This is not a journal! Or a diary!

[jc972]

I really had a good time tonight in the chatbox. It was nice. Also had a very nice conversation with someone in mini chat, and if you read this, thank you for that Almost time to start a new work week, gag. But I have bills to pay and so on. I seen an ambulance at a neighbor's house a few hours ago so I got to texting other neighbors to see what was going on, apparently the elderly man that lived there had died in his sleep so my thoughts are going out to that family at this point. Very sad. I'm probably going to be working 14-hour days until Thursday so my presence might be small for a few days but rest assured, I will be around at some point. I'm sort of looking forward to a rather odd family get together in a few weeks, we all meet up at the Confederate cemetery up in the mountains and have a "bring a covered dish"/BBQ type thing. It's my mother's family so that makes it all the better We always do that on great great grandpaw so-and-so's birthday, who fought for the South in the Civil War. I like history, especially my family's history and it's beautiful up there when the leaves change colors. My daughter shows a real interest in the same so I'm making it a point to attend this year. This particular ancestor is kind of special because he came to the U.S with his wife and got our family started here shortly before the war, so he's sort of special. I'd like to see a lot of the old people in the family too. I absolutely love fall :bigsmile:

 

[jc972]

Arthritis in my left arm/elbow/wrist strikes again. That made for a long night at work. Thank God for icy hot cream! Had to leave work a bit earlier than I wanted to get the oldest two kids some cough medicine. I absolutely hate having to give them medicine but if it will get rid of their coughing/sneezing then so be it. I see a lot of parents over medicate their children and I'm firmly against it but I don't want them getting worse. I keep the temperature around 72 degrees F in the house and make them sleep with pajamas on to help keep them from getting sick, I reckon a man can only control so much though. My son (the three-year-old) hates wearing pajamas because he says he wants to be like me and sleep in his underwear. I think it's cute when he want to do things like I do. He is fascinated by my watch so I got him a watch to wear even though he can't tell time yet. He wears it every day ha ha ha. A few weeks ago I had to dig a splinter out of my hand so out came my pocket knife, not even a minute later he was asking to see it so I closed it and set him on my lap and let him look at it with my supervision. He sat right there with me for most of an hour and held it and looked at it, totally in awe of the thing. So while shopping a few days ago I bought him a toy one something like mine. He loves it, he carries it in his pocket every day now. It's like he has to mimic every little thing I do, I'll assume this is normal and it's how boys grow up to be men? Yeah, that sounds good: I'll go with that. :bigsmile:

 

[jc972]

FINALLY home from work for the weekend! 56 hours in four days. I'm going to go to bed and sleep late and get up and go pay some bills and get groceries and my chore list will pretty much be done. Except for some yard work but that's easy. And fixing more shingles on the roof of the house. Nothing to get excited about but that's my plan for later in the day. I am really enjoying the weather because it's not too hot during the day and it's cool at night. Next month will be even better. Now it's finally time to go shower and get some sleep.

 

[jc972]

So while reading the news tonight at work I learned that a female terrorist might have had a role in the Kenyan mall attack. Apparently she is called the "white widow"... sounds kind of creepy anyway. I had honestly figured "terrorists" were always men. Silly me! What was I thinking? In my weird mind I always think of girls/women as nurturing and loving, not murdering other women/children for the sake of their cause. I guess my thinking (or lack of) on the issue was naive. I'd hate to go on a date with some random girl and be like "so what do you do as a job?'' and her be like "oh, I blow people up".... Forget that! I wonder about if this female terrorist is married and what her husband thinks of her current activities, if he isn't into such things as she? It's hard for me to imagine a woman capable of actual hands-on terrorism. These are some strange times upon us.

 

[BlueDays]

So while reading the news tonight at work I learned that a female terrorist might have had a role in the Kenyan mall attack. Apparently she is called the "white widow"... sounds kind of creepy anyway. I had honestly figured "terrorists" were always men. Silly me! What was I thinking? In my weird mind I always think of girls/women as nurturing and loving, not murdering other women/children for the sake of their cause. I guess my thinking (or lack of) on the issue was naive. I'd hate to go on a date with some random girl and be like "so what do you do as a job?'' and her be like "oh, I blow people up".... Forget that! I wonder about if this female terrorist is married and what her husband thinks of her current activities, if he isn't into such things as she? It's hard for me to imagine a woman capable of actual hands-on terrorism. These are some strange times upon us.

"The fact that the Nairobi attack may have been led by British woman Samantha Lewthwaite has shocked many — but there is in fact a long history of women involved in terrorism organisations."

Understanding Samantha Lewthwaite and other female terrorists | News.com.au

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/...ck-widow’-why-do-female-terrorists-perplex-us

"Why do women commit acts of terror?

From a tactical perspective, there are a variety of different reasons why women are used in terrorist campaigns. If the terrorist organisation or insurgency’s membership is depleted, women are often recruited into the movement to not only build up numbers, but also to fill tactical gaps. Women are often considered capable in achieving “surprise attacks”, because they are least expected.

Particularly in relation to attacks on “soft targets”, such as public gatherings, markets and ceremonies, women are often considered to be able to blend into the crowd and subsequently are able to avoid detection. However in some movements, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the FARC), women are considered the military and are put on the frontline.

Why women choose to become terrorists depends on the individual, the organisation, and the political goal or aim of the group. In the case of some females – such as the Black Widows – it is to avenge the loss of a loved one such as a husband, brother, son or cousin. Sometimes the act of terrorism is also conducted to redeem the family name.

In this respect, women can become involved in terrorism for personal, rather than ideological, reasons. However, in the case of some movements like the FARC, female involvement is seen as a means of evening out patriarchy, and giving women a sense of empowerment, participation and accomplishment."...

 

[jc972]

"The fact that the Nairobi attack may have been led by British woman Samantha Lewthwaite has shocked many — but there is in fact a long history of women involved in terrorism organisations."

Understanding Samantha Lewthwaite and other female terrorists | News.com.au

Comment:

"Why do women commit acts of terror?

From a tactical perspective, there are a variety of different reasons why women are used in terrorist campaigns. If the terrorist organisation or insurgency’s membership is depleted, women are often recruited into the movement to not only build up numbers, but also to fill tactical gaps. Women are often considered capable in achieving “surprise attacks”, because they are least expected.

Particularly in relation to attacks on “soft targets”, such as public gatherings, markets and ceremonies, women are often considered to be able to blend into the crowd and subsequently are able to avoid detection. However in some movements, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the FARC), women are considered the military and are put on the frontline.

Why women choose to become terrorists depends on the individual, the organisation, and the political goal or aim of the group. In the case of some females – such as the Black Widows – it is to avenge the loss of a loved one such as a husband, brother, son or cousin. Sometimes the act of terrorism is also conducted to redeem the family name.

In this respect, women can become involved in terrorism for personal, rather than ideological, reasons. However, in the case of some movements like the FARC, female involvement is seen as a means of evening out patriarchy, and giving women a sense of empowerment, participation and accomplishment."...

That was a good read, thank you, BlueDays. That definitely put a new perspective on things. I had never thought of things in quite that respect.

 

[jc972]

I got my chores and yard work done this evening, that's a load off the mind. The kids wanted to help so I let them pull weeds while I was using my Kaiser blade (similar to a scythe but a bit different) at the very back of my land. They were pulling weeds and tossing them over into the woods while I was slinging the Kaiser blade cutting the high grass with it when I felt something tapping on my boot. I look down and it's a Copperhead snake, they're poisonous, and that tapping on my boot is it trying to bite me on the foot and the steel-toed leather boot stopping it! Pretty stupid thing for it to try seeing as how I'm slinging a big metal blade cutting grass, and it's really sharp! :sarcastic: While looking over at the children to make sure they aren't looking at me, I raise my arm all the way up with the blade and... well Mr. Snake paid the price for his stupidity. Quite possibly the second biggest one I've ever seen, especially down here in the flat lands. Weird. After we finished clearing out the high grass I left the Kaiser blade in the garage because normally when you find one snake there's a good chance there's another close by. I'll be glad when all the snakes are holed up for the winter although the deadly ones make good target practice at times.

 

[jc972]

Bored out of my mind. I went for a walk a little while ago and came back home but I'm still bored. I worked a lot this week and I was bored at work even though I was almost overwhelmed with the amount of work I was doing. I don't know what's wrong with me. I try to keep busy to keep my mind off depressing things but sometimes it just don't work that way. It seems that being lost in my own thoughts sometimes makes me wonder about my own self. I yearn to talk to people and be friendly like I once was but I don't. I must have picked up my phone several times this evening to call an old friend or two but decided against it. I have nothing more to say I guess. A co worker tried to initiate a conversation last night but I didn't feel like talking, I have boundaries about conversing with co workers. We can talk about work and that's it, nothing else. No personal details at all. But yet I have the urge, the wanting, almost a burning desire, to spend time talking with other people. I still talk to a few friends but it's been several months since we've talked, they seem to be too busy. Kind of in a rut it seems, at times.

 

[jc972]

Feeling energetic today so I washed my two vehicles and cleaned out inside them. Fed and watered the neighbors' dog. Never seen a dog that loves ice water so much but it was warm today. They were leaving to go on a mini vacation yesterday so I offered to take care of the dog for them. She likes watermelon too strangely enough. After all of the above I decided to bring the tractor home and mow the field behind the house, so as to leave no room for rats, which, in turn, attract snakes. I have no idea whose field it is but I spent most of the afternoon bush hogging it for them since they lack either the desire to maintain their property or the equipment to do so. At any rate it should be good to go through the winter and spring anyway. If nothing else, it simply looks better now than being almost head high with grass and weeds. Several neighbors came down after I was finished and bragged on how much better it looks. The old lady brought me out a jug of ice water while I was on the tractor and I shut it down and climbed down to cool down a few minutes and she couldn't get over how much land is back there, I might just try to buy it since it meets my land, maybe have another 30 acres or so. That'd be nice. Now to get her to agree to it...

 

[jc972]

Apparently while I was asleep earlier my wife decided to clean out my closet, all well and good until she finds two old military ALICE backpacks and an old duffle bag. I woke up and found the three bags in our bedroom floor with her nosing through the contents of each. And, no, it wasn't porn that she found. She found my "exit strategy" AKA bug out bags. I woke up and asked her what she was doing nosing through my things that had been in my LOCKED closet (meaning she slipped my keys from my pants pocket while I was asleep). O.k. I believe there is some background needed here, I am not a "prepper" but I have stockpiled certain items and packed them neatly away to only be used in the event of a crisis/invasion/massive terrorist attack/et cetera and I have been secretly doing this for several years, so there's that. I asked her very calmly what she was doing and she had a confused look on her face and didn't say anything. I told her to unpack all of them. On the floor, very neatly I might add, she laid out several complete changes of clothes for our family, hygiene supplies, footwear, compass, survival kits, various medicines, copies of personal documents, and several thousand dollars in cash. From the second bag she removed road and topographical maps of our area, binoculars, a military fighting/utility knife (Ka Bar), four gas masks, and a modest supply of loaded assault rifle magazines (clips), an equal number of loaded handgun magazines, two handguns, and gun cleaning kit. From the third bag, the duffel, she removes a third handgun, an assault rifle, and a precision rifle (sniper rifle) with it's ammo, a Leatherman multi tool, several small flashlights, and yet another survival type knife. With all that stuff laying on our bedroom floor, she quietly asks me why I have all that stuff packed and ready to go. I explained to her that I worry about terrorist attacks/invasions/chemical-biological attack/more or less end times. She was curious about it all and I feel like I gave her sensible answers. In the end I re packed it all with her help and she said it made her feel better to know that I have a plan (actually several) for the event of like another 9/11 only worse. I told her that in the event of whatever, we will all load up in my old blue truck with the three bags in the back and head for the mountains. My reasons behind that are several, it carries a lot of gas, it's capable of traversing rough terrain because it's a four wheel drive, and I believe it to be capable of smashing through a small road block (depending, of course, on what kind of vehicles are blocking the road). I told her that I wasn't hiding anything but that I didn't want to worry her and she understood. I'm not a survivalist or prepper but I value self and family preservation very highly.

 

[jc972]

While I was at work but before it was too late at night, I get a text from a female friend who I haven't heard from in months. Last I heard she had this new boyfriend and they were on vacation together. Great, huh? Well tonight she is texting me and telling me all about the bad break up blah blah blah... and it hits me like the proverbial ton of bricks! She won't talk to me while she's dating someone! And the more I thought about it the more irritated I became. So I started sending short replies, then after a while I said, and I quote, "I'm busy, ttyl." She didn't text back. It kind of irritated me that I'm a good enough friend while she's single but won't say anything for months on end if she has a boyfriend. I mean what a load of crap! We've known each other for exactly ten years and I never did that to her or anyone else. But she has done this for the last four or five years I just never noticed but I sure did today. I ain't nobody's door mat or security blanket! And, don't get me wrong, I still consider her a friend even though we're not as close as we once were, people grow up and priorities change, I get it. But this is a bit different. And the worst part about it is how excited and happy I was when my phone rang, little did I know realization was right around the corner. And it's not like I expect to hear from friends all the time, every day. People have responsibilities and whatnot, I get it, but to only talk to someone you call a friend only when you're single? WTF! And all we ever were was friends, nothing else. I would understand completely if we had a history or used to go out or whatever but that wasn't the case. I just wanted to rant about it. If anyone reads this could you please tell me, honestly, why someone would act like this?

 

[MikeyC]

A friend of mine did the same thing when he got a girlfriend...who was my neighbour across the road.

A lot of people do this, whether it's intentional or not. I'm not a fan of it, but it seems to be the natural order of things. :idontknow:

You're right to be irritated by it, make no mistake.

 

[jc972]

A friend of mine did the same thing when he got a girlfriend...who was my neighbour across the road.

A lot of people do this, whether it's intentional or not. I'm not a fan of it, but it seems to be the natural order of things. :idontknow:

You're right to be irritated by it, make no mistake.

Across the road? And he still did this? Seriously? Funny thing is that when I would get a new girlfriend, I wanted to take her to meet my friends and then when we would be together doing things I'd bring her along if she wanted to be a part of whatever we were doing. Maybe I'm the odd one But I do appreciate you sharing that, makes me feel not-so-alone on the island of misfit friends

 

[BlueDays]

While I was at work but before it was too late at night, I get a text from a female friend who I haven't heard from in months. Last I heard she had this new boyfriend and they were on vacation together. Great, huh? Well tonight she is texting me and telling me all about the bad break up blah blah blah... and it hits me like the proverbial ton of bricks! She won't talk to me while she's dating someone! And the more I thought about it the more irritated I became. So I started sending short replies, then after a while I said, and I quote, "I'm busy, ttyl." She didn't text back. It kind of irritated me that I'm a good enough friend while she's single but won't say anything for months on end if she has a boyfriend. I mean what a load of crap! We've known each other for exactly ten years and I never did that to her or anyone else. But she has done this ofr the last four or five years I just never noticed but I sure did today. I ain't nobody's door mat or security blanket! And, don't get me wrong, I still consider her a friend even though we're not as close as we once were, people grow up and priorities change, I get it. But this is a bit different. And the worst part about it is how excited and happy I was when my phone rang, little did I know realization was right around the corner. And it's not like I expect to hear from friends all the time, every day. People have responsibilities and whatnot, I get it, but to only talk to someone you call a friend only when you're single? WTF! And all we ever were was friends, nothing else. I would understand completely if we had a history or used to go out or whatever but that wasn't the case. I just wanted to rant about it. If anyone read this could you please tell me, honestly, why someone would act like this?

The question I would be asking myself is if she is there for you whenever you need to talk or need to vent about something? Are you the only one available for support when needed in this friendship? Cause that isn't a healthy friendship.

 

[jc972]

The question I would be asking myself is if she is there for you whenever you need to talk or need to vent about something? Are you the only one available for support when needed in this friendship? Cause that isn't a healthy friendship.

Years ago she was there for me. Any more? Not really. I can text or call her and most of the time the conversation won't last long. She calls me, it can last an hour, mostly asking for advice about her child. You know,... that puts a whole new perspective on it, BlueDays. Thank you

 

[jc972]

So as soon as I walk in the door at work but before I could even make it to the time clock my boss meets me and asks if my C.D.L. (commercial driver's license) is still valid. I knew that meant a road trip for me because the regular truck driver had went home early. The road trip was hauling a load of steel down around Blue Ridge, Georgia with an early 80's Peterbuilt truck with a flatbed trailer. And not only that, it also meant taking the new guy that's trying to study for his C.D.L. to drive for the company. So I back the tractor and trailer into the warehouse and we load it down with steel and chain it all down so it don't slide off of the trailer going down the highway. I climb in the truck and get it started and the new kid gets in and we take off. Just a few miles from work, I stopped to fill both tanks up with diesel fuel and re-tighten the chains holding the steel down. And while we were stopped I went ahead and bought several drinks and a couple cans of skoal for the trip. We get took off once again and the boy really has a lot to learn if he expects to drive that truck for the company because he asked me why I wasn't using the clutch pedal to change gears in the truck :question: so I explained to him that in a truck that big (18 wheeler, semi, tractor & trailer size) you only use the clutch to take off and stop, that you get the engine R.P.M.'s to certain spots to change gears and also how and when to use the Jake brake (decompression brake that uses the engine to slow the truck instead of the wheel brakes). He had no idea about none of that stuff and that's pretty basic knowledge for big truck driving. And this boy is working to be licensed to drive tractor trailers? Wow. But all in all it was a decent trip, got me away from the factory anyway. I believe he learned a lot about driving big things. It was almost miserable until dark, due to no air conditioning in the 30 plus year old rig, but when the sun went down and the air cooled down around 60 degrees, I got cool and going down the interstate I kept the thing right around 85-90 m.p.h. I like to drive fast on a road trip and have time to stop and have a nice dinner, which I did. Went down there and unloaded the truck and was back at work right at quitting time. I think he is going to have to go on several more trips and only then start practicing driving that thing before he will be good enough to handle it but he asked questions and paid attention to how I was driving it. He'll learn and I believe he will be a good driver. I'm just glad I don't have to drive all the time, I couldn't do it.

 

[jc972]

Today I got under my house to fix a squeaky spot in the floor and wound up spending several hours under there fixing different things. Apparently when the house was being built somebody thought it prudent to toss all the scrap pieces of wood under the house. How dumb. So after cutting some boards and nailing them to the floor joists to brace up the squeaky spot, I got all the scrap pieces of lumber out from under the floor. I also removed several garbage bags of old carpet, garbage bags full of clothes, a tarp, two big electric motors, an old tire and wheel, and a few porn magazines. Apparently a previous owner liked to just toss random crap under the floor. I found some live electric wires under there just laying on the dirt with a lot of insulation stripped off, so I attached them to the joists and killed the power to the house before re doing somebody's piss poor wire splicing job (can we say "fire hazard"?). I don't get it. This is a pretty expensive neighborhood, not the kind of place I would expect to find all that stuff under a house anyway. Some of the lumber was too long to maneuver out the small crawlspace door so what did I do? Ol' Jc here fires up his chainsaw and drags it under the house and cuts the long pieces up and only then was able to remove it all. By then a few neighbors were standing in my yard wondering what I was doing under my house with a chainsaw, apparently that isn't a common sight :idontknow: So now there won't be any ready made termite nests under my home with all that wood gone. And I gave the lumber to some neighbors and the rest of that junk will be hauled to the dump this week. I was hoping to find bags full of money under there or something, no such luck.

 

[MikeyC]

Unfortunately, previous owners tend to remember a bag of money under the house and leave all the scraps. ::

 

[jc972]

Unfortunately, previous owners tend to remember a bag of money under the house and leave all the scraps. ::

Unfortunately I reckon you're right :sad:

 

[coyote]

usually bad news when someone is in the crawlspace with a chainsaw, tools, garbage bags full of body par... err, stuff...