pepper
2 hot green chiles
2 green onions (with tops)
1 red bell pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger root
2 tablespoons brown bean sauce
1/2 cup diced canned bamboo shoots
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup skinless raw peanuts, roasted

Instructions

Trim fat from beef steak; cut beef into 3/4-inch cubes. Toss beef, 1 tablespoon oil, the cornstarch, salt and white pepper in glass or plastic bowl. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Cut chiles into thin slices (remove seeds and membrane if desired).
Cut onions diagonally into 1-inch pieces.
Cut bell pepper into 3/4 inch squares.
Heat 12-inch skillet or wok until very hot. Add 2 tablespoons oil; rotate skillet to coat bottom. Add beef; stir-fry 2 minutes or until beef is brown. Remove beef from skillet.
Heat skillet until very hot. Add 2 tablespoons oil; rotate skillet to coat bottom. Add chiles, garlic, ginger root, bean sauce and bamboo shoots; stir-fry 1 minute.
Add beef, bell pepper and sugar; stir-fry 1 minute.
Stir in onions.
Sprinkle with peanuts.

What is your evaluation of the recent visit to China by a delegation of Arab foreign ministers? Do they want China to attack Israel?

About twenty years ago, these Nations had little voice

They had to DO AS TOLD by the United States and it’s allies

If they showed the slightest independence, they would be faced with a four step method by the US

Make up accusations on Human Rights violations which would be the first step. Saddam got this in 1989 after the Iran Iraq war (Until which time he was useful to the West so they didn’t see any human right violations)
Impose Trade restrictions on such countries using shipping insurance and freight as a weapon and throttling their revenues which would be in Dollars. Saddam got this in 1994/95, ironically almost 4 1/2 years after he invaded Kuwait. Step Two
Impose Unilateral Sanctions and freeze their money and prevent them from being able to buy basic food and water at times not to mention medicines, hospital supplies etc. This is the FINAL WARNING. At this stage the Nation needs to depose it’s present leader and the new leader has to kowtow to the West.Step Three
Cause a color revolution or invade making some trumped up excuse.Step Four

Today these Nations have a very strong BACK UP SYSTEM

If the US goes too far, these Nations have CHINA & RUSSIA to fall back on

China takes care of the commerce and trade. The RMB ensures that these Nations can keep buying anything they want as long as they have Oil and Gas to sell China rendering most sanctions as impotent

Drilling machines, Machinery, Food, Paper Clips – You name it and China will deliver

Plus China’s enormous clout at the UN and it’s lobbying powers beat the US today. China carries 78 guaranteed votes at the UN Assembly against 54 Guaranteed Votes of the US

Russia takes care of the Grain and of the Military aspect

If the US try any tricks like they did in 2003, they could find themselves in a conflict with Russia being involved

Best example is Syria where Assad is very much in charge despite all the attempts by the US to depose him under Obama & Trump (?)

So the Arab Nations have a voice today

They can protest and they can demand things and the US can’t repeat it’s four step formula because that could send them fully to Russia and China like it happened with IRAN

That’s all the Arab Nations are looking for with China

They still want to be loyal to the US and it’s allies but if the US goes TOO FAR then they won’t buckle that easily and they have a back up with Russia and China

The US better not make the same mistake they did with Iran or Russia this time

Alien³ – What Happened On The Sulaco [HD]

What is the most clever way you have seen someone respond to road rage?

My brother. He was working graveyard shift at the time and had to commute quite a distance on the freeway for work. Of course, night time is when they do a lot of roadwork in this region to minimize impacts during rush hour. My brother is a burly sized guy. At the time he drove a little Hyundai hatchback. (Important to know for later). Anyway, one night, while commuting to work, the freeway is shut down to 1 lane of traffic for roadwork. Every one is backed up, traffic is virtually at a stops as everyone merges from 4 lanes to 1. Some person is a big old jacked up pickup truck gets behind my brother and starts riding his tail. Obviously, since this is a traffic jam, my brother can’t go anywhere. After a little while of riding my brothers butt, this person decides to turn on their high beam and start getting aggressive. Backing off, then running up to my brothers bumper and slamming on the brakes at the last possible second. At this point, traffic is down to one lane, so my brother stops in the middle of the traffic and proceeds to unfold himself from the car. Walks back to the truck and starts slamming his hand on the hood and screaming at the person. “it’s one f**king lane! I can’t go anywhere, I can’t go any faster! I can’t pull over and you can’t f**king pass me! If you want a fight climb out right now! Otherwise, Back the F**K off!”

Big truck never opened his doors. My brother waited a moment, went back to his car and proceeded on his way. Big truck turned off their headlights and maintained a respectful distance for the rest of the way through the roadwork.

Why would anyone want to retire?

I operated coin-operated amusements from about 1989 to about 2010. Foosball tables, Air Hockey, Video Games, Countertop Games, Pinball Machines, Pool Tables, Dart Boards, etc. I also retailed various Home Model games and parts, mostly Foosball.

I quickly realized, or maybe not so quickly, that when Laptops connected to WiFi had more attractive games on them than my coin-ops, and eventually even Cell Phones had more interesting games, that my business was doomed. During that same time many of my locations, mostly taverns and bars, and a few Game Rooms as well, were going out of business.

I had the policy, unlike most of my competitors, to own my own business without having an awful silent partner of a huge bank-loan. If I could expand using the funds from my business, I did, otherwise I remained small.

When the contraction began, as I lost a location, or one became unprofitable, I would just sell off the equipment and cash out. That went on for several years. But I kept my business open for my customers. The last 2–3 years I worked but had negative income. In other words, I was paying for the privilege of being able to work.

One year, I think it was either my last or second to last, I worked all year and found that I lost $6,000 doing so. More frustrating than that, I had $8,000 in licensing and taxation expenses. In other words, $8000 of my $6000 loss went to licensing and taxing authorities. After being in business for about 2 decades, you learn to hate taxation and licensing. That is when I closed shop. I just couldn’t see giving them ALL the money I earned and paying them an additional $2,000 out of my savings. Technically, I still have a non-operating business, that I don’t work at anymore.

Anyway, the end result was I quit working because it was more profitable to not work.

What is the rudest thing someone said to you because of your weight?

Not me… my wife.

My beautiful wife was a size five 10 years ago when she got pregnant with our first son. Here’s a picture of her right before she got pregnant.

Her pregnancy was difficult. She gained a lot of weight and her legs and feet got so swollen that the last couple of months were almost unbearable for her. She couldn’t walk very far without pain.

One time as we were walking out of a restaurant when my wife was 8 months pregnant, a woman stopped in her tracks and said “Oh my God”… looking at my wife’s stomach.

She was in labor for 36 hours and finally the doctor said “That baby is not coming out.” C-section it was. We found out why he wasn’t coming out. The doctor pulled him out and said “That is a BIG baby!” He was 12 pounds 2 ounces.

Two years later we had our second and final son. He was 11 pounds.

The two pregnancies and two C-sections left my wife with a hernia in her stomach and muscles that just never healed back normally. Despite her going to the gym 4–5 times a week and eating right, her belly has never been the same.

At least 10 times in the years since, people have asked my wife how far along she is. People, please stop doing this to women. Don’t ever, ever, ever ask someone if they are pregnant. My wife has been brought to tears over this stupid question many times.

Here’s my beautiful family now.

Update:

Wow, so many wonderful comments from all kinds of people. Thanks so much. It’s truly heartwarming to hear so many of you comment on how beautiful my wife is. She truly is a beautiful person inside and out.

Many have commented about how my wife could have corrective surgery. This is something we have researched and considered for several years. We are hoping that in the next few years we’ll be able to save enough money. It’s a very expensive surgery that we currently can’t afford, but it’s important for me that we get there and we get it done.

Preventing scars by allowing bruises

Do kids of bigger families wish they didn’t have so many siblings? If you were raised with more than 4-5+ siblings, what are your thoughts? Did you like having so many siblings? Were older siblings expected to take care of the younger ones?

I’m one of 5 kids. My parents always wanted a big family — in fact, they’d planned on 6 kids, but my mom’s health wouldn’t stand for it. Money was always tight, of course. My dad made a good salary but it still didn’t stretch that far among seven people, and my mom stayed home to take care of us. Both my parents believed it was very important for her to do that, and tbh any money she brought home would have been totally eaten up by childcare, anyway.

There was a time or two that I wished there weren’t so many of us, so there would be more money and attention for me. But which of my siblings would I wish out of existence? I could never imagine my life without any one of them. They’ve been my lifelong built-in friends. And sometimes enemies, LOL — we used to fight like cats and dogs! But as adults we are all very close, even those of us who are far apart in age. In a lot of ways I feel sorry for people who didn’t grow up with a lot of siblings like I did.

It probably makes all the difference that we didn’t just happen, our parents specifically wanted a lot of children to love. They always knew and respected our different personalities and needs. They sacrificed to make sure we were taken care of. They enjoyed our company—our mom was sad when we went back to school after summer break because she missed us! They never played favorites or acted like we owed them for existing.

And yes, the older siblings did take care of the younger, to an extent. Our oldest sister was Second Mommy in a lot of ways. I remember changing my two youngest siblings’ diapers. That’s how it works in a big family, you help take care of each other. But we helped, we weren’t fully responsible for our siblings. We just did our part. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to learn early in life that you’re not the center of the universe! You’re part of a family, and that means you’re there for them and they’re there for you.

Personally, I wouldn’t trade my family or the way I grew up for anything!

Evil Mother

As a patient, what’s the angriest you have ever been toward a doctor?

When a GI failed to listen to my history. Failed to look at records, radiology and pathology reports from my past. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis while active duty over two decades prior, my diagnoses was switched by his nurse practitioner to Crohn’s when I was hospitalized.

He decided I simply had Irritable bowel syndrome and told me it was in my head. At an office visit when asked what my pain was, I reported it as a 5 (I had an obstruction) only for the nurse to LAUGH. I stood up and excused myself asking for someone else to check me in since she thought pain was funny. The office manager came in to apologize but looked at my husband the entire time. When he noticed he said: “You need to be apologizing to my wife, not me”.

I ended up receiving a certified letter that I needed to find a new GI (I already had), so I asked to speak with the medical director and was kicked out of the patient portal. This same GI dismissed me when complaining of my guts being on fire (I had pancreatitis). I ended up walking around with a dead gallbladder and ended up in the ICU for 5 days.

I just returned from the ER after messaging with my primary for a month trying to get a GI referral for my now second stone stuck in my common bile duct. She kept telling me to go. I kept saying what for? They won’t treat the pain I’m in nor will they listen. She assured me I’d be admitted for pain control.

I wasn’t.

The ER provider did not listen when I told him my history of translucent stones being missed and that they’ll see it on an ultrasound. What was ordered? A CT. Of course nothing was seen but my liver enzymes are high, potassium low and positive lactic acid…I stood pacing the 5 hours we were there hoping to be heard.

I wasn’t.

Getting taken seriously post Covid is extremely difficult. There are so many jaded medical professionals that assume anyone complaining of pain is just there for narcotics… a year of trying to get help and countless episodes of Pancreatitis with no pain control is barbaric and my blood pressure certainly shows it. I cannot eat without feeling like a bomb has gone off inside me. NSAIDS have already caused gastritis and duodenitis so those are off the table.

I already exceed the recommended dose of Tylenol due to no other option. Yay for my liver!!

My children have been told that if I go septic or get peritonitis and the worst happens to sue. I’ve left a paper trail for them to follow. It’s so amazing being a middle aged female. I can’t possibly know what’s wrong due to experiencing it in the past. Nope. I’m just some needy woman who doesn’t get attention at home. I just can’t with the assenine thought process

Pretty in China

What is the saddest thing that happened to you that you never shared with others before?

Year : 2009

Place:Patna

It was during the summer, my maternal uncle and his friend visited our home. As usual, my mother cooked lunch for everyone and everyone were engaged in a conversation.

I was bored and wanted to peek into my Facebook account. I made a quick move and sat in front of my desktop and was chatting with my virtual friends.

After few minutes, I noticed a firm hand resting on my shoulders. I turned back to see and to my shock it was my uncle’s friend. I got uncomfortable and I thought probably he is just patting me.

After a while, his hands traveled downwards towards my breasts and he tried to hold them . THAT was a sickening feeling! And, I was so petrified that I couldn’t move and froze in fear.

I gathered courage to just run away from the room and went out to the living room. I saw my mom and looked at her face but I fumbled. And, I couldn’t speak up anything regarding the event that occurred with me few minutes ago.

I locked myself up and cried that night. The next day, my mother could sense something wrong with my behavior. And, asked me “Beta, what happened?” ..

I broke down and with tears in my eyes , I went on with everything I had in my heart.

She was shocked and furious. And what she did made me relieved and happy!

The next day, my uncle and his friend were leaving for their hometown.

My mother went to the railway station, got Kurkure and Lays chips ( as that man got these things for me) and in front of …all the passengers she threw those packets on his face and slapped him and thrashed him with her chappals.

She returned home, and said me ” Promise me , you will speak up if anything will bother you and at least would share with me if anyone tries to touch you without your consent” .

I’m still stuck to the horror of that event and it’s very hard to move on. I try to keep a safe hand distance from men and in a crowded place where I am surrounded by men I still feel restless. I just want to run and run and hide myself some where.

I live a normal life but some where within me, these fear have created a little home for themselves.

Ronald Reagan on taxes

What is the lowest probability event you have personally witnessed?

Technically, *I* didn’t witness it – my cousin’s camera witnessed it. But it was the bullet itself as it came out of the barrel of my .357 magnum.

To impart just how rare of a thing this is, normally a photographer has to use a reeally, reeeally advanced (and extremely expensive) camera with an insanely high continuous shutter-speed, AND stage the timing of the shot (by that I mean both the camera-shot and the gun-shot), as well. And even THEN, sometimes they have trouble.

My cousin did not have that kind of camera. He had a Nikon. Something like a D500 or a D600. It’s a nice camera for a hobbyist, but it’s not even remotely designed to capture something like a bullet moving at 1,500 feet per second. As is evidenced by the fact that the bullet in the picture appears as just one really long rod-like streak, rather than the size and shape of a normal bullet. THAT PROVES JUST HOW SLOWLY THE APERTURE CLOSED, in comparison to the speed of the bullet.

A person could easily spend their entire lives trying to get a picture of a bullet at that shutter speed, and never capture it even once.

And, mind you, my cousin wasn’t attempting to take a picture of the bullet itself, he was intending to take a picture of me just shooting the gun. So he was just manually clicking the camera button with his finger, not caring that much about the timing.

Would you buy a “mechanic’s special” used car?

This was back in the early 1970s. I bought 1969 Chevy Beaumont from a friend, I gave him motorcycle, that I had paid $500 for two years before, and was worth maybe $350, plus I think $200 cash.

I was managing a service station at the time, so I had access to all the tools and parts.

I had inspected the car before and I knew what it needed.

The water pump was leaking like a sieve, so I took it off, and at the time, you just used a cheap $3 kit to repair it, and replace. The fuel filter was plugged, it was just a piece of cardboard probably cost me 50 cents. The oil was so thick I drained a couple of quarts out, put two more quarts in, ran it for ten minutes, so that the black sludge would actually drain. Then changed the oil and filter. $7

There is a doughnut gasket between the exhaust manifold and the exhaust pipe. It was completely gone, no sign that it ever existed. It had been spewing out hot exhaust gas, and had burnt three spark plug wires to a crisp, so they weren’t firing.

At the time you could just buy bulk spark plug wire, cut what you need and put new caps on each end.

The donut gasket was $2, the sparkplug wire and caps was another $3.

The car was all done. I had put a sign up out front of the service station, offering to sell the car for $1200.

While I was still replacing the donut gasket, I was offered cash, no questions for the car.

They waited impatiently while I changed the donut gasket, gave me $1200 and drove off.

It had taken me about $30 and an most of an afternoon of my day off, to fix it.

This was a long time ago, but to put it in perspective, I could buy more than 400 cases of beer for $1200.

So, in the good old days, when you could actually work on cars yourself, I had a lot of mechanics specials.

Today I wouldn’t risk it.

What is the worst example of cheating you have ever seen, as a teacher?

Ice Tubes.

When I was subbing, I asked a question about atoms with the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons.

Such atoms are called “Isotopes”.

Someone in class apparently knew that answer. But then people started playing a fun game of telephone, and the answer got … blurred.

In the end, several people wrote “Ice Tubes”.

Sad. But I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Runner up?

When I was in 7th grade, my science teacher approached me with a proposition:

“David, if you can get a 0% on the next science test, I’ll give you 100%.”

“Um, Mr. Morris, why would you do that?”

“Because I think people are cheating off of you. I know you know this stuff, and if you get every single question wrong, I’ll know that you knew all of the answers and were able to pick the wrong one. Plus, it’ll catch the cheaters.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Morris.”

I liked Mr. Morris. He was nerdy.

And so, on the test, I did my level worst. Answered every single question wrong on the Scantron (multiple choice) test.

And 7 other people all got zeroes.

I got an A in that class. Best zero I ever got.

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

Right out of high school I was working for a big box retailer. I had only been working there a couple of weeks when I saw this happen.

I was working as a cashier and this little old lady (around 80 y/o) came up with her items – and she had quite a few of them. She was walking with a walker and moved pretty slowly.

We had just opened the doors for the day, so it was around 7am and there were only two of us, so pretty barebones staff. The rest of the staff would be in about an hour later – and this lady had been waiting at the door when we got there.

Just as she finished putting her items on the counter, this guy in a business suit comes up to the counter and asks me if I could ring him up really quickly – he was in a real rush.

I told him that was up to the lady who had just finished unloading her cart.

She said no – she was late for an appointment herself and he would have to wait.

He cut her off and INSTRUCTED me to ring him up right then. I said no. He then told me to get another cashier up front, right this damn minute. I told him the only other person working the store at the moment was the receiving guy and he was unloading the truck – and couldn’t use the registers anyways as he didn’t have the codes to the registers. I was the only cashier and would be until 8am.

He got really irate – I’m going to call the manager, etc. etc. etc. He was kept raising his voice until he was almost screaming. Other customers started to gather to watch.

When he finally got to the question of Don’t you know who I am? The little old lady yelled back at him – Yeah, you’re an asshole so shut the F up before I ram this walker where the sun don’t shine. She also said some other very choice words to him, but it’s inappropriate to post here.

He was just shocked by this little lady. He was so embarrassed, that he left his stuff in the basket, dropped it on the floor and left.

Turns out, this little old lady was in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during World War II. As the women’s division equivalent of a drill sergeant. She had been married to a USMC drill sergeant and her two kids became USMC drill sergeants.

She didn’t take crap from anybody.

What is the most condescending advice you received from someone who assumed you were poorer or less educated than them?

I grew up in New Hampshire where we had well water (without fluoride) and my parents never took me to a dentist. Consequently, by the time I got to college, my teeth were a mess.

I took a part-time job just so I could try to afford the dental work I knew I needed.

When I opened my mouth, the dentist looked inside and made a “Tsk! Tsk!” sound.

“Someone needs to start brushing their teeth and lay off the sugar,” he said in front of his hygienist. They shared a look of disapproval.

The truth was that as a college athlete on a partial academic scholarship, I ate healthfully and did brush after meals.

I found myself shaking with anger and shame which the dentist interpreted as fear.

“There’s no beating around the bush. You’re going to need a lot of work to save these teeth and it’s going to be expensive,” he advised.

I got out of the chair, didn’t commit to a second appointment, and the next day, went to another dentist who immediately sensed that the situation was more complicated than a snap judgment. He asked questions and when I mentioned growing up in New England, he said, “I thought so. I used to practice in Vermont and half of my patients were people who didn’t have access to fluoridated water. But don’t worry. I can see that you’ve developed good habits and together we can get you caught up.”

He quoted me prices that were half what the first dentist charged. He put me on a no interest payment plan where, for the next three years, I visited the office sometimes twice a week.

The process was all-consuming and expensive despite the plan and reasonable prices. There were times when I chose between meals and paying for dental work. I don’t recommend root canals on an empty stomach. But while I was never able to afford orthodontics, to this day, I never lost a tooth.

How was the US industry so powerful during WW2?

Just to give you an ideal on how strong the US industries was in world war two.

The Free French air force (1940–1943) was a sad display of brave but poorly equipped pilots, most of the experienced officers and pilots where parts of the royal air force (some 262 men in 1940 -which is far from nothing!) the free fernch air force was a mickmack of stolen plane from vichy air base, obsolete planes, some hurricane (at beset!) etc.

After the success of operation torch (november 1942) the American agreed to modernize the entire french army, navy, land forces and air forces included. The rearmement for the French air force was nickname Plan 7.

From scratch… the Americans totally rebuilded the entire french air force with some 33 fighter groups (bombers, fighters, reconnaissance)…while also rebuilding the French army with 3 armored division, several tank regiments (destroyed, medium and light), several paratrooper unit…. and modernizing the 140 vessels of the French navy!

the Fench air force went from this:

to this… in a matter of one single year:

-The French air force would be an important component for the Allies, fighting in the Mediteranean, eastern front, England, Normandy, France, Italy, Sicily just to name a few.

Basically the US industries were literally spewing thousands enough materials to rearm a nation air force for 3 decades!

Bourne Means Business – Part 3A: Intelligence

“A couple of nights ago, I was so tired from everything we’ve been through with our toilet breaking and our house flooding.

We got back to the hotel we are living in pretty late after the hour-long round trip drive to boy scouts and basketball practice.

We put the kids to bed as quickly as possible and some teenagers were loud in the hallway for awhile.

I was frustrated, but wanted to wait to talk to them at the right time so I could tell them about our situation to see if they could show compassion rather than become angry at the lady next door.

I didn’t see them the next morning at breakfast.

(But that night ) I noticed that they were Future Farmers of America kids from Kansas.

They had their doors cracked, so I decided to talk to them.

I let them know about our house being destroyed by water.

I told them that we wanted them to have their fun and we would appreciate their respect to let our kids get good rest.

The young man who answered the door told me that he was very sorry about what we are going through.

Before I went to bed, I noticed a note that someone had slipped under our door.

I opened the note to find money.

(The note said:

We are more than sorry for,waking you and your family up the past few nights.

We hope everything goes well with you house.)

In a world where some people sit behind screens and become angry on social media, this young man restored my faith that the next generation can make eye contact and show compassion to the person right in front of him.

There were two other guys that I could see in their hotel room.

If anyone sees this post and knows who I’m talking about, please tag these guys so I can say thank you and God bless.

They set an excellent example for my children and their parents should be more than proud.

What is your best parking spot revenge?

When I was a teenager I went with my cousin and friend to an ice cream shop located in a strip mall. The parking lot was very full. There was a pristine looking truck parked in the intersecting point of four parking spaces. Literally one vehicle taking up a portion of four spots. The parking stalls weren’t too small for a truck like his either. Frustrated with this person’s sense of entitlement, I grabbed a sheet of paper from my school binder and wrote “I am so sorry about the damages. I will be in touch to discuss payment.” I left no contact information. I put it on his windshield.

20 minutes later we watched from the inside of the ice cream shop as the man looked at the note. He looked angry. Then, in the pouring rain, he spent several minutes walking around his vehicle, closely inspecting it for signs of damage. He got more than a little wet. We could see the moment when it clicked for him. He cracked a smile and looked like he laughed before climbing in his truck and driving away.

Is 60k a year a high salary in the U.S.?

Let me kind of start from the inside out. I live in Seattle (well, about 5 miles from the city of Seattle anyways, so whatever.)

Assuming 60k means $4,000/month take home, give or take, let’s look at some houses you could save up to consider.

In Seattle, with a 20% down payment, here’s a $2,500 mortgage payment.

If that looks like a small 1br house, that’s because it is. That’s what a $600,000 budget gets you in Seattle, relatively close to downtown.

Go 30 miles south to a city called Puyallup, and you get this:

Well, this is actually about $60,000 cheaper than the one above. Pretty profound difference right?

Go about 2 hours east and you’ll find homes about $100,000 cheaper than the Seattle house that look like this:

Okay, so now we’re closer to a $2,000 monthly mortgage, and I gotta say, that’s a whole lot of house. It has what, 3–4 car garages, wrap around 2nd level deck with a view, plenty of land… Not bad for the half million range.

Still though, Washington is pretty expensive even in the “cheaper” areas.

Let’s head back to my dad’s home state of Ohio.

Wait, is that a castle!? Yeah, that’s a f*ing castle. Not bad for that half million range, right? Except it’s not. It’s $280,000. With a way smaller down payment, you get your own castle for $1,200/month.

It comes with f*ing gargoyles!

The US is a pretty big country…

That’s really the trouble here. I mean, if you’re a full-time work from home employee, there are places in the country that are actually great to live in, good medical, good schools, etc., where 60k is a great income. In others, it’s low income.

I showed houses, of course, but even food, electric, water, fuel, home/car repair rates, taxes, etc. can fluctuate wildly from place to place. If you’re restricted to a location, look at it, and if not, go look at what’s out there and what you like. It’s a big and beautiful place with something for everyone.

What’s something you can’t believe you had to explain to another adult?

I once argued with a graduate student over the weight of a Taco Bell burrito. She was hungry and so I suggested some half-pound burrito (I don’t remember what it was called). At which point the conversation went something like this:

“I can’t eat a half-pound burrito, that’s way too much food!”

“Actually, it’s only 8 ounces.”

“No, but it’s a burrito, so it’s heavier than that!”

“Um, no, it doesn’t actually matter what it is. A pound is 16 ounces, so a half pound is 8 ounces. A half pound of one thing weighs the same as a half pound of something else.”

“No, it’s more than that because beans are heavier.”

“Um, so you would argue that a half pound of bricks is heavier than a half pound of feathers?”

“Yeah, obviously bricks are heavier than feathers!”

“Even if they are both the same 8 ounces??”

“Well, yeah, because bricks weigh more than feathers!”

This went on for maybe a couple minutes while we were sitting in the drive-thru waiting to order. Honestly we had to finally agree to disagree before I went crazy. At which point I learned that a formal education doesn’t always mean a whole lot…

Emotion and belief

What was the British Army’s biggest mistake in WW1?

Allowing GHQ (General Headquarters) France to disregard hard intelligence.

British Military Intelligence was grouped per Command (GHQ Home, GHQ Ireland, GHQ France, etc.). This means nobody had the overall picture.

On top of that, most intelligence went through the Foreign Office and that intelligence, often on economic and and social matters in Germany was disregarded by GHQ France.

Brigadier John Charteris, in charge of Intelligence GHQ France was of the opinion that the hard intelligence was too pessimistic.

He believed, and convinced General Haig and his staff, that Germany was near to defeat as early as 1915 and pushed, together with General Haig for continuous offensives starting in 1916.

The estimates regarding available ammunition, air power, German troops movements, German troop morale, German civilian morale, etc. were all wrong.

The British kept on pushing for major offensives that resulted in massive casualties without ever having a real chance of breaking the stalemate until the Hundred Day Offensive in 1918.

In London, it was well known Intelligence GHQ France was a sick joke, yet nobody dared to upset the existing structure in which each Army Command could make its own decisions based on the intelligence they decided to trust.

Charteris wrote that “trusting the pessimistic intelligence provided by the Foreign Office would result in the staff at GHQ France losing hope and would lower staff morale.”

Charteris believed keeping the staff happy was essential to achieve victory.

The whole system was rotten to the core.

What did the average Southern general staff member or high ranking official think of the South’s chances after Gettysburg and Vicksburg?

Joseph E. Johnston — the one who acted like he knew it was over.

The Confederacy didn’t have a general staff. Jefferson Davis thought he was a military genius and dealt directly with the commanders of the CSA field armies.

The top men, Robert E. Lee in particular, all held on to the bitter end. They might not have been confident of success, but they didn’t communicate any such doubts and fought until hope was gone.

On the final flight west from Petersburg, Lee received a note from U.S. Grant asking Lee to consider an end to hostilities. Lee showed the note to James Longstreet and asked his opinion. Longstreet read the note and handed it back. “Not yet,” he said. They kept fighting until the road south was blocked at Appomattox Court House.

Joseph E. Johnston might have been the one who acted the most like a man who knew more bloodshed was pointless. A brave man who had survived several wounds, he was always judicious about giving battle. He made one serious attempt to stop Sherman, and when that failed, fell back and told Lee he could do no more than “annoy” the Yankees. When word came that Lee had surrendered, he asked Sherman for terms even though the two armies were not even in contact. He had to go quite a ways to meet Sherman and surrender.

So dumb

What’s the weirdest thing someone casually told you as if it were totally normal?

Approximately four months after I got married to my wife, my business partner defrauded me and put me into over 35,000 dollars worth of debt. My businesses began to crumble despite my frantic efforts to salvage the situation. Soon thereafter, my finances nosedived into a freefall.

By this time I had already already come to certain terms about my wife. One of them was that she was in it (our marriage) for the money. Since I couldn’t stand the thought of a divorce or a broken home I did my best to conceal my financial troubles from her in the hope that I was going to find a way to get back on my feet again.

Well she did eventually find out when I started having problems with releasing funds to pay the bills and run our home. Soon thereafter she started her series of packing out of our home on the slightest imagined irritation or offence.

Each time she would pack out I would go right after her, pleading with every single one of her relatives. I did get her to come back a good number of times but I guess this really annoyed her and her mom in particular who was really the brain urging her to abandon ship and go look for greener pastures.

One day she calls me up on the phone and tells me “hey look, each time I try to leave you, you’re always going around my relatives and getting them to put pressure on me to come back right? Well, one of these days I’m going to come back and unalive you and then you won’t get me to come back anymore, will you?”

I never went after her again.

I had to keep alive to take care of the two toddlers she left behind.

‘I Remember the Secret Service Being Tougher’ Scene | Red

What was your best moment as a doctor?

I was one year into practice. A 14 year old girl was transferred to my hospital. She had been in a motor vehicle accident and been to two hospitals before mine. Her parents had been told she was permanently paralyzed waist down, twice. I was the orthopedic surgeon on call and had spinal privileges and the ability and privileges to implant hardware. So I was the surgeon they called.

I arrived and did a thorough spinal trauma exam. Yes she was paralyzed. The confounding factor was that one test (her anal wink) where I poke the anus with a needle and see if it contracts was still working. That told me she was not completely paralyzed or in spinal shock as the nerve that controls this is the last one out of the spinal cord.

I told her parents that I needed to operate immediately. I discussed with her parents she might be the same, slightly better or significantly better. I made no promises.

I decompressed her spinal cord, implanted hardware and fused several levels. As I wrote my post operative orders in the recovery room after 4 hours of surgery I saw her thrashing her legs about. I tested her motor strength and it seemed normal. I went out to talk to her parents to tell them that she was better but I couldn’t predict how much better. She might have sensation deficits or coordination deficits and we would see but that it was a very good sign that she was moving her legs.

Amber made a full recovery after being declared fully paralyzed by 2 hospitals and at least one neurosurgeon. She walked out of the hospital in a brace and 6 months later was released from my care to full activities. I am sorry, Amber, if your back hurts later in life. I did my best.

I received Christmas cards and gifts for 15 years from her family.

Her case was actually part of my oral board exam. It was quite funny to hear questions from these examiners who didn’t even do spine surgery as to why I chose to do surgery and how I chose the operation and what levels to fuse.

The moral of the story here is that a physician who learns a thorough spinal examination found a patient that did not have a complete spinal injury and fixed it. Being a physician is being a master of your profession, not just reading reports and listening to others.

What was the moment you cancelled the friendship with your best friend?

I had a best friend in high school. We remained close friends until we went off to the same college. Her financial aid hadn’t come in so I loaned her some money that I had been saving for a trip which she knew was very important to me. I found out through another friend that she had received her financial aid, and she had not offered to return my money, putting my trip in jeopardy. She had also made new friends at college and I felt ejected by her. I got angry, got the money back off her and stopped speaking to her. The following semester I went to London for a semester, which extended into years, which became permanent. About five years after I left she sent me a letter saying she would be in London and wanted to meet up. The letter included her phone number where she was staying (way before mobile phones). I thought about ringing her. But never did. Thirty + years later, I had grown up and regretted my behaviour. I searched for her on social media but no luck. Eventually she contacted me through my father (no idea how she got his address). I responded this time and despite being on different continents, we are now long-distance friends. It was hard but I apologised for how I had behaved back then. I had taken the word of someone else instead of speaking to her directly and I did the very childish thing of not speaking to her. She might have had good reason for hanging onto my money, which I didn’t give her the chance to explain. And, she had every right to make new friends at college. I could have been part of her new social circle, I chose to tantrum instead.

So, I am admitting all this as a message to anyone younger than me who indulges in this sort of behaviour. It is childish. Don’t do it. You owe it to yourself and your friend to sit down together and have an adult conversation about whatever is troubling you. It cost me one of the most important friendships of my life. Don’t make the same mistake.

What is the most offensive thing someone has ever asked you?

It was 3 years ago, I was 24.

My mom (egg donor) left my siblings and I to be with friends from her church 2 years after we got home from being in Foster Care for 12 years. She took our foodstamps with her and spent them on other families, while we starved trying to find her. The family she ran off to be with told her she wasn’t allowed to talk to her children- she obeyed.

I went to her church one Sunday at 14 to speak to her. The pastor and whole congregation was telling me ‘a 14 year old anorexic girl’ that I need to get a job and take care of myself while my mom took care of them. This was 2010, so you know I legally couldn’t work yet.

I couldn’t call, text, meet, or have any contact with my mom. She allowed it, so obviously she was happy she didn’t have to.

So, 3 years ago my egg donor calls me and asks me for some money. She “needs a car”, but doesn’t have any money. I still don’t have my first car and it’s 2023, now.

After explaining I don’t have money to give, I boldly asked her “Why would I help you if you abandoned me as a child? I needed you and you weren’t there”.

She offended me by saying with a chuckle “I had you kids so that when you got older and I need help, you kids will help me with money or a place to live”. I simply responded “That’s not how that works, if you wanted me to take care of you now, you should have taken care of me years ago. 1 timothy 5:8”. For a woman who claims she lives for the bible, she had to ask me what that meant.. it simply means anyone who abandons their kids or family is worse than a nonbeliever.

The Last Dragon (1985) “Craps”

How could the United States expand sanctions on China’s chip industry?

A better question is how could the United States expand sanctions on China’s chip industry without repercussions that hurt the U.S. more than China? And the Answer is it can’t. It simply can’t!

Chips are nothing unless it is used as a component of a product for example a smartphone or a computer. And China as a market dwarfs the U.S. by several folds. Today there are a billion Chinese consumer of high technologies compared to say 250 million in the U.S.! That is 4 folds higher! China’s consumer market alone is 30–35% if the entire world! Can the U.S. not be hurt if these consumers are forced into buying a different chips?

But worst is that from the 2/3 of the rest of the world market, most of their products are either assembled or made in China! That constitute another 30–40% of the world’s market! So the U.S. by sanctioning China U.S. sanctioning the U.S. chip makers of some 60–70% of the market. Or it has direct influence or possibly sell to only 30–40% of the world’s market.

But that is just the first nightmare for the U.S. Next, China will make equivalent products within 3 year’s maximum and then. Even this 30–40% rest of the world market will choose a Chinese make that is cheaper, faster and better than the U.S. products. Your entire chip industry will thoroughly collapse and U.S. government will be faced with high unemployment and bankruptcy!

So if I were you, I will vote in a smarter U.S. government!

I am dreaming about renting a van and traveling throughout America, from Canada to Patagonia, after I retire. To what extent is that doable and safe?

It is impossible.

Just around halfway, you will run into the infamous Darien Gap:

And there, the jungle is Master. There are no roads and those who try, fail miserably:

If a 4×4 cannot make it, a van even less…

You’d have to take a boat from Panama City to Colombia and that will be very expensive.

It’s better to sell your van in Panama, fly to Bogotá and buy another van there.

However, I would not do that trip on a van. It has to be a good 4×4. You need to do some research because not all car manufacturers sell in all countries; if you need a spare part and it is not sold where/when you need it, it may mean you’re stuck for a long time and there’s no guarantee that you will ever receive the part.

By the way, do you speak at least Spanish? In the countryside, people will not speak English at all.

What are the most common regrets that people have once they grow old?

I first met my wife when I was about 24 and very soon after had ideas that this was the woman I wanted to grow old with. I knew fairly quickly that she was divorced, but she always kept her private life private (I found out why later and agree with her totally) so it was some time later that I found she had 3 young daughters.

Being young, stupid and typically male, I didn’t want a ready made family, I wanted one all of my own, so I put the idea to one side. We stayed friends, but as we lived over 30 miles apart, we only saw each other occasionally. Years passed and the friendship continued to grow. In the meantime, she remarried and had 2 more daughters, then got divorced again.

Move on 24 years, I’m still single (came close a couple of times) but couldn’t find the perfect lady for me, but by now the older 3 are in their 20’s and the younger 2 are in their mid to late teens. Finally my stupidity left me and we finally got together.

15 years later, we’re married, still together and happy, even though she’s now bedridden. In case you’re wondering, the daughters have all “adopted” me, as have the grandchildren!

The long and the short is; don’t let hubris stop you from doing the right thing. We could have been looking at 40 years of happy marriage if I hadn’t been an idiot.

What was the best time you witnessed a bully get owned?

When I was in High School, there was a tall, thin Chinese boy in my swim class. He was very quiet and always had his nose in a book. I knew him because I was the one tasked with “helping“ the non swimmers.

One day, after class, we were outside waiting for the bell to ring so we could leave the Gym Area and head to our next class. He was off to the side leaning up against the wall while reading his book. A trio of boys (troublemakers/bullies) started grabbing for his book. So he asked them politely to leave him alone, so they just turned it up and managed to take his book. In a flash, he snatched the book back (that was the first clue).

Again, they tried to grab it, but he pulled it up out of their reach and asked them one more time to just leave him alone. But this time, the biggest jerk smacked/punched him in the face instead. Two of my friends and I immediately stepped forward to step in, but before we could take another step, this tall, gangly quiet kid had kicked the jerk on the side of the head and dropped him. EVERYONE who was there stood there in shock, not sure we had just seen what we’d seen, and the other two jerks immediately stopped and stepped back. The jerk who’d been kicked just sat there on the floor rubbing the side of his head while the kid just opened his book and started reading again.

To my knowledge, NO ONE ever messed with him again. That was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen and been in a lot of fights/scuffles.

Crocodile Dundee (1986) “Mick vs Pimp”

https://youtu.be/3o6SNp9Ouu8

Have you ever told a ridiculous lie just to see how someone would react?

20 plus years ago I was ordered to lie to my buyer or lose my job. I was ordered by my boss despite my protests.

The company I worked for had just won a major contract to sell light globes through one of the largest hardware chains in Australia – Mitre 10.

However we were very much behind schedule having had a number of delays already. Many times I had been in to my buyer to let him know of our latest delay and his patience was wearing thin and my boss knew it.

She asked me to lie and blame the latest delay on an earthquake in Japan (our globes were coming from India) or any other lie I could come up with as long as it wasn’t the company’s fault, as in it had to be a force majeure.

I made an appointment with my buyer and sat across from him and literally told him this:

“Peter, as you know, our globes are coming from India. The ship left on time and the order was 100% filled and packed in a shipping container. Unfortunately inside the same container was a cage containing a couple of Bengal Tigers. They escaped their cage and have unfortunately ripped or damaged all of the light globe packaging.

But we could fix that by having new packaging made and printed here in Australia except that, also in the same container was an Indian elephant. This elephant also escaped its cage and has trampled all the globes. Not one globe was left intact. The entire shipment was destroyed.”

“She’s told you to lie to me didn’t she?” he said after listening to me spin this ridiculous lie. He knew full well what was going on.

We got on very well, he knew me and what I stood for. We stayed in contact for many years after we both left our respective positions. He knew the position my boss had forced me into. After asking me for a new eta he told me to leave.

He wasn’t happy.

But I did what I was ordered to do and did it in a way that kept my reputation intact.

Why do people choose 35 or 37 when asked to choose a number between 1 to 50 with both odd digits.?

This was part of an old trick that the magician/illusionist Kreskin used to do back in the 1970s. You’re leaving out two very important parts of the trick:

He would say that the two digits couldn’t be the same
He would also say “So 17 is OK, but 11 isn’t.”

It sounds like there’s 50 numbers, but if you look at the options, they’re quite limited: 13, 15, 17, 19, 31, 35, 37, and 39. It’s really only eight. When he says “17 is OK but 11 isn’t”, most people won’t choose 17 since it was used in the example so you’re down to seven choices.

When he tested his trick, he found that overwhelmingly most people choose 35 or 37. When used this trick in public, he would write down both “35” and “37” but would cross out 35 and say something like “I sensed you were thinking of another number but changed your mind”. He would then proclaim that you were thinking of 37. This way, even if you said “35”, it would be there on the paper and as an onlooker you’d still be amazed.

He speculated that by using “17” and “11” in his spoken example, it tended to cause people to go the other direction and choose numbers in the 30s.

What was the rudest thing that a guest did to your children in your home?

Our home, but my brother’s son. We had our aunt over, an old, strict, stuck-up childless lady. She was always proud of how polite and good-mannered she is, and despite not knowing a damn thing about kids, she was always ready to educate them, expecting all kids to behave like miniature grown-ups respecting the rules of etiquette at all times.

Well, it was a big family lunch on the terrace, kids running around, so she was a fish out of the water – there were too many kids to educate, she lost count. When I arrived, I was immediately greeted by my 4-year-old nephew, whom I kissed, cuddled and then I ceremoniously placed my bag in front of him.

We had a game: each time we met I had something in my bag for him. He could dive in and find it. This was our thing. Sometimes it was a dessert that he could eat while we talked. Sometimes a toy, or some other small surprise. This time it was a small dog figurine that resembled their own dog whom he loved so much.

While he was snorkelling in my bag, I turned to greet some relatives. Then I heard my Aunt Etiquette, shouting in a sharp head voice at my nephew. “What are you doing? Who do you think you are, young man?”

We all froze, including my poor baby nephew. I had to explain my fuming aunt that I had allowed him to search my bag, and that was our little thing, but she was not the person who could understand things like this. There were rules that we clearly disrespected.

My brother had to tell her that in his house, it’s also a rule to keep it quiet and not to shout with any of the kids. That shut her up, but just because she was hurt over her educational methods being disregarded.

My nephew still goes in my bag, and there is still something in there for him every time. He has never done the same with anyone’s bags or stuff. He knows the drill. He knows it’s just with me. My poor auntie will never get that kids are not stupid – they are kids.

What is the lowest probability event you have personally witnessed?

A rich friend of mine one day had an emergency and needed to borrow money from me.

I was on campus so I went to the ATM and withdrew what he wanted to borrow, but in true ADHD style, forgot to take my card back.

After I left, a few minutes later, I noticed a Northern European girl (college student, probably Nordic from the accent) running in my direction and panting.

She was looking at me so I stopped to see what was going on. Then I saw my bank card in her hands!

Amazing because there was a lot of money in that card and a nefarious person would have withdrawn all the money and absconded with it.

I was so amazed by her integrity and kindness that I did not even know how to react. I had gone a long distance and at the time, there was nobody around the ATM kiosk; so I didn’t know how she realized the card was mine.

I think she may have seen me from a distance as I emerged and when she arrived at the ATM, I had spent the same time going away from it. Then, in order to not lose me, she ran all the way back to bring it to me, in consideration of no return whatsoever—just because it was the right thing to do.

How probable a similar event could be?

I insisted on asking for her details so I could at least thank her properly—perhaps by buying her a gift or inviting her to lunch—but she wouldn’t hear of it.

When I asked for her phone number she smiled and replied that it was not necessary to repay her in any way and left despite my persuasion to stay for a while so I could get to know her (you see, such a kind person would have made an excellent wife—additionally she was beautiful and I was single [and young, maybe four or five years older than her]; alas, she left too quickly and I didn’t find it polite to insist further).

Aliens (1986) – They Can Bill Me Scene – Enhanced 4K UHD HDR Custom”

What is your best parking spot revenge?

This is two days ago at a very busy shopping centre with just over a week to go before Christmas day and this “person” decided it is OK to park across two spots.

It was so busy and so difficult to get a park I had to do a lap of the carpark before I got lucky and found someone who was about to leave and so I was able to grab their spot.

I was furious when I saw this car and so were a bunch of other people standing around complaining. What I and the others didn’t know was that this person, who parked across two spots, was a psychic. I never met them, never saw them either but they had to be able to see into the future.

Their future told them they would have 4 flat tyres when they came out from shopping and so to make it easier for them to change all 4 wheels they gave themselves extra room around their vehicle. That surely was their reason!

It would have been impossible to do if they parked in only one spot like normal humans do.

There is definitely an upside to be psychic!

What was the best time you witnessed a bully get owned?

In Elementary School near Dallas, TX in the 70’s there was a bully named Paul. He stole from the cafeteria cash register, disrupted class, ruled over the entire school due to his size and generally pushed his way throughout class. Then a new kid came to our class. His name was Todd and by appearance was a total nerd. Tall, skinny, braces and into comics and science fiction.

Then in band Todd revealed that he played saxophone. None of us were bold or cool enough to even try that instrument, we were scared and just went along being content with the common brass instruments provided by the school. He brought his own horn and was much more advanced as well.

Then he met Paul. Paul tried to impress onto him that he was the big man in the school and literally pushed him around. Todd did not even hesitate to talk things over, he just punched Paul hard right in the face. We were amazed, we never thought it possible that a bully could be bested.

Later during outdoor recess Paul tried to re-establish his dominance to the rest of the kids. Without talking, planning or organizing dozens of the kids picked up rocks, sticks and other weapons and chased him off the lot. One that has stuck with me was a kid who took off his belt attached a stick at the buckle and swung it very effectively.

Paul never came back to school. Todd fell into his role as a nerd, never tried to become king.

Quick Orange Beef

Ingredients

1 pound flank, sirloin or rib-eye steak
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest, plus a little juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 pound sugar snap peas or snow peas

Instructions

If time allows, freeze the steak for up to 60 minutes to make it easier to slice. Slice the beef as thinly as you can across the grain. If you’re cutting it so thinly that some of the meat shreds, that’s good.
Combine beef with orange zest, soy sauce, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper.
Heat a wide, heavy skillet or wok over high heat for a minute. Add vegetable oil and heat another minute. Add garlic and when it turns light brown (a few seconds) add the beef. Stir the beef 2 minutes. Add peas and stir 2 minutes more, or until the beef has lost its red color.
Squeeze half an orange over skillet ingredients and stir to combine. Serve over rice.

Serves 4 to 6.

If you have leftovers: Chill rice and beef separately. When ready to cook, heat 1 or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over high heat in a wok or skillet. Add leftover rice and stir, breaking it up with a spoon or fork. When it’s broken up, add leftover beef and stir to heat through. Add soy sauce or toasted sesame oil, as desired.

What did a family member say or do that you don’t talk to them anymore?

so let me preface my answer; I no longer speak to my cousin but I didn’t speak to him much before the incident either.

My grandmother passed away the day my oldest son left for his spring break trip as a sophomore in High school, he was playing varsity baseball and invited on their tournament trip to another state to play.

I made arrangements to go on the trip to see my son play. This was an honor for him and one that he had worked so hard for. I got the call that my grandmother had passed away and I contemplated if I was still going to go on the trip or stay behind and attend the funeral. My grandmother had not been well for several years and honestly did not even recognize me or my children for the past two years due to her illness. I choose to continue on the trip with my youngest to see my oldest play ball. My parents were okay with my decision and actually helped me make the decision.

The evening after the funeral I received a nasty text message from my cousin stating how dare I miss the funeral. He understood that I was attending a baseball tournament but he came home from vacation for the funeral and he expected me to miss the baseball trip as well. It didn’t matter to him that I had visited her several times in the year leading up to her death even though she didn’t know me and he didn’t even know what nursing home she was in.

The fact that he inserted his beliefs in my life; and didn’t take into consideration the hard decision I had made was appauling to me. I wasn’t at peace with my decision but made the best one for my family at the time the decision needed to be made. I had said my good-byes to my grandmother heartfelt the last time she remembered me.

It has been 10-years since her passing and I still refuse to talk to that cousin when we are together at holiday functions. I will walk away if he comes over to sit at the same table I am at. He has never met my grandchildren on purpose as I don’t want to subject my grandchildren to his negativity.

Have you ever seen a tiny work mistake snowball into something catastrophic?

Oh, I have one. I was with my son at a Boy Scout jamboree back in the early 90’s in our state. The arranged for the state fish and game to come and train search and rescue. I had trained in search and rescue in the military and for Appalachion Mountain Club. I walked over to the game warden and volunteered to help, that I had a lot of experience in this sort of thing. He told me he had it, he was trained too and this was his job. The warden lined up like 300 kids and sent them into the woods to search for a injured hiker (two of the scout masters acting as injured hikers). The kids started walking across the field. Then went down an incline records the woods. As they started down the incline they started to run and then a battle cry like something out of bravehart came out of the crowd. By the time they hit the tree line into the woods they were on a dead high speed run. It was at this point I walked over to the warden, looked at the woods and asked him if he ever done this before? He said no, first time. I then asked, oh, by the way, how many kids went into the woods? First rule, know how many volunteers you send in so you know if you have accounted for everyone. He looked at me puzzled and said, I thought you guys knew that! I then asked, how far did you tell them to go into the woods before turning back? He said he didn’t. He then called for backup! The local volunteer fire department arrived and he sent them into the woods. I walked over and asked, oh, how many fireman did you send into the woods? He facepalmed and walked away. Three hours later, we accounted for every scout. Five were retrieved two miles away when they walked out the back side of the woods. It took another hour to find all the fireman. I walked over to the warden and said, I think that went well, don’t you? He walked away without answering.

Bourne Means Business – Part 3B: Intelligence

Have you ever seen an employer fire someone without realizing what a crucial role the employee played?

Yep , me . Two days after removing me from a job and my crew of 30 Americans to be replaced by a Latino crew I got a phone call .

Boss .” Hi”

Me”What’s up “

Boss “The engineer just told us they will withhold the final 10% if we can’t supply the electrical testing results that I know you did but that no one else ever does and he is persisting that he needs them . They are pissed .”

Me”Oh that sucks “

Now this was a 10 million dollar project . 10% of 10% would have been a good start . But :

Boss “Are they on the site somewhere , I know you were really organized so I’m hoping you can tell me where they are .”

Me”I have them in that log book I bought , ya know the log book you laughed at me for for using , ya know , the one where I kept records of what everyone did , deliveries , the weather and those test results “

Boss “Oh that is excellent can I swing by and pick it up “

Me “Well you could , but I’m looking out my window and the garbage truck is going up my road right now .”

Boss “You don’t have it”

Me”Nope”

Boss “ Oh you are supposed to keep them “

Me”I know , but as of the other day I don’t work for you any more and it was my book and I was done with it .Now ain’t that a bitch “

click

Have you ever been mistaken for the opposite sex? What was your reaction? Does it happen often?

Well, it wasn’t me, but I was involved.

See, about a lifetime ago, I worked in addictions. And I had this client. Beth. She was a young gay woman. Somewhere between 19 and 21. Totally butch and cute as a fucking button.

Sort of like this.

Long story short, she asked me to pick her up at a different place, one I happened to know was a trap house. When I pulled up at 8:30 in the morning, there were cops at the house next door, looking for a kid with a warrant.

Beth sees my car pull up, but hadn’t seen the police. She walked out of the front door and head down, beelined for me.

It took the cops less than five seconds to intervene.

Me: Fuck.

I roll down my passenger side window to eavesdrop. I can’t hear exactly what they’re saying, but I can tell by everyone’s body language they’re giving her a hard time.

Me: Double fuck.

I grab the badge that says I’m a county employee and I walk over to the encounter. The cops look at me. I smile, show them my ID, and stick out my hand.

Me: Good morning officers. I assume everything’s alright here.

Officer 1 (nodding to my client): You know this young man? Is his name John?

Me (chuckling): Well, I definitely know this young WOMAN. Her name is Beth. And we have an appointment at her PO’s office in 45 minutes.

Officer 2 (doing a double take): Young woman!?

Beth: Yes. I was trying to tell you.

Officer 1 (pulling out papers and quickly changing the subject): Do either of you know this man? John Doe?

Me: Haven’t seen him.

Beth shook her head no.

Officer 2: We’ve got a bench warrant on him, so if you see him around, we’d appreciate if you call the station.

Me: Will do. Well, we better get going. They’ve got the highway backed up again with construction and we don’t want to be late to see the PO. You gentlemen have a nice day. And thank you for your service!

When we got to my car, Beth freaked the hell out: Holy shit, Molly. I thought I was going down! They wouldn’t let me get a word in to tell them I wasn’t who they were looking for! And they totally thought I was that dude!

Me: Breathe, girl. It’s alright.

We drove around the block, headed to the probation office.

Me: Now you want to tell me why you’re living at the dope dealer’s house?

Beth was always amazed that I knew what was going on. Like it being a trap house. Like knowing who her dealer was. Like when I told her she needed to get tested for Hep C and she said she didn’t. Then I had to tell her that I knew someone who fucked her girl who was sharing needles. And rumor had it, the girlfriend was positive and was hiding it.

Sigh.

I was pretty damn good at that job.

Except Beth ended up going back to the needle. Then back to jail. I hope she’s somewhere today, clean and sober.

Or at least off the dope.

Dogmen, Hybrids, The Beast of Bray Road | True Stories of Werewolves

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My publisher went out of business. So I need to set it up using other means. -MM

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