Sometimes the simple and mundane are the things that we remember, and the memories that we cherish.

The very last ice cream that I shared with my father occurred about two months prior to his death. It was nothing “special”. We were riding in the car together, and he saw a Dairy Cream restaurant and suggested that we get an ice cream cone. They had “orange creamcicle” on sale, so he bought us two and we ate them outside in the warm September sun.

To outsiders, it was just two grown men eating ice cream outside, and really there was nothing overly special about that event.

But for me, it was a memory that I will always treasure.

Enjoy what you experience. because it is all so fleeting….

Today…

Kindness: What is the kindest act you have ever witnessed?

I was broke and had just received a food stamp card. In the grocery store I picked up about $8 worth of food. Standing in line I took the card out of my wallet, noting the lonely $20 bill that represented my net worth. When my turn came I swiped the card and waited. The clerk said “I’m sorry but there is only $1 available on your card.” I was in shock, because this was my first time using it. Falling back on my fine command of the language, I said nothing. I was confused, embarrassed, and a little sick. Finally I just backed away mumbling that I must have left my money on my yacht. As I was leaving a man stopped me and said, “you just dropped this $20 bill” and handed it to me. I thanked him profusely for his honesty. I also thought what a careless idiot I was. I managed to fumble away the last of my money and only the honesty of a stranger saved me. Well I stopped at another store on the off chance some mistake had been made at the first place, and that turned out to be the case. With tremendous relief I started to put the card and my recovered bill in my wallet. I found to my amazement that my original $20 was still there. I realized that the stranger had given me the bill, while preventing my embarrassment or any refusal of his generosity. This is not meant as a greatest example of kindness, but to mention that a major part of his gift was the lift it gave my spirit to know of such kind and generous people. The last thing you need during hard times is cynicism.

Why do so many foreigners go to China and think China is good?

It’s a nice place. I lived there for eight years (2012–2020) and miss it a bit, now that I’m back in Britain. What shocks me so much is the hideous, made up distortion of news reporting about it in the West, But I suppose that the US has to get something for the $400m Congress has voted for anti-China propaganda. It is just humiliating that it gets so much and so few push-backs.

All linked to…

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7RDdRuJxyO4?feature=share

What did you find while snooping that you wish you had never found?

When I was 9 years old, my mom surprised me and my little sister with a trip to Florida. We live in the Midwest, so any spring break trip to somewhere warm is greatly appreciated. I was so exited to have a story to tell my friends when I got back to school. One night, my best friend’s parents came over to talk to mine. They moved to the driveway, and told my sister and I to stay inside. While they were talking I heard my dad’s text notification. He had left his phone inside. Curious, I looked at what the message said. I cant quite remember what that message said, but when I scrolled up, I read a message I should not have seen. It was from my friends dad, who was now standing in the driveway. It read,

“do your girls know ours are coming on the trip, too?”
“No, we are going to surprise them”, was the reply from my dad.

I was so shocked! My best friend and her sister were coming to Florida with me! I worked so hard to conceal the fact that I ruined the surprise, up until we were at the airport. We got out of the car, and my friend was there, so excited that she got surprised. I faked a reaction, but I was so mad at myself for ruining what my parents worked so hard to keep hidden. I haven’t told a soul to this day.

My boyfriend threatened to leave me because I am too negative. He told me he doesn’t want to hear anything negative anymore, so I don’t tell him anything. We talk superficially, and I feel no love. How can this work?

You need to seek counseling. Negative people are often happier with negative people. Then you can both talk about the worst case scenario, or see the cup as half empty. I have friends like this, and I try to only hangout with them in a group, so I don’t get to depressed.

Yet my friend is truly happiest when he can complain about something. Even if he has to really reach for the negative. Like I made a ton of money last year and paid off my debts, but when you make that much money, so much of the extra money just goes to taxes. Then a half hour rant on taxes.

I am truly happiest when I am positive. My wife is the most upbeat person I know, next to her, I am a gloomy gus.

Find out if you can be happy, if you have a positive attitude, if so get counseling and save your relationship. If not, cut him loose, and find someone who likes to complain about things.

People who are being mean to you…

What is the weirdest thing you have been stopped for by airport security?

Not me personally, but something I saw.

Returning from a service call in Honolulu, the lady in front of me at the TSA line had serious trouble lifting her (obviously very heavy) carry-on onto the x-ray conveyor. It set off all sorts of alarms when it went through, and the TSA guy did a manual inspection as a result. When he opened it up, the suitcase’s contents were revealed: it was completely full of cans of Spam (the processed meat product). I was absolutely convinced that they actually contained something more nefarious and that she’d likely be arrested, but the TSA guy simply zipped the case back up and sent her on her way.

I was next in line, and, noticing the puzzled look on my face, the TSA guy explained that Spam is considered a gourmet delicacy in Japan, where it sells for around 3–4x what it does in Hawaii. As a result, there is a steady flow of Japanese tourists to the islands, who pretty much pay for their vacations by doing what she did. I was born and raised in the UK, where Spam has a reputation for being gross and disgusting, and something you would only eat if you can’t afford any nicer form of protein.

What is the best thing you saw someone do when they got fired from their job?

It happened to me actually.

Management was changed and they appointed new guys ex consultant of the company who pretend know everything – based on the textbook. I am the last two managers that stay in the company when management changed.

So, this new guy did all micro management you can imagine to make most of the people left very nervous and stressful. I managed to stay for another few months until I have felt enough is enough.

Just few days before I intended to put my resignation letter, this new guys and HRD call me to the meeting room and let me go with severance payment – a payment package…

What a wonderful world it was and few friends that knew I am about to gave up congratulate me for being fired…..LOL

How do I impress my boss?

This is something I learned very early in my career. I always feel thankful for my former boss who taught me this lesson.

How to ask questions.

The first day I joined the company, after handing me all my personal devices and necessary office items, he led me to my cubicle and told me to self-study the system and come back to him by the end of the working day with questions. So I did. I brought back my two-page-long questionnaire and handed it to him. He read it, then told me to sit down. “Alright, question one, ‘What does (feature) x do?’”, he read my question out loud, “What do you think it does?”, he asked. I answered him with the thoughts I gathered when I studied the system. “Correct!”, he said, “Now, you see, with the way you first asked the question, if I answered it, it would have taken me five minutes to answer, but if you had asked ‘Does x do this’ including what you’ve learned, it would take me just seconds to answer ‘Correct!’ and I also would know that you actually studied and understood it. When you ask questions that you need answers to, make sure it takes the least time for the person you ask to answer. Yes/No is preferred.”

I took that advice seriously.

Instead of asking ‘What does that mean?’, I ask ‘Does that mean [my understanding]?’. Instead of ‘What should we do in this situation?’, I ask ‘In this situation, I propose the solution as below, do you have any directions or adjustments?’. Instead of ‘What time do you want the meeting to be?’, I ask ‘I checked your calendar, you have three open slots x, y, z; which one do you want to set up the meeting with Mr. A?’

This lesson has been a great help in my work, not just with my bosses, but also with other team members/ clients as well.

Cajun Sausage Roast

Ingredients

Roast

• 1 (3 pound) pork loin roast
• 1 pound smoked Cajun sausage
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet

Seasoning Mix

• Granulated garlic
• Dried chives
• Parsley flakes
• Black Pepper
• Salt

Instructions

Seasoning Mix

1. Mix granulated garlic, chives, parsley flakes and black pepper to make seasoning mix. Add salt to mix.

Roast

1. Cut the whole loin into smaller roasts, about 6 inches long. Cut a hole through the center of each roast, along the center axis of the roasts and insert the sausage. If the cross-section of the roast is big enough, cut two parallel holes. Open the holes to the size of the smoked sausage and pour about 1 tablespoon Seasoning Mix into the long holes and push something through the roasts to distribute the seasoning. Slide the smoked sausage through the longitudinal holes in the roasts until about 1 inch of sausage protrudes from each end.
2. Dust inside and outside with seasonings and salt. Allow to sit and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Place the roasts on a rack inside a covered roaster.
4. Pour the cut-up onion and bell pepper into bottom of roaster and place, uncovered, in a 425 degrees F oven for approximately 30 minutes or until seared lightly on the outside.
5. Cover roaster and continue to cook with a meat thermometer until done inside, about 160 – 165 degrees F on meat thermometer.
6. Remove roasts, trim end faces of excess sausage and chop fine.
7. Add cornstarch dissolved in cold water.
8. Add soy sauce and thicken sauce over medium heat.
9. Adjust color of sauce with Kitchen Bouquet and adjust seasonings.

Could you share a story about a time when you felt like you were the dumbest person in a particular situation?

After I left the workforce, my wife continued working. I normally waited to get up until after she left to keep out of the way. This oneorning, I hear the door close as she is leaving. I get up heading in to start the coffee. On stepping into the kitchen the 1st thing I see is her phone on the charger. Run to the window to see her on the road and gone. I run back to the bedroom to grab my phone to call her to come back and get her phone. When her phone rings I compound the idiocy thinking who would be calling her this early? They need to get off the phone so…she…can…answer…my…call. Then to cap it all, as I’m closing my phone cancelling the call, I’m looking around to see if anyone saw me. 2 of the cats were dying laughing and the other 2 shaking their heads as if thinking what an idiot.

What is the lamest “benefit” you’ve been offered by an employer?

“Getting in on the ground floor.”

I’d been laid off at a position that did not pay well, but the work was easy. I was interviewing with this other company, and the guy (owner? one of the owners?) would not proceed with the interview unless I filled in my salary from my previous job, so I did.

He offered $3K more per year.

BUT… whereas my old job was 37.5 hours per week, this guy was expecting 55–60 hours per week. The benefit was that they were a small company, and their product was going to be big, and I’d be one of the people who benefited when someone big bought out the product.

Calculating the hours, I told him that, on a per-hour basis, he was offering me between 69% and 76% of what I was getting at the previous job, to which he restated his script about getting in on the ground floor.

A few days later, I got another, much better offer. It was an hourly contract, but 84% MORE than the previous job, and about 2–1/2 times (per hour) what he was offering. I took it.

A day or two after that, he called asking if I was still interested, and I told him I took another position “at MUCH higher pay,” I said, and definitely put the weight/emphasis on the word much. I didn’t tell him how much, but again, he tried to sell me on his “Getting in on the ground floor” shtick.

I couldn’t believe he was still trying to sell me on that.

What was it like to eat a hamburger in the 1950s?

Two juicy 100% U.S. Beef patties with two slices of melted American cheese.

Sandwiched with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and A&W classic sauce all on a lightly toasted bun… it doesn’t get better than this – we believe!! Because our country imported almost everything in the old days. (And still do very much in 2023).

1963 in fact was the year that put American popular food into our collective psyche.

Now here’s a genuine all-American brand serving all-American fare. And Malaysians fell in 💕💕😘 with new food that truly touched the hearts.

1963 was the first time that burgers were sized ‘papa, mama, baby burger’ – 🥰 cute! (Come to think of it, burgers don’t exist before A&W Malaysia.)

It was a year that a drink sensation was introduced — in big frosted glass mugs – the A&W Root Beer and Root Beer Float – the two most lovable, must-drink beverages ever since the country’s independence 1957. (Today there are A&W canned root beer in convenience stores everywhere.)

A&W Root Beer and Coney Dog and Curly Fries are synonymous with A&W and vice versa. To borrow a line, “we’re still loving it, mucho!!”

I’d like to think that the burger in “1950s America” would not vary too much from today’s A&W ‘Papa Burger’.

The bear is back!

New A&W retro outlets in Malaysia give you the charming ‘American diner experience’…

… who says you can’t bring back the good ol’ days?!!!

In many countries in Europe, how do they manage to give employers 4 to 5 weeks of holidays and many other benefits that in America don’t exist?

Do you know which is the laziest nation in Europe, the one that works the fewest hours? Let me give you a little hint, this is their capital:

Berlin

A study by OECD released recently showed in no uncertain terms Germans are the laziest nation in Europe in terms of hours worked. They have the largest economy and one of the largest per capita incomes in EU and worldwide. It gets weirder.

Do you know which nation works the most hours? The most hardworking nation in Europe, clocking in almost 50% hours than Germans in a given year is obvious at this point: Greeks. For every two hour a German works in a year, a Greek works three. For that they’re labeled as the lazy wealth moochers of the south that live easily on their spectacular seaside and glorious history.

Something doesn’t quite add up, does it? It turns out that hours worked is only relevant in a few low added value professions, such as store clercks, recepcionists, call center operators, night guards and the like. Those are professions that are necessary, but they’re low skilled, don’t pay well and don’t add much value to the economy.

What drives a modern economy forward are innovators and engineers who push the boundaries of what is possible. Their productivity is almost inversly proportional to horus worked. You only have that much creative energies to do something new and you need time to recharge. You don’t work as well when you’re tired and simply sitting at work comitting time theft does not equal to productivity. Germans work hard, very hard, during the time they’re at work. But when they clock out, always on time, they leave the job behind and enjoy themselves so their next work day is strong and productive once more.

The same goes for holidays. Germans are notorious for long holiday breaks and this again improves productivity. Your best becomes better if you’re well rested and you’re more willing to give your best to a company that appreciates your effort and talent.

By contrast, Americans often view workers as a nuisance they have to pay for and treat them accordingly. Why would you give your best for a company that only gives you enough not to run away to be treated like a slightly less smelly dropping instead. All of Europe is far ahead of USA on this matter and four weeks of holiday are the statuatory minimum given to all, not some great benefit to droll upon. Five to six weeks are not at all uncommon and you can go well beyond that in certain occupations (i.e. working with radiation, mental hospital employees, etc).

Cat story

A tuxedo cat named Andrew was found in a Bronx park, malnourished and in pain. A local rescuer and Little Wanderers NYC provided medical attention, including tooth extraction, for Andrew’s severe oral infection. After treatment, Andrew became affectionate and was taken into foster care where he enjoyed being indoors and bonded with his caregivers. He developed a close bond with a foster volunteer named Jeff, following him around and showering him with affection. Andrew’s transformation and loving personality have made him a permanent member of Jeff’s family, and the two share a special bond.

What if the Industrial Revolution had started 2,000 years ago rather than 200?

It actually did.

Unfortunately, there is this thing called van Loon’s law. It dictates: The level of technological progress in any society is inversely proportional to the number of slaves in the said society.

So you have to first get rid of slavery before any technological advancement will happen. In a slave-owning society, all technology will remain as mere curiosities and gadgets.

Heron’s aeolipili – the first functional steam turbine. It remained as mere clever gadget as there were enough slaves in the Hellenistic world to do all the tasks of slaves.

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So first you had to get rid of slavery. The only way to get rid of slavery is a religion which prohibits slavery. There have historically been four of them: Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. So the technological revolution could have begun only in those cultural spheres.

Slavery ended in Europe with Christianization – first in the Roman Europe by the Dark Ages and then in the Northern Europe at the end of the Viking era. This dictates the earliest point when technological evolution can begin for good.

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Once you get rid of slavery, you need to invent rudimentary technology – i.e. harness the forces of the nature – wind, tide, water etc. You need to develop metallurgy and chemical engineering, and material sciences. Anything which saves human labour, as the price of human labour is now the bottleneck. The Dark Ages were actually a serious period of gadgeteering, and laid the basis for the real technological revolution.

I mean, as fun as it is to whip the woman who is your sex slave in the night, to grind the quern-stones at the day, windmills and watermills are just far more efficient to produce flour.

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The thing with science fiction writers is that most of them are engineers, and the heroes have open budgets and do not need to worry about economy. But to develop technology, you need a stable economy. You need to develop Capitalism first. Sorry, no such thing in the bazaar economies. And Capitalism began to evolve in Italy by 1200, and was fully developed by the 17th century. Before that, only gadgeteering.

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The third requirement is the rise of sciences. That began with the emergence of universities in the 11th century. To develop sciences, you need a religion which separates between mysticism and philosophy and which recognizes an objective reality, to discover the connection between philosophy and mathematics, to discover the connection between mathematics and engineering, and to develop a system where all these things merge. This happened in the Late Middle Ages.

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The Industrial Revolution happened just at the right moment. It could not have happened any earlier. You need to get all the required secondary powers in action first – only then can the real thing happen. The 200 years of Industrial Revolution was preceded by 2000 years of Religious, Philosophical, Technological, Scientific and Economical Evolution.

“We are watching ARMAGEDDON unfolding before our eyes” Col. Douglas MacGregor

Very dangerous prospect for the whole world, not only for US.

For those of you over 40, what is it that confuses you the most about young people?

I teach teens in France, and I guess many of the particularities of this generation initially confuse or surprise me, I find myself able to roll with it.

I have been especially surprised to hear that, generally speaking, they don’t have any interest in movies, books, TV series, or music. It is surprising to me that even music isn’t of interest to them!

Some like video games, but for the most part, they spend more time on social media than anything else.

The implications of that, and how society will develop with them, leaves a lot to think about.

But as a teacher, I figured I have to deal with that reality. So, for example, I have them do a project where they have to make a tutorial video in English (I teach English). This was something they got excited about, put effort into, and they made great videos! They know how to use their phones, and add special effects, music, off-voice…. they were able to be creative with it. I stopped trying to use current music, films, TV or books. It just wasn’t getting their attention.

The young generation isn’t void of creativity, but they seem to have taken over control of their social conditioning. I mean, they are watching each other create and spread ideas, values, and ethics. I was raised watching cartoons, TV shows, commercials (and reading cereal boxes!) that were carefully geared towards conditioning me to adhere to certain values that my government and the biggest corporations wanted me to integrate.

The kids today have been able to break off from that, and I suppose that scares some older folk. Like it means chaos rules and will lead to destructive movements in society. I’m not so sure. I’m observing with curiosity.

Ex-CIA: Their New Plan is TERRIFYING!

Two Middle East Outlooks

Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor and dimwit, had written a laudation of his own and his bosses foreign policy for the November print edition of Foreign Affairs. The piece was finalized before the war in Palestine had begun.

The Sources of American Power
A Foreign Policy for a Changed World

Excerpts:

Indeed, although the Middle East remains beset with perennial challenges, the region is quieter than it has been for decades.

The progress is fragile, to be sure. But it is also not an accident.
…
[The president’s] approach returns discipline to U.S. policy. It emphasizes deterring aggression, de-escalating conflicts, and integrating the region through joint infrastructure projects and new partnerships, including between Israel and its Arab neighbors. And it is bearing fruit.
…
This disciplined approach frees up resources for other global priorities, reduces the risk of new Middle Eastern conflicts, and ensures that U.S. interests are protected on a far more sustainable basis. Challenges remain. The Israeli-Palestinian situation is tense, particularly in the West Bank, but in the face of serious frictions, we have de-escalated crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties after years of its absence.

—

Alastair Crooke, who has personally negotiated prisoner exchanges between Hamas and Israel, has published a rather bleak outlook.

Escalations Cannot Be Stopped – The White House Is Rattled; Escalations Might All Fuse Into ‘One’
The reality of the necessity of war is permeating widely the consciousness of the Arabic and Islamic world.

…
It is no coincidence that Netanyahu flourished a map of Israel during his General Assembly address last month in which Israel dominated from the River to the Sea – and Palestine (indeed any Palestinian territory) was non-existent.

Tom Friedman in his NYT reflections may fear that just as NATO’s impaired performance in Ukraine has ruptured ‘the NATO myth’, so too the 7 October Israeli military and intelligence collapse and what happens in its wake in Gaza ‘might explode the entire pro-American alliance structure’ in the Middle East.

The confluence of two such humiliations might break the spine of western primacy. This seems to be the gist to Friedman’s analysis. (He likely is correct).

Hamas has succeeded in smashing the Israel deterrence paradigm: They were not afraid, the IDF proved far from invincible, and the Arab street mobilised as never before (confounding western cynics who laugh at the very notion of there being an ‘Arab Street’).

Well, that is where we are – and the White House is rattled.
…
This is what worries the White House Team. They are deeply unconfident that an Israeli invasion of Gaza will put ‘Humpty’ together again. Rather, they fear that events may go badly for the IDF, and further, that the images relayed across the Middle East of Israel using overwhelming force in a civilian urban setting will revolt the Islamic sphere.

In spite of western scepticism, there are signs that this insurrection in the Arab sphere is different, and resembles more the 1916 Arab Revolt that overthrew the Ottoman Empire. It is taking on a distinct ‘edge’ as both Shi’a and Sunni religious authorities state the duty of Muslims to stand with Palestinians. In other words, as the Israeli polity becomes plainly ‘Prophetical’, so the Islamic mood is turning eschatological, in its turn.

That the White House should be floating kites about ‘moderate’ Arab leaders pressing ‘moderate’ Palestinians to form an Israeli-friendly government in Gaza that would displace Hamas and impose security and order shows just how severed is the West from reality. Recall that Mahmoud Abbas, General Sisi and the King of Jordan (some of the region’s most pliable leaders) pointedly refused even to meet with Biden after the latter’s Israel trip.

The anger across the region is real and threatens ‘moderate’ Arab leaders, whose room for manoeuvre is now circumscribed.

So hotspots are proliferating, as are attacks on U.S. deployments around the region. Some in Washington claim to perceive an Iranian hand, and are hoping to expand a window for war with Iran.
…
Should Israel enter Gaza (and Israel may decide it has no choice but to launch a ground operation, given the domestic political dynamics and public sentiment), it is likely that Hizbullah will incrementally be drawn further in, leaving the U.S. with the binary option of seeing Israel defeated, or launching a major war in which all the hotspots become fused ‘as one’.

In a sense, the Israeli-Islamic conflict now may only be resolved in this kinetic way. All efforts since 1947 have seen the divide only deepen. The reality of the necessity of war is permeating widely the consciousness of the Arabic and Islamic world.

Posted by b on October 27, 2023 at 13:44 UTC | Permalink

UH OH! China “Will Support Iran”

World Hal Turner

Chinese Premier Li Qiang came out before assembled media Thursday to say only this:

“China will continue to firmly support Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity, and will strongly oppose any external forces interfering in Iran’s internal affairs.”

Analysis

This Israel-Hamas thing is getting worse by the hour.

Ground invasion or not, Israel is. . . fucked.

Just a matter of time before Iran outright attacks, with the support of Russia, China, Syria. Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, etc.

I think they already realize they have the upper hand against Israel AND the US..

The biggest news we have heard in a long time is that China will support Iran in the liberation of Palestine. That’s a big deal. It doesn’t get any bigger.

This is shaping up to be the USA, Israel, and the EU against everyone else.   I think we cannot win.

We are watching and documenting the start of WW3 right before our eyes.

Why are people Leaving America?

“Everything you said is truth. Things are getting more and more unaffordable here in the US and inflation and crime is killing many small businesses.”

What moment in your life were you at the right place at the right time?

A bar order changed my life. “14 Bier bitte (14 beers please).”

I was celebrating (with friends) the severance package I had signed a few hours earlier.

After 5 years, my time in Germany was coming to an end. I already had 2 interviews lined up back in the US.

From the barstool to the left came a voice. “Excuse me.” I turned to look in the eyes of a rather scruffy absent-minded-professor type.

He smiled and said, “you seem to have a slight English accent…or maybe American?”

“American,” I confirmed. He continued, “you wouldn’t happen to be looking for a job would you?”

Crazy I thought. “I just signed my severance contract 3 hours ago.”

“Can you write?” he replied.

“I think so. My grandfather was a journalist, my mother taught English.”

I’ll spare you the details. He hired me. I never went back to the US. That special lady I had met 7 months earlier came back from her studies in the UK.

Love developed. Babies arrived. We moved to France. Babies grew into fascinating persons.

Any other bar, any other night and it never would have happened this way.

Lucky boy am I .

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

One employer I had decided to make me redundant…which was a BAAAAAD idea.

Keeping it short ( I hope ). I was managing a Photolab ( in a pharmacy ) in SE London…I literally built it up from where it was originally bringing in ‘maybe’ around 10% to 12 % of the total takings of the shop…to where it was bringing in over 80% of the takings. I did that by making certain that the quality we produced was the best for ( literally ) miles around. We had company reps from the midlands who would bring their films into us…because they couldn’t find anywhere to beat us.

At one stage we had the top boys from Kodak visit us, because they were ‘concerned’ at the amount of photographic paper we were going through…sometimes 20 rolls a week. A roll of paper is 175 Meters long…that’s over 1500 prints per roll, or just over 23,000 prints ( 6 x 4 ) a week. It turned out that there was only one Kodak lab in the whole of southern England that beat us…and that by less than 3 %…and that was at a popular seaside resort…Brighton.

Sorry for the long back story.

Almost the first thing they did was make one of the two guys on the counter redundant. Then not long after that they made my assistant redundant as well. You’ve probably worked out where this is going already. If there’s only one person working the lab or the counter what happens on days off? Or when you go to lunch…or if your ill?

Answer? I haven’t got the foggiest idea…we were never told.

Then shortly after that…I was made redundant.

Not really a surprise…I had figured out which way the wind was blowing well before this. In all fairness when they told me I was being made redundant I did tell them that in my ( exceptionally modest and humble opinion ), the lab would be closed within three months since they had no one to run it properly…they ( of course ) just ignored that.

I had a new job within two weeks…paid almost as well…and without all the hassle.

The big problem they had now was that there was now only one person to run the counter side of things…and the lab. That’s assuming that the ‘last guy’ didn’t bother with inconsequential things…like a trip to the loo, or tea breaks or lunch breaks, day’s off, holidays, emergency’s at home or just being to damn ill to come to work.

Oh, I forgot to mention something else.

He wasn’t trained to operate the lab.

He told them. ‘I’ve got no health and safety training for photolab work…you know…for all that unimportant stuff…like the electrical hazards, hazardous and corrosive chemicals etc.’ He had no first aid certification, no fire hazard training. And nothing else either, like the day to day maintenance of the machinery, let alone the longer term maintenance.

There was also the minor ( but vital to maintain quality ) chore of balancing the master channel on a daily basis, plus ( on an ongoing basis ) all the print and film channels. He had no idea where to even begin with that…absolutely not his fault at all…he was counter staff…not trained lab staff.

And…then he told them something else, he was colour blind…not exactly great for printing colour films.

He was told. ‘Use the scanner, that’ll do the job’.

‘Uhuh…I can’t do that’. ‘HUH? Why NOT’!

‘It’s been disabled in the software and disconnected from the motherboard…I don’t even know what it looks like, I wouldn’t recognise it if it got up and smacked me in the face, and I don’t know how to hook it back up and get it working again…of course there was one person here that could do that…but you got rid of him, and even if I did get the scanner working again the quality and delivery times will nose dive, the two people you made redundant did everything manually…that’s why the quality was so good, and why we were doing so much trade’. ( my assistant and I could print faster and more accurately than the scanner could do the job ).

Then, obviously trying to be ‘helpful’ ( IE sticking the knife in ) he added. ‘We could always get an engineer out from Kodak to reconnect it, but, since it’s not a breakdown…it’ll be chargeable’.

Not done.

How do I know all this ?

I’m at home one evening and I get a phone call from the ‘last guy’. ‘Hey! how’s it going’? ‘Pretty good’ was the answer…’How’s the lab doing’? ( I love this bit ) ‘What lab’?? ‘Umm…THE lab’. ‘Like I said…WHAT lab’?! ‘It’s CLOSED’??? ‘Well…I suppose you ‘could’ put it that way…the whole shop is closed…permanently’. ‘Pardon’?

It turned out that not only had the lab closed because ( surprise surprise ), nobody knew how to operate the printer properly or maintain it…but when the customers found out I’d been laid off they expressed their disgust by voting with their feet. The whole shop became a wasteland…hardly anybody went in there now.

Now that might not have been so bad when I first started there, and the lab brought in maybe 10 to 12 % of the total takings…but by the time I was laid off…the lab was bringing in around 80% of the total takings…of the entire shop.

Remember I said the lab would probably be closed within three months?

I was wrong…it took 6 WEEKS! before it…and the whole SHOP was closed.

The new company thought they were getting their hands on a gold mine, and to be honest it would have been…if they hadn’t messed it all up.

What’s an unforgettable statement that your boss told you?

In my mid 20’s I had a job at a recording studio. I was “the girl”. I was completely in charge of all things office.

This place was part of an advertising agency.

We had the whole bottom floor and most of what we did was recording jingles.

So there were the jingle writers And the musicians and the sales people. All in all it was pretty much fun.

One day the pay checks were given to me to hand out and I happened to notice that everyone made more money than I did. I marched upstairs and asked WHY. I knew full well I did more work than anyone else there. I was told that “They were creative and I was not.”

My husband and I had already been doing glass work. I called him, told him to come get me. when he got there I said I am quitting my job. I want you to quit yours,too and we will do glass work full time.

He did and we rented our first studio which was near UWM on Milwaukee’s upper East Side.

We are still doing glass work today, 45 years later. hundreds of projects all over the country.

So thanks for telling me how uncreative I was.

Why Men NEED Sex

This should be taught in schools/colleges, the differences between Men & Women so that people can better go about relationships & know why the opposite gender behaves how they behave instead of thinking that there’s something wrong with them. i.e men have 17 times more testosterone than women hence men will tend to have a higher sex drive!

Is China still rising or already dying?

Assuming the World was born on 1/1/1946

• The Chinese Economy resembles a 48 year old man. Not young anymore but certainly not old or dying
• The Japanese Economy resembles a 77 year old man. Prematurely aged 20 years thanks to the Plaza accords or would be a healthy 57 year old
• The Indian Economy resembles a 43 year old. Down on his luck and having a last chance at some development and growth.
• The US Economy resembles a 75 year old. Having sucked the youth of every Economy to keep from growing old or slowing down his ageing
• The Russian Economy represents a 34 year old, reborn after dying as a 88 year old and still unsure of how to go forward but strong enough to fight the world

What office rule made you say “Really?”

This was maybe ten years ago, back when I worked in a warehouse.

One fine day when I arrived at work there were no chairs at my workstation. A manager was out there and told me they had removed the chairs because the people who worked the previous shift spent too much time sitting around instead of doing their other tasks, but I could go into the office and bring a chair out to the warehouse every day when I came in.

When the next person on the shift came in I told her what was going on with the chairs, and her response was, “What is this, junior high?” I was more amused than exasperated, and life continued with me bringing out a couple of chairs at the start of work every day.

Soon afterward our senior manager became tired of people losing pens all the time and announced that anyone who needed a pen would have to ask her for one personally. I myself was very methodical about how I used my pen, always putting it down at the same place on the table where I worked and expecting it to be there whenever I needed it. Other people (mostly our regular vendors) were less careful with pens, and it didn’t take long before my pen disappeared, along with most of the others.

Now, these were not expensive pens, so the savings our tightfisted manager gained from controlling their distribution could not have been that much. More importantly, our senior manager’s schedule didn’t overlap with mine very much, and if I had better things to do with my time than ask the senior manager for a pen every time I needed one, surely that was more true for her.

So, I took the matter to Human Resources, mentioning both the chair and pen situations in an email. The next morning an HR person called me up on the phone and got some more details about everything. About five minutes later I heard the rumble of plastic wheels on the concrete floor of the warehouse, and there was the middle manager with an extra chair in one hand and a fistful of pens in the other. Sounding a little contrite, he dumped the pens on my table and said if I needed more to please let him know.

Often when I hear people talk about HR, it’s in the context of how HR is on the side of the employer instead of the employee. So I offer up this one instance where HR came through for the little guy.

The chairs in the warehouse stayed in the warehouse afterward. And, more importantly, I never had to waste anyone’s time by asking my senior manager for a pen.

A distorted view of life…

What are the benefits of universal healthcare?

I’m in Australia.

Years ago I fell off a truck and dislocated my shoulder. I called an ambulance and they turned up. One guy said “I’m trained for resetting that”, so he did, me lying on his trolley bed on the pavement, they then took me to hospital for X-rays to make sure there were no further issues.

I don’t know how much it cost, I didn’t see a bill.

Years later I caught double pneumonia. 15 days in hospital with several courses of strong antibiotics and lots of rest.

I don’t know how much that cost – never saw a bill.

And a couple of years ago my 93 year old father in law was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and fitted with a pacemaker that same day, spend a night in hospital and came home with an internet connected heart monitor so they could check on him from the hospital.

We never knew how much that cost … he never got a bill.

That’s universal health care for you.

We also get low cost and no cost pharmecuticals

I don’t mind the 2.5% levy added to my tax bills at all – it’s good value.

What facts about the United States do foreigners not believe until they come to America?

One observation I’ve made is that people from Europe have no concept of the ridiculous expanse that is the US, and to be fair the idea that you could take a day trip to another country when you’re in Europe blows my mind as well. I met a couple from France who thought they were going to go to Maine, New York, DC, and Orlando (Disney) all in one weekend. Just for reference, it would take you nearly 24 full hours of driving to get from Maine to Orlando.

In case you can’t tell, below is the US compared to Australia.

If you had to be in a medieval army, which role would be the safest?

You would not even be in a medieval army if you wanted to be safe. You would have joined a medieval army because you wanted to get rich quick – there was no other way to make easy money.

First of all: avoid all sieges. High risk of dying from dysentery as either besieger or besieged.

A longbow archer was very safe, and paid well, except that archers could not get “first pick” of battlefield booty. It was a trade off. Even so, you might get lucky especially if you got to sack a big town.

You won the lottery by either capturing a nobleman, his horse, or his fine armor. Capturing a common knight was not bad except that, quite often. knights went into deep debt to finance their war service

Even so. knights sometimes had rich relatives (so don’t get mad and kill Sir Deadbeat)

A surgeon would have been pretty safe and, if captured, you would be treated well.

This is VERY UGLY

How did your cat pick you?

We live about a quarter mile away from the nearest road, back through the woods, so it’s rare for any stray domestic animals to wander back here, but on the evening of May 26 this year, this tortoiseshell came strolling up the porch steps and looked in the window.

“Oh no,” we thought. “I hope it goes away.” We already had two cats and didn’t want a third. That lasted about 20 minutes. Then, “Well, I guess we need to feed her something. We can’t let her starve.” So she got a meal off us. When she was still there the next morning, we named her. That was it. That’s when you can no longer say a cat doesn’t own you.

I already had a jet black longhair named LBK adopted from a colleague who was moving 1,200 miles away and didn’t want to take her from Georgia to the snows of Vermont. My wife has a blue tortoiseshell rescue cat she calls Biscuit. So we named our porch cat Triscuit—not after the cracker but sort of an organic chemistry joke (bis-, tris-, Biscuit, Triscuit). Students of o-chem will get it.

Triscuit was very emaciated when she came to us. She weighed 3.2 lb; the basal half of her tail was almost hairless, like an opossum tail; she had a prolapsed rectum, worms, and diarrhea; she smelled bad. But I’m a sympathetic sap, especially for underdogs (and undercats), and she captured my heart. After several trips to the vet and a special rehab diet, my free cat has so far cost me only about $780 since May. She’s now up to 4.3 lb—just $180/lb. She’s worm-free, and she’s growing some hair on her tail. She just might live.

Cajun Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground meat
• 1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 cup green bell peppers, chopped
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 6 to 8 bell peppers
• Sliced cheese

Instructions

1. Cook meat, tomatoes, onions, chopped peppers and tomato paste. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes until done.
2. Cook rice. Mix rice into meat mixture, then simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Clean peppers. Boil in large pot until peppers turn darker green. Dry peppers on paper towels. Cool.
4. Stuff peppers with meat and rice mix.
5. Serve with a slice of cheese on top.

Why do Americans think they’re strong when they lose to countries like Vietnam and Afghanistan, and they think they can take China?

Anyone can think they are superman! Just that most are smart and humble. China is a very pragmatic and rational nation. It knows no nation has a right to exist and enjoys full sovereignty. China never sees itself as a nation that is strong. It knows very very well that should anyone threaten China, it will fully defend itself completely and hurt the attacking nation. Very very hard.

Humanity

If you were sentenced to death and the judge said to you, “I will let you choose the method of your death”, what method would you choose?

Bullet to the Occiput with a 9X19 Parbellum slug by a professional when I least expect it

Death takes 0.53 seconds and before you drop to the floor you are dead

It’s best description was by Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List

However that was expected

I want it unexpected so that there is no fear or surprise

You are just powered off

What was the nail in the coffin for an employee or a co-worker?

Me to a new hire, “install this wing flap actuator on that left wing and what ever you do…do not drop it, it’s very expensive.”

New hire, “Yes, sir. No problem”.”

Two minutes later, a loud, crashing thud can be heard from over by the left wing.

Me, “NEW HIRE? Did you just drop that actuator?”

New hire “No sir, I just dropped a tool. It’s alright.”

Me as I go over there to examine the situation. “Then why is there a dent on this mounting lug of the actuator?”

New Hire, “uhh, I don’t know, must’ve come that way. It’ll be alright. It’s fine. It’ll still work.”

Me, “Lives are at stake when we work on these aircraft and when mistakes are made we have to own them and immediately correct them. This actuator will not work and neither will you. Remember this lesson on your next job.”

Men and women

How did you get your most satisfying revenge on someone else that truly deserved it?

In college I lived in an apartment building and my next door neighbor was the rudest, most angry and disagreeable person that I had ever met. One day after classes I rode my bicycle home and went to store it in the small storage shed in front of my car. I noticed that someone had clipped the right rear corner of my fairly new car. I looked at the Cadillac next to my car and saw a indentation on the rear quarter panel at the same height as the damage to my car. The color on the damaged quarter panel matched the color of my car exactly.

I approached my mean, nasty and disagreeable neighbor, showed him the damage and he immediately claimed that I must have hit his Cadillac and threatened to sue me, get me evicted and on and on.

He worked in a bank in a troubled part of town. I drove by the bank and noticed a massage parlor in a single wide trailer about 2 blocks away.

I went to an adult book store and purchased an explicit picture magazine titled “Beautiful Black Asses”, went to a card store and bought a very feminine thank you card and an envelope big enough for the magazine. I signed the card “Thanks for everything honey – Candy” and mailed it to his apartment with the massage parlor’s name and address as the return address. I was aware that his wife got home first every day and retrieved the mail every day.

A couple of days later I heard a LOUD screaming exchange between them and the wife took off in his Cadillac, burning rubber all of the way. She and the Cadillac were gone for about a month before she returned but, their relationship seemed chilled until I graduated and moved away a year and 1/2 later.

Shifa Hospital Bunker – How Would They Know?

Big claims:

Israel claim Hamas headquarters is hidden under the Shifa Hospital in Gaza – news.com.au – October 31 2023

Israel-Gaza war: US says Hamas has command centre under Al-Shifa hospital – BBC – November 14 2023

But how would they know?

Top Secret Hamas Command Bunker in Gaza Revealed – Tablet – July 29 2014 (!!!)

The Israelis are so sure about the location of the Hamas bunker, however, not because they are trying to score propaganda points, or because it has been repeatedly mentioned in passing by Western reporters—but because they built it. Back in 1983, when Israel still ruled Gaza, they built a secure underground operating room and tunnel network beneath Shifa hospital—which is one among several reasons why Israeli security sources are so sure that there is a main Hamas command bunker in or around the large cement basement beneath the area of Building 2 of the Hospital, which reporters are obviously prohibited from entering.

I bet 100 to 1 that nothing Hamas is present in the well known bunker beneath the Shifa hospital.

Posted by b at 9:53 UTC | Comments (2)

Punishing the men she likes…

What is the biggest life lesson you have ever learned?

Dad: What are you searching in that drawer?

Mom: I couldn’t find my saved money, I need to pay the deliveryman.

Dad: Don’t worry, you’ll find it. How much for the deliveryman?

Mom: 5 thousand rupees. I ordered some groceries and essentials for the house.

Dad paid the deliveryman and we eventually got busy with our daily work.

The next day, Mom, Dad, and I were cleaning the kitchen, when my mom shouted.

Mom: Look, I got my money, it’s in the cupboard. I was so foolish, I searched the whole house for it.

Mom looked so happy because she saved it for her friend’s birthday gift.

But the situation was something else.

Dad got out of the house to smoke a cigarette and I ran behind him.

I said “Why did you do that?’

Father asked: ‘Do what?’

I replied “I swear I have seen you taking the money out of your wallet and putting it in the cupboard.

Dad smirked and replied: “You know she was everything for me! I can’t see her getting sad over the little money she lost yesterday. Because I think we need to care for the person, we love the most!”

Dad takes out a handkerchief and starts putting off his sweat.

I said “Dad, now why are you using mom’s handkerchief? Is it a sign of your care towards Mom too?”

Dad “Nope, because it still has her fragrance”

This was something that changed my whole point of view not only towards life but also towards love too.

Hope you’ll like my answer,

Yours truly,

Ankita

Why is heroin so addictive?

“I’ll just do a little this time”.

Every heroin addict’s go to line. The problem is the drug is too brutal and won’t let you do a little this time.

Heroin messes with your brain big time.

It is an opioid, which means it comes from the same plant as morphine and other painkillers.

But heroin is different because it gets to your brain faster and stronger than other opioids.

It does this by changing into morphine once it’s in your blood, and then attaching to these things called opioid receptors in your brain.

Opioid receptors are like switches that control how you feel pain and pleasure.

When heroin hits them, it turns them on full blast, making you feel a rush of euphoria and relaxation.

It also blocks out any negative feelings like depression or anxiety.

Sounds awesome, right?

Wrong. Because heroin is so good at turning on your opioid receptors, it also tricks your brain into thinking that heroin is the best thing ever.

Your brain starts to associate heroin with happiness, and forgets about other things that make you happy, like food, friends, or hobbies.

Your brain also becomes less sensitive to heroin over time, so you need more and more of it to feel the same effect.

This is how addiction happens.

You become obsessed with getting and using heroin, and you can’t stop even if you want to.

You also start to feel sick when you don’t have heroin, because your brain is used to having it all the time.

This is called withdrawal, and it sucks big time.

Withdrawal can feel like death. It can make you feel like you have the flu, but worse.

You can have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, sweating, chills, anxiety, insomnia, and more.

Withdrawal can also make you crave heroin even more, because you know it will make you feel better.

The white horse is one of the most addictive drugs out there.

It hijacks your brain’s reward system and makes you dependent on it for feeling good.

It also makes you sick when you don’t have it, and makes you want it more than anything else in the world.

Possibly the worst thing is that even being sober for 20 years, you always remember that first high. That first rush. So the urge never really leaves…..

Do you know what happened to the smartest student in your class?

The smartest student in my class used to be nicknamed “Rain Man” in math class because of how fast he was able to make calculations. But he wasn’t just the best in math. He was also the best in the language classes and in history class – any class except physical exercise really. He wasn’t much use there.

Everyone thought he would go on to become a university professor. But he didn’t. He started distancing himself from academic pursuits in high school and instead started reading poetry and wanting to be an artist. When he was evaluated for military service and got a stellar score on the IQ test, the officers asked him what he wanted to do after high-school, and he told them he wanted to study literature or write novels.

Most likely the issue was that he came from an academic family, with both his parents being university professors, which made that career path seem like nothing special to him. He wanted “more”, whatever that was.

At college, he would become increasingly erratic, often not showing up for class and failing to read appointed materials. But he would still pass all exams with high marks by making an effort at the last minute.

The “artist” aspiration hadn’t died out though. He was pursuing writing as well as music, eventually forming a band, but he never really made an impact. He wasn’t even a bad music artist but he also just wasn’t outstanding like he was at school. His commercially unsuccessful “artist” career saw him moonlighting at random shift jobs to get by, including as a night receptionist.

It would be seven years until he realized music and literature weren’t going to get him anywhere. If he had just managed to put his head down and work diligently on a more weighty subject of study, be it mathematics or medicine or political science, I’m sure he would have had a brilliant career and made a splash in his field. As it was, he was already in his 30s without any really useful qualifications while others were getting promotions and buying real estate.

In the following years, he first learned Chinese and went to live in China, then came back again, took up coding with the intention of making AI models but also lost interest in that before really getting there. Nowadays he’s still struggling to even get a decent job – something I think no one would have expected back then at school. And who knows what’s next?

I guess I should know because I am this person. I was the smartest kid in my class. In this game of “professor or suicide”, I’m thus far neither. But being gifted hasn’t served me particularly well. Since everything was easy for me throughout my education (well, except P.E. and crafts), I never learned to really struggle. I learned that I could win without struggling. Therefore, I proceeded to avoid anything that might seriously put me to the test. And at the end of the day, intelligence is really no match for effort.

The silver lining is that I’m more and more beginning to realize that I don’t need a brilliant career, neither in academia nor as an artist. In hindsight, I was pursuing both more out of vanity than anything else. Unusually smart kids have a tendency to accrue lofty expectations from all around; from parents, teachers and classmates alike. Everyone tells you: “you could do this” and “you should do that” and “you’re gonna be a star” and it’s easy to become inebriated with this praise and forget to stop and be honest with yourself about what YOU actually want – not what others want for you or even what you want for your own idea of you. Finally doing so has been quite liberating.

Filtering out all the good men

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YDMWjBpmu78/frame0.jpg

Is it true that in China, people with European appearance are valued and they are paid a higher salary, for example, if it is an English teacher?

This is an illusion. The Chinese used to think that having a European appearance meant they would be good at teaching English, but they later realized they were wrong.

Professional ability is linked to your salary, not your appearance.

If you can provide an English major certificate or education certificate, you can earn a good salary at English teaching institutions in China, but of course, there will be many people competing with you. Education requires teaching experience, not just talking to oneself in the classroom. Engaging in the teaching profession requires mastering teaching methods that students can understand. You must first be able to communicate with students in Chinese. Not everyone is suitable for the teaching profession, and whether to stay or not ultimately depends on the graduation rate data of students. People who lack a competitive advantage cannot enter higher education schools and can only teach their children some simple English conversations in kindergartens. Of course, the salary will be much lower than that of school teachers.

China’s second language ~ third language education is civilian education, not aristocratic education.

Generally speaking, the China government requires Chinese students to master at least 1~2 foreign languages. Because English-speaking countries dominate the world, China has popularized English education in the compulsory education stage.

There are many foreigners engaged in English education in China because it is easy to find substitutes, and the competitive pressure of practitioners is also the biggest among all language education. Meanwhile, due to the popularization of English education in China, the job of English teacher is also the easiest to find.

Language teachers such as Russian, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic are relatively lacking.

As far as I know, some teachers of small languages have already earned salaries of $1000~$5000 per hour. (一万到五万一堂课)

Some infrastructure contractors, in order to make their employees understand the local language, offer considerable salaries to language teachers who attend classes during training.

In fact, in recent years, the salaries of Arabic language teachers and French teachers have been very good. Because there are many Arab countries and African countries (French speaking area) along the the Belt and Road. Since there is a demand for business, of course, relevant language education talents are needed.

What is the most bizarre thing a coworker has done to get fired?

We hired a lady to organize our archives before they were digitized. This was in 2000. She was just required to work 8 hours a day, and only needed to interact with coworkers for about an hour a day. So she decided to work 3:00–12:00 and our Mom and Pop small company saw no reason why she couldn’t do her job at night.

She was doing a decent job, and nobody had a problem. But we reached a point, where she had to start working days, so she could tell people what was going on.

She had stored all of her rolls of fim in garbage cans, and paper records in recycling boxes.

The first day she wasn’t there when the cleaners came to clean her office, they emptied all of her film and paper into shredders, and hauled it away.

Not one person in the office could figure out why she not only used her garbage can for storage, but brought in extra garbage cans and filled them.

She was livid and blamed the cleaning staff for emptying the garbage and recycling as they were required to do by contract.

They didn’t exactly fire her. They laid her off, and said that now that there was no data to archive, they didn’t have a job for her.

Delusional expectations

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kFvqKKr4yxc?feature=share

Have you ever known someone who has gone missing?

Sara Anne Wood was just 12 years old when she was abducted within view of her home on Aug 18, 1993. I was friends(from camp) with her brother Dusty and it hit everyone so very hard. This was an incredibly nice family from Central New York in a very small town. Back then, kids had heard ghost stories about kids being snatched but very few took it seriously. Sara’s case changed that for many and the resulting publicity made sure that new tools for the public and law enforcement would save more missing kids since.

The man who admitted to abducting and killing her also confessed to another murder- a 12 year old boy, Jimmy Bernardo. He confessed to another murder(Jamie Lusher) but like Sara, the body has never been found. The killer has given incorrect information for the recovery of Sara Anne Wood and Jamie Lusher many times. FBI psychologists are unsure what is keeping the killer from revealing the information since he seems willing to put it behind him. He will serve every day of his pitiful existence behind bars but it isn’t enough for the pain he has brought to so many in this world.

I have not named the killer out of respect for my childhood friend’s family who feel the killer has garnered too much fame already. It’s easy to search, but do me a favor if you choose to look it up. Please also learn about all of the positive changes brought about by Sara Anne Wood’s case. Those changes have saved/found many thousands of children since.

Note to Dusty & the Wood family: I hope you find peace and closure. We have not forgotten Sara and will never stop looking.

I am so so so SO very glad that I no longer live in the USA.

It’s all loony town.

What was the most embarrassing medical procedure you have had?

When I was 16 I developed a kidney abscess. It was treated over several weeks and dissipated. First off, I had to sit in a room with a bunch of 70 year old men waiting for my Urologist. Then, the Dr was flummoxed how a teenage girl could get this, so proceeded with different types of tests. One was testing my Ureters. In the hospital, I was naked from the waist down with a paper drape, filled my bladder with something and iodine and literally put a stopper in so that I couldn’t pee. Then, they left the room. It was just me and a male tech who was in front of some machines with screens. The room had swinging double doors. Every once in awhile someone would come in, and my nether regions were on full view to anyone coming in, and anyone passing by. When I was done, I had to wrap the paper drape around me and sprint to the bathroom across the hall to piss like a Russian race horse! I’m pretty sure I leaked that liquid all across that room and the hallway. Yes, this was very embarrassing.

These girls are delusional…

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B08AYgQgiak?feature=share

When you think your child is too quiet on his own, what was he actually doing that surprised you?

One of my girls had been diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, developmental delays and schizo affective disorder.

She attends a day program for adults that provides socialization along with life skills training. They also take the clients out into the community to do contract jobs supported by staff. She came home beaming and said she was working in a local grocery store. I assumed stocking shelves, sweeping, etc.

About her third day she came home excited as usual got a snack and went to the bathroom.

I cleaned up the table, put away leftovers, and generally spent a fair amount of time puttering around.

Then I realized she was still in the bathroom and it was very quiet.

I called her name.

No answer.

I checked the door.

It was locked.

I banged on the door, yelled her full name and demanded she open the door immediately!

NO! I’M NOT DONE!

What are you doing?

It’s a surprise. Go away!

Now I’ve had pretty awful bathroom surprises from kids. Things like blood all over from an accident doing something I’d warned them about, to diarrhea, to bathing the dog in the tub with the associated water and mud sprayed around.

I said I was counting to 10 and the door had better be open or I’d pick the lock. Yeah, I’ve had to do that on more than one occasion.

At 9 she opened the door beaming and sweaty. See mom! I cleaned it all by myself! The floor around the toilet, the sinks, inside the toilet and the mirrors! Now I need to wash my hands.

Everything was spotless. I had forgotten most stores have at least employee restrooms. That was what she was doing at work.

She then said it was nicer at home than the men’s room. It was disgusting and stinks.

I was floored! Never have I had a child do such a thorough job cleaning anything! I gave her hugs. I told her I was sooo happy with the sparkling clean bathroom.

Then she asked me, Mom, can you teach me how to clean the tub? They don’t have that at the store.

I was shocked. She actually wanted to do more cleaning!

I told her I was so proud of her, and then later made her promise that if she wanted to clean the bathroom again would she please leave the door open. I explained that the surprise was fantastic, but some cleaning supplies were smelly and she could get sick.

She looked disappointed and asked how she could surprise me if the door was open.

I promised if she said she was working on something special I’d stay in the kitchen and make cookies.

I get a clean bathroom, the kids get fresh cookies, and my husband eats raw cookie dough. Wins all the way around!

China SHOCKS The US With Terrifying Nuclear Space Missile

https://youtu.be/qpazF5l5YOo

Have you ever accidentally found out that you were about to be fired?

I got a call from a friend, who had literally just been informed that he was laid off. And he was wondering if I had also gotten the axe.

I was on vacation for a week. It was Tuesday or Wednesday, and I was on my way to a dog show to help some friends set some things up. My friend had been walked into the office that morning and been told that his last day would the the following Friday. The severance was good, he had already been thinking about retiring, and his wife was having pretty bad health issues. So he just said cool, and planned on wrapping up the things he was involved with.

So I checked, and did have a voicemail on my phone. I listened to it, and yes, a manager I knew had called VERY EARLY that day and asked that I call her back when I had the time, sometime today. Given that my friend had been laid off, and what the situation at the company was, yeah, I knew I was going to get the boot as well. Not my first time, so I just sat back and made a list of what I needed to do. Then I called my friend back, told him about the voicemail and we commiserated. And finally I called the manager back and got the bad news. No big deal.

Being laid off sucks. But keep your wits about you, be open to doing something different, make smart financial decisions and just keep movin’ on.

What are some good examples of “life isn’t fair”?

In May 2016, Amber Heard, who is now divorced from Johnny Depp, shared photos claiming he abused her. People quickly condemned Depp, especially when he was cast in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Many thought he shouldn’t be hired due to the accusations. Meanwhile, Heard was praised as a survivor and advocate for abused women.

Depp, who had built a good reputation over the years, faced a backlash. People didn’t want to work with him, and he was labeled as an abuser. He received hate from fans, the media, and almost everyone.

However, this year, Depp released tapes that changed how we saw the situation. Heard admitted to hitting him and throwing objects at him, even causing injury. She mocked him, knowing people would likely believe her over him.

Depp, in essence, is saying, “Imagine if I, as a man, claimed to be a victim of domestic violence. How many would believe or support me?” The story shows how we often quickly judge someone as a villain, even when they might not be at fault.

Women are attracted to bad boys. How can I act like or be a “bad boy”?

I was the bad boy and what you’re trying to make is a mistake.

Let me explain why.

Most girls in their 20s and even 30s have some kind of masculine ideal. This ideal is anything but healthy. They want the sociopath or the aggressive jerk or whatever is considered nowadays a good representation of masculinity.

The definition of a “good masculine sexual partner” is more of what you’d find in “Fight Club” than “Breakfast At Tiffany”. And yes, I was one of them. I acted as a jerk, I was emotionally imbalanced, I got into a lot of arguments and fights and I was emotionally and physically violent.

And this got me laid. A lot. The fact that my life was chaotic and broken, ironically, made a lot of very beautiful woman want to save me.

And here’s the thing …

If you want to screw your emotional balance, make your life a mess and be in that position for the sake of getting laid you are an idiot. This is because the “bad boy” image that works to get women turned on is kind of the opposite of what works in every other area of life.

Everywhere else consistency, maturity, dignity, integrity are rewarded. In the business world nobody will put up with the “bad boy” bullshit. In the academic world the same. Most realms of life are a meritocracy where your hard work and effort are going to get you what you deserve. Dating is one of the few fields in which the least you care and the more counter-intuitive you act, the better results you’re going to get.

But it is not worth it.

This is because while being a bad boy may get you female attention, being a bad boy is generally not a good life strategy and there is a LOT MORE to life than getting laid. I remember how at some point in my life I was an emotional mess, smoking, drinking, going in bars each night, sleeping with two girls at the same time (not in the same bed) and many people were “admiring me”.

In reality, I was crying out of frustration and desperation often because I was in a hole and no one was pulling me out. While I was getting girls to take off their panties, I had no money, my business partners wanted nothing to do with me, my friends who showed integrity and character have been replaced by superficial relationships and the future looked really bleak.

So honestly, what you want is the most immature thing you can do.

Trust me, treating life as a bad-boy (and I’m not talking about buying a leather jacket but actually being a “I-Don’t-Give-A-Damn” type of person) has a far higher downside than upside. While there are always going to be ladies who will (1) want to save you from yourself (2) think they can change you (3) be attracted because you’re different, the people who don’t want to have sex with you won’t really be impressed by what you’re doing.

So here’s my advice.

Act as a man and stop trying to emulate the dysfunctional bad-boy image. The rogue, the sociopath, the psychopath, the out of control wreck are and were always female fantasies for better or for worse but actually being one sucks.

Instead simply focus on acting as a man. The same traits that you consider boring nice, as a nice guy, are exactly the traits required to succeed in most fields. I’m not saying to be a wimp but I’m saying that being dysfunctional for the sake of mediocre sex (because deep inside you’ll always know that that’s not love but rather fascination) is a very bad trade-of.

Why We’re Leaving The United States