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Vaping on the Front or back Porch

SteveS45

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f88374bc7c0cb921cd3ae7c7bb73b389.gif
 

Smigo

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Member For 2 Years
No watering required this morning since it rained last night and hard I see from stuff blown around.
Mate...rain! It started here where I live 3 months ago. 1st month we got 3 to 4 days a week rain. That here is very unusual. But the last 2 months!? 1st was rain 5 to 6 days a week. That was huh! wha...! This last month has been rain or drizzle every single day! With temps not above 10c. 90% of them under 10c. The month prior was temps not over 14c. We hear on the news, ha ha, Melbourne news, which for Victoria they think is it. What a joke. They are on the coast which is crazy milder. Say summer, Melb temps 30, here 45. Winter 12, here 3. They get a 2c and freak our, we get minus 5 with our roofs frozen over. The news and Politicians are so out of touch with us here its a joke and we laugh at them.
We got our new mower the other week, 2 weeks ago. Still cant use it. And our forecast for another week is rain rain rain..... So funny, Melb weather which gives the whole state weather said a week ago.....we'd get here a few days dry.........yeah right...not 1. Said today would be dry and 14c here....rained all day and was just 8c. So out of touch with us here that we laugh at them.

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SteveS45

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Member For 5 Years
Mate...rain! It started here where I live 3 months ago. 1st month we got 3 to 4 days a week rain. That here is very unusual. But the last 2 months!? 1st was rain 5 to 6 days a week. That was huh! wha...! This last month has been rain or drizzle every single day! With temps not above 10c. 90% of them under 10c. The month prior was temps not over 14c. We hear on the news, ha ha, Melbourne news, which for Victoria they think is it. What a joke. They are on the coast which is crazy milder. Say summer, Melb temps 30, here 45. Winter 12, here 3. They get a 2c and freak our, we get minus 5 with our roofs frozen over. The news and Politicians are so out of touch with us here its a joke and we laugh at them.
We got our new mower the other week, 2 weeks ago. Still cant use it. And our forecast for another week is rain rain rain..... So funny, Melb weather which gives the whole state weather said a week ago.....we'd get here a few days dry.........yeah right...not 1. Said today would be dry and 14c here....rained all day and was just 8c. So out of touch with us here that we laugh at them.

Sent from my LM-X430 using Tapatalk

We have been getting crazy weather here also. One day my GF was 2 towns over on the phone with me telling me it was pouring. I said........ What I am sitting in the backyard sunbathing~! Another day I was a mile away from a friends house and it was raining so hard I almost pulled over while driving because I couldn't see with the wipers going 100 MPH, on the phone he told me it wasn't even drizzling by him~!
 

Bliss Doubt

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
It seems that our neighbor's cat has decided she lives with us. She also goes up the way to Tim's farm to hunt.

Tim is the millionaire farmer. Made his money via working and selling industrial electric gear. He's a master electrician too. It was him that told me and her grandfather we had wired the hovel up to code. The inspector the next day asked if we had help. We told him who looked it over. He slapped a pass sticker on with no further inspection.

So, this cat has taken up to being adopted by me. She's a funny one too. I can give her tail a little gentle tug and she doesn't swat. The barn up top of the hill is her "house". At times she's tried rolling into a car with someone. We've taught her to not do that and she hangs back out of the way when we come and go.

Speaking of her, will get my medicine and go feed her. Did some mowing yesterday with weed eater. Had supper at the Mexican place. An older Mexican man who was a customer come to our table.

"Does this actually seem like authentic Mexican to you guys?"

I chuckled right away and explained I'd eaten authentic, and no this wasn't. My wife said it was as authentic as we could expect in WV. He chuckled and mentioned needing to get to cooking, having green peppers come off. My eyes lit up. He grinned and said that told him I knew what he meant. I nodded. My wife was confused. He told her, "Mexican green peppers, cayenne but a different type."

He excused himself and we finished our "supper". She asked if those peppers were anything special. I told her not as hot as jalapenos but not as juicy as cayenne. They're a sturdy pepper offshoot of cayenne, hybrid with another pepper but not sure which one. Never asked, just liked eating them.

Well, ...
Interesting! Having grown up in San Antonio, Mexican food has been that special treat all my life. Since then I've eaten it in Houston, Dallas, Albuquerque, Phoenix, New York City, Oklahoma and Arkansas, California, on Caribbean islands, and elsewhere I can't remember at the moment. To me, it's all authentic. It's the ideas of what Mexican food is, that people have brought to the kitchen. My grandma long ago told me that Tex Mex was taught to San Antonio by peoples' maids back in the day. I think there was a whole book written about the "Chili Queens" who operated street food carts downtown before it was all gentrified and they were basically kicked out. Chili, which is the foundation of things like enchiladas, was also trail food, meat preservation.

When you get further north in the US, a lot of the Mexican food restaurants started as the work of migrant agricultural workers who had a few bucks to work with, and wanted to settle down. It's all authentic, IMO, and often based on the ingredients locally available.

I can say, however, that when I've had Mexican food in Mexico, what compares most closely in the US, is Mexican restaurant food here in San Antonio. Even the restaurants started by Hondurans and Guatemalans seem to have basic traditional Mexican formulae, not that there weren't already some similarities among the traditional cuisines of those countries.
 

Bliss Doubt

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
We have been getting crazy weather here also. One day my GF was 2 towns over on the phone with me telling me it was pouring. I said........ What I am sitting in the backyard sunbathing~! Another day I was a mile away from a friends house and it was raining so hard I almost pulled over while driving because I couldn't see with the wipers going 100 MPH, on the phone he told me it wasn't even drizzling by him~!
We have had thunderstorms seemingly every other day this spring and summer, here in the chronic drought zone of south Texas. I was wondering if we were under weather manipulation, but I heard someone on the local news saying he remembered around 2008 or thereabouts, when it rained every day in June.

Then you hear of states along the northern border of the US where rivers are drying up.
 

Bliss Doubt

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Member For 5 Years
Mine are doing the same. Not sure what's up with them. Large green tomatoes, across the 5 or 6 regular tomato plants the other day I counted like 70 green tomatoes. They won't ripen though. I added epsom salts awhile back, added bonemeal around the base of them and watered it in around 1-2wks ago. Still nothing. The older bottom leaves are curled which is somewhat normal for the high summer heat. But also a bit darker green and like leathery feeling. The newer leaves are nice and soft and open. Not sure if that's a problem or not. Just refusing to ripen. I've had tomatoes on them for the last month or better.
Time for some fried green tomatoes?
 

nadalama

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Time for some fried green tomatoes?

Good God, my mom'n'em used to love some fried green tomatoes. You get the southern in that, right? lol

I don't do tomatoes, but I do remember other members of the family being nuts about 'em. You dredge yours in cornmeal or flour? I think my folks always used cornmeal.
 

Bliss Doubt

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Good God, my mom'n'em used to love some fried green tomatoes. You get the southern in that, right? lol

I don't do tomatoes, but I do remember other members of the family being nuts about 'em. You dredge yours in cornmeal or flour? I think my folks always used cornmeal.
Yes, I get the southern in that. My dad was from Alabama. I never make them, because I never see green tomatoes in the grocery stores. They would make great nostalgia comfort food, and for me, the vegetarian substitute for chicken fried steak, but I've been drooling over Steve's pic above, of the fried eggplant. Breaded and fried, was invented in heaven, I'm sure.
 

MyMagicMist

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Member For 5 Years
Interesting! Having grown up in San Antonio, Mexican food has been that special treat all my life. Since then I've eaten it in Houston, Dallas, Albuquerque, Phoenix, New York City, Oklahoma and Arkansas, California, on Caribbean islands, and elsewhere I can't remember at the moment. To me, it's all authentic. It's the ideas of what Mexican food is, that people have brought to the kitchen. My grandma long ago told me that Tex Mex was taught to San Antonio by peoples' maids back in the day. I think there was a whole book written about the "Chili Queens" who operated street food carts downtown before it was all gentrified and they were basically kicked out. Chili, which is the foundation of things like enchiladas, was also trail food, meat preservation.

When you get further north in the US, a lot of the Mexican food restaurants started as the work of migrant agricultural workers who had a few bucks to work with, and wanted to settle down. It's all authentic, IMO, and often based on the ingredients locally available.

I can say, however, that when I've had Mexican food in Mexico, what compares most closely in the US, is Mexican restaurant food here in San Antonio. Even the restaurants started by Hondurans and Guatemalans seem to have basic traditional Mexican formulae, not that there weren't already some similarities among the traditional cuisines of those countries.

Do you find a lot of authentic Mexican/Hispanic food uses corn in excess?
 

SteveS45

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Do you find a lot of authentic Mexican/Hispanic food uses corn in excess?

This is the best IMO and most Authentic Mexican you can get around here.

 

Bliss Doubt

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Member For 5 Years
Do you find a lot of authentic Mexican/Hispanic food uses corn in excess?
My answers are always going to be too long, I guess.

Corn is the basis of the traditional cuisine of Mexico. There are maybe 500 uses of it, in masa, chips, the wraps or shells--enchiladas, tacos, tamales, chalupas, flautas, etc. etc. etc., and even drinks, like the atoles and champurradas. Is there excessive use of corn? Not for me. I know it's fattening, but it doesn't irritate my skin. I can eat a flour tortilla and have a rash the next day, but I can eat corn until the cows come home, no issues. I prefer organic though, because there is so much biotech corn out there, but it's pointless to look for that in Mexican restaurants.

Does corn cause issues for you?
 

Bliss Doubt

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This is the best IMO and most Authentic Mexican you can get around here.

That menu is making me hungry!
 

Bliss Doubt

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Member For 5 Years
I love their Jambalaya~! Which my friend agues is not Mexican~! LMFAO Their Crawfish makes me think I am eating down South~!
Well, jambalaya is Louisiana food, by way of the African slave trade. I didn't notice it on the menu I looked at, one of the Connecticut ones for that restaurant you linked. It doesn't matter. I saw enough on that menu to know they're serious about the Mex. The jambalaya gives an option to those who don't care for Mexican food but want the margaritas :)

And crawfish is delicious, far more flavorful than shrimp.
 

SteveS45

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Member For 5 Years
Well, jambalaya is New Orleans food, by way of the African slave trade. I didn't notice it on the menu I looked at, one of the Connecticut ones for that restaurant you linked. It doesn't matter. I saw enough on that menu to know they're serious about the Mex. The jambalaya gives an option to those who don't care for Mexican food but want the margaritas :)

And crawfish is delicious, far more flavorful than shrimp.

I have had many of the menu items but the Jambalaya is so freaking good I have it often. My GF gets things like Sirloin Steak dishes. IMO you have to try the Exotic Stuff to find out what is good. The Shrimp in the Jambalaya are enormous and cooked so perfectly.
 

Bliss Doubt

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Member For 5 Years
I have had many of the menu items but the Jambalaya is so freaking good I have it often. My GF gets things like Sirloin Steak dishes. IMO you have to try the Exotic Stuff to find out what is good. The Shrimp in the Jambalaya are enormous and cooked so perfectly.
After reading you, I was remembering we used to have a restaurant here that had both a Chinese food menu and a Mexican food menu. I don't remember the name of it, because the food wasn't great. It might still be out there. We do have a popular place, drive-thru only, that has donuts on one side, breakfast tacos on the other. One restaurant, two drive thru lanes, and you can't mix the food and get both donuts and tacos.
 

MyMagicMist

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My answers are always going to be too long, I guess.

Corn is the basis of the traditional cuisine of Mexico. There are maybe 500 uses of it, in masa, chips, the wraps or shells--enchiladas, tacos, tamales, chalupas, flautas, etc. etc. etc., and even drinks, like the atoles and champurradas. Is there excessive use of corn? Not for me. I know it's fattening, but it doesn't irritate my skin. I can eat a flour tortilla and have a rash the next day, but I can eat corn until the cows come home, no issues. I prefer organic though, because there is so much biotech corn out there, but it's pointless to look for that in Mexican restaurants.

Does corn cause issues for you?

No, not for me. Some Mexican / Hispanic folk I met disliked using corn. They had a good reason as well. It seems the US run to bankruptcy using corn as a financial weapon. They would use other cereal grains instead, forgoing wheat as well.
 

Bliss Doubt

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Member For 5 Years
So here is my latest fusion: enchiloos.

I know how to make genuine chili, and it is time consuming. You boil water, soak the dried red chiles in it, and when they are swollen and the skin is splitting, you put them through a sieve to make chile paste, which you then simmer with your other ingredients, including your meat, garlic, cumin, mexican oregano and a few other things. Growing up, it was an all day affair in grandma's kitchen. People would sidle up to the simmering pot, dip out a spoonful or two, and dip bread in it, as an all day appetizer until it was finally ready to be eaten by the bowlful, or used to make enchiladas.

It's just too involved and time consuming when you can so easily get it in good restaurants, so I finally gave away my sieve, which I never used for anything else.

But then... I recently discovered a store bought product, Maya Kaimal brand vindaloo simmer sauce. It is just too delicious for words. It does have something extra that makes it taste like Indian food, but that certain something disappears when you use it to make enchiladas. It starts with corn tortillas, softened just a little bit in oil or butter (butter is not traditional, because you usually soften the tortillas in the film of orange grease on top of the pot of chili, not kidding). Anyway, then put the grated cheese on the softened tortilla, roll it up, and pour the heated vindaloo sauce over the dish. You run it in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese, add some chopped onion on top, and voila, Indian Mexican enchiloo.

It's only that brand, mind you. It's the only store bought simmer sauce of any kind that I've ever liked, and it makes great curry too, with potatoes and carrots, adding frozen baby peas at the end.
 

Bliss Doubt

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Member For 5 Years
No, not for me. Some Mexican / Hispanic folk I met disliked using corn. They had a good reason as well. It seems the US run to bankruptcy using corn as a financial weapon. They would use other cereal grains instead, forgoing wheat as well.
This is true. I remember hearing about it, somewhere around 2005-2008, American multinational companies using predatory pricing to run family farmers out of business in Mexico. Once this was accomplished, the price of corn was raised to normal, and only the wealthy city dwellers could afford it.

There is so much wrong in this broken world. I believe the current president of Mexico is more cautious about international trade, and more protective of the interests of people of Mexico.
 

MyMagicMist

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There is so much wrong in this broken world. I believe the current president of Mexico is more cautious about international trade, and more protective of the interests of people of Mexico.

Yes, from what I understand about five years ago the Mexican peso became backed by Chinese silver. That is the Chinese paying in silver for the US dollar the peso was backed on. This offers the peso far more stability.
 

SteveS45

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After reading you, I was remembering we used to have a restaurant here that had both a Chinese food menu and a Mexican food menu. I don't remember the name of it, because the food wasn't great. It might still be out there. We do have a popular place, drive-thru only, that has donuts on one side, breakfast tacos on the other. One restaurant, two drive thru lanes, and you can't mix the food and get both donuts and tacos.

There used to be one of those here~! Damn I wish I could remember the name of it because for Chinks they served some good Mexican Food~! Maybe because they hired Mexicans I have no idea but it was good.
 

SteveS45

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And Just a Note to the Moderators my use of the word Chinks was meant in High Regard and was a terms of affection.
 

Bliss Doubt

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Good God, my mom'n'em used to love some fried green tomatoes. You get the southern in that, right? lol

I don't do tomatoes, but I do remember other members of the family being nuts about 'em. You dredge yours in cornmeal or flour? I think my folks always used cornmeal.
I remember cornmeal in my dad's recipe, distinctly, but I think it was a mixture of cornmeal and flour. You had to have all that to absorb all the juice in tomatoes, even after draining and blotting the slices. And lots of dredging, lots of hot oil, to make them crunchy.
 

Bliss Doubt

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Yes, from what I understand about five years ago the Mexican peso became backed by Chinese silver. That is the Chinese paying in silver for the US dollar the peso was backed on. This offers the peso far more stability.
That is entirely interesting. I had no idea.
 

MyMagicMist

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That is entirely interesting. I had no idea.
Yep, here's an article from 2014. One from 2006, and more. Know that most of the subject matter says "considering" or "in talks to" but I do recall China as a diplomatic gesture offering to aid transition back to silver. All the talk in my eyes would be akin to smoke, where you got smoke, ... . It certainly is a feasible means to protect Mexico.

Disclaimer: I'm no politician, economist, general and even they would say everything is tentative. Also not intending to discuss this as political discussion. My intention is a discussion as a broader scope of sociological "current affairs" and "goings on". I'm human so member of the human family. Always interesting to see what sisters and brothers do. :)
 
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Synphul

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Member For 4 Years
Time for some fried green tomatoes?
Pretty much. I'll have another look, I did manage to get a couple medium sized and a larger that were mostly red. Some green blotchy spots around the top but sliced them up and didn't taste too bad. Thankful my cucumbers this year are mild and pleasant, they were bitter as all hell last year. Ever single one of them to the point they were almost inedible even drenched in greek or italian dressing sliced up. Made your throat and nose burn.
 

Bliss Doubt

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Yep, here's an article from 2014. One from 2006, and more. Know that most of the subject matter says "considering" or "in talks to" but I do recall China as a diplomatic gesture offering to aid transition back to silver. All the talk in my eyes would be akin to smoke, where you got smoke, ... . It certainly is a feasible means to protect Mexico.

Disclaimer: I'm no politician, economist, general and even they would say everything is tentative. Also not intending to discuss this as political discussion. My intention is a discussion as a broader scope of sociological "current affairs" and "goings on". I'm human so member of the human family. Always interesting to see what sisters and brothers do. :)
Hey, I'm not one of those who think politics is separate from life, and all discussions banned. Partisan political brawls, yes, pointless, but otherwise, what goes on in the world is politics, because politics is peopleticks. Of course, all is up to the host of this thread, and the mods.
 

nadalama

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Hey, I'm not one of those who think politics is separate from life, and all discussions banned. Partisan political brawls, yes, pointless, but otherwise, what goes on in the world is politics, because politics is peopleticks. Of course, all is up to the host of this thread, and the mods.

We had political discussions going on for a long time, until they turned into knock-down, drag-outs, and the owner of the site banned those discussions altogether. We can talk about things going on in the world, just can't make them political, and the hostility had to go. It was really bad for a while. In my opinion, the forum is a much better place to be without all that smack talk going on, because we definitely have some folks here who really feel strongly about it one way or the other, myself included. I've lost my manners several times and it only makes things worse.
 

SteveS45

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Of course, all is up to the host of this thread, and the mods.

Well as the OP I say anything goes as long as it is all in good fun and within the rules~!
In my opinion, the forum is a much better place to be without all that smack talk going on

I think the VU is a much better place since a couple of members left. Either because of the Ban on Politics or they just took their ball and went home~! :sneaka:
 

Bliss Doubt

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Member For 5 Years
We had political discussions going on for a long time, until they turned into knock-down, drag-outs, and the owner of the site banned those discussions altogether. We can talk about things going on in the world, just can't make them political, and the hostility had to go. It was really bad for a while. In my opinion, the forum is a much better place to be without all that smack talk going on, because we definitely have some folks here who really feel strongly about it one way or the other, myself included. I've lost my manners several times and it only makes things worse.
In spring of last year, when Covid came to ruin everyone's lives, there were discussions among my friends, real discussions, not online smackdowns, was Covid real or was it a bogey devised to get us used to being controlled and surveilled, was the mask to protect us or make us slaves, was it anything new or just a rerun of SARS, H1N1 or any of the past attempts on us... People got mad, people were hurt, people stopped speaking to each other. I decided it just wasn't worth trying to enforce or even argue any points I wanted to make among friends, because even if I could convince them to see things my way, I couldn't change the world, stop the lockdowns, or end the media fear porn, so to argue was to play into the division of people into factions against each other. I made apologies, made amends, gathered my friends closer to me. I tried harder to love more. No regrets about that.
 

SteveS45

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Yes, when I referred to "the host of this thread", I meant the OP. Since you've kept this perpetual coffee break happy hour garden party food magazine going for three years, you are clearly the host of this great thread.

I started this thread because I had a similar one on another forum and want to keep the Love and Friendly Banter going. I said this on the 1st post.

Please keep it civil but have some enjoyment and keep it fun. Vape ON~!
 

Lady Sarah

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We had political discussions going on for a long time, until they turned into knock-down, drag-outs, and the owner of the site banned those discussions altogether. We can talk about things going on in the world, just can't make them political, and the hostility had to go. It was really bad for a while. In my opinion, the forum is a much better place to be without all that smack talk going on, because we definitely have some folks here who really feel strongly about it one way or the other, myself included. I've lost my manners several times and it only makes things worse.
I've been in my share of political banter in the now defunct mud pit. I'm actually glad it's been shut down. This website and this thread is about things we share in common, and not about things we should be arguing about. Well... except that the climate I live in is not conducive to growing a garden. But we do have peach trees and pecan trees, so our harvest comes from plants we don't have to sow each year. Plus, the dead branches make for some excellent barbecuing wood.
 

MyMagicMist

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There's benefit to being an oddball. It lets you get comfortable in yourself. One doesn't need anything from others as an oddball. You can follow the cadence of your own drummer. No one needs to set your pace, your path. Life can be lived to suit yourself.

Why do I post this bit? Well, as a gentle reminder to myself mainly. On the other hand it lets others see where I am. No, I'm not bothered too much, if even at all by what others might, or might not say. I am simply realizing that as I'm not bothered it seems others aren't either.

And it isn't that I desire bothering anyone. Still it is nice as a matter of the human touch to feel you make an impact, or matter. It all seems too civil, superficial here. And no I'm not advocating for political discussion, arguments.

Not sure what I am advocating for really. Causes are a dozen for a penny. I'm not interested in causes, not interested in much if honest. Sorry, that's my "drummer" the chronic depression at play. I'm doomed/blessed to be mediocre and live that.

I'm okay with that. Not sure if that should frighten me or make me happy. Oh well, it's just life and living. I'll keep on keepin' on. :) Can figure I'll not have "fun" but I'm sure life will give me plenty of "fun". *chuckles* It always seems to do that.
 

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