Absolutely Anything Else

SimCityAT wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

On the other hand, many years ago, in the UK, we used to build straw baled houses.

They still do in some villages

Some houses around us have this type of roof (it is actually a type of marsh reed, not straw). I even thought about it when we re-roofed. But it would have required quite a bit of extra work to re-design the roofing system to accommodated. And I also learned they only last about 15 to 20 years. And start to look a little ragged before that. So we went with the 30 year warranted clay tiles, similar to what we had before (which showed a lot of wear, but lasted about 90 years from my estimates).

I just noticed that my last comment was the 1200th reply to this thread (the original post gets #1). A nice even number.

Do I get a prize?

I would even settle for a booby prize.   

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I have a "stalker" on this site

Had similar. Creepy.  I just report such posts. Resulted in some such posts getting edited to remove the weirdness, but left some more "normal" text in place to protect basic freedom of speech ability to express even edgy opinions without degrading the discussion to debasing personal insults --  which I find is a good compromise. But other posts were deleted in entirety because they were just so egregious that editing alone could not result in anything with a non-nefarious content.

This is not Facebook or Reddit. There are moderators here, and they are here to help. Do use them, as they request by the forum's code of conduct. In the end I let the moderators have the final word.

klsallee wrote:

I just noticed that my last comment was the 1200th reply to this thread (the original post gets #1). A nice even number.

Do I get a prize?

I would even settle for a booby prize.   

I think you do! 

The prize is 10 more posts in this particular topic - Absolutely anything Else - and the subject being anything you would care to mention! *

Any subject - Aardvark to Zyzzogeton and everything in between!

The rule is that the post has to be interesting.  That's if there are rules.

In this post, I had to look up the last word in the dictionary and it's zyzzogeton according to Google. I don't know the first one, but I'm assuming it's Aardvark. It's a nice sounding word ("Earth pig" in Dutch) and therefore deserves to go first.

I just read this article Social Media Brainwashing so no obligation or requirement for "validation"!

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

I just noticed that my last comment was the 1200th reply to this thread (the original post gets #1). A nice even number.

Do I get a prize?

I would even settle for a booby prize.   

I think you do!

Cool!!

fluffy2560 wrote:

The prize is 10 more posts in this particular topic - Absolutely anything Else - and the subject being anything you would care to mention! *

Any subject - Aardvark to Zyzzogeton and everything in between!

The rule is that the post has to be interesting.  That's if there are rules.

Excellent.

For my first A to Z question:

Are Adirondack Aardvarks basically a conundrum of dippy, egregious, fallacious and gratuitous hipsters illustrating, justly, known limits of mostly nonsensical opinions? Or personifying qualified, rational surrogates totally and unambiguously validating a worldly Xanadu yearning zeitgeist?

I hope that topic is interesting. And that I understood the rules correctly. Not that I am much for following rules, mind you.

klsallee wrote:

....re Adirondack Aardvarks basically a conundrum of dippy, egregious, fallacious and gratuitous hipsters illustrating, justly, known limits of mostly nonsensical opinions? Or personifying qualified, rational surrogates totally and unambiguously validating a worldly Xanadu yearning zeitgeist?

Ah,  nice to see a convoluted question.  I'll do my best.

IMHO....it's best to take these as two separate statements:

Aardvarks do not come from Adironack.  That's just propaganda.

I posit that we can attribute - as a model - the appearance of aardvarks to the model for Ja Ja Binks (in the Star Wars fantasy series). The lack of popularity of Ja Ja Binks could give aardvarks a bad name since people could equate dippy egregious, even insultingly stupid behaviour with aardvarks.  That would then lead to a claim that it's part of a totally fallacious, even malicious (even tortological?) claim by said hipsters purporting to represent and act as gatekeepers to a legitimate aardvark agenda.  So the first answer is "No" (given the right circumstances).

In the 2nd part, considering the other post about Facebook, there's definitely something in that statement.  As an occasional fantasist myself, I can see there is an element people living a fake life in a world of fake news (bit of bootstrapping irony here considering we're in this forum). Some could definitely say virtual existence is a fad Xanadu.  It's a bit like Nirvana or  Sto-vo-kor or Valhalla.   Before social media, people were buying into a physical Klingon mythology. So, I think the answer is probably Yes but a qualified Yes so long as it's for a wider population and...and species, not just aardvarks..... or Ja Ja Binks (jeez, what a awful character - die Ja Ja and quickly).

BTW, I was really rather keen on Olivia Newton John - she was in the movie Xanadu. Shows my age.

I spent some time writing this reply.  I must be insane.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Ah,  nice to see a convoluted question.  I'll do my best.

Good answers.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Aardvarks do not come from Adironack.  That's just propaganda.

Oh, no! You are right. I double checked just now, and see I fell for the propaganda. How could I?
My bad.

Aardvarks are apparently only in Long Island, Queens and Manhattan.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Ah,  nice to see a convoluted question.  I'll do my best.

Good answers.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Aardvarks do not come from Adironack.  That's just propaganda.

Oh, no! You are right. I double checked just now, and see I fell for the propaganda. How could I?
My bad.

Aardvarks are apparently only in Long Island, Queens and Manhattan.

I notice the anti-Aardvark brigade lost in Alabama.   Should make it interesting.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I notice the anti-Aardvark brigade lost in Alabama.   Should make it interesting.

I noticed that the sore looser said, when refusing to concede, “We also know that God is always in control.”

Well. Yes. Of course. Duh. God does not like racist, misogynist pedophiles. A no-brainer.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I notice the anti-Aardvark brigade lost in Alabama.   Should make it interesting.

I noticed that the sore looser said, when refusing to concede, “We also know that God is always in control.”

Well. Yes. Of course. Duh. God does not like racist, misogynist pedophiles. A no-brainer.

Haha yes.

Humans were made in "his" image if you believe that kind of thing.   On the other hand,  the supposed perp loser could be an agent of Beelzebub.  But back on earth,  overall it makes The Donald look rather silly backing that particular horse.

Noticed a newer post about finding raw dog food here in Hungary.
Can't seem to see it posted any longer.
I actually am not sure what raw dog food is from a pet shop.
I haven't had the luxury of a dog for a long time now.
He used to be on high end dry foods and the treats my husband couldn't stop sneaking to him against my orders to not upset his tummy.
Anyways, in Hawaii our Doberman developed a terrible skin rash from running through the sharp sugar cane. Had to wait for the once a month visit from the animal dema doc who flew in from S. Ca.
Had a ton of lab work done on him etc. Had little bugs getting  into his flesh from the cane, bad stuff, as soon as we moved away his skin cleared up fine.
While waiting for them to find out what was going on, I decided to change his diet and cook his food for him, it sort of helped with his scratching.
Not hard to make at all, did it about once a week and stored it in the fridge. Smelled rather strong but he loved it.
Maybe you could look online for a food to cook at home.
The one I made was made with chicken liver, hearts cooked with brown rice raw carrots and grated cabbage, added vitamin E and powdered sea weed. Some other vitamins also, forgot after these 20 years exactly which ones I added.
Super easy and much healthier then the dried packaged dog food.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....I actually am not sure what raw dog food is from a pet shop.
...

I'm not either.  OP says BARF diet.  I nearly choked on my sandwich at that term.   I don't really know what raw dog food is?   

Mrs Fluffy's cousin had a job in a dog food factory way over at the HU Western border and he said that the standards of dog food manufacture is exactly the same as for human food.  So no-one will come to harm eating dog biscuits even if that seems less than healthy.

It's definitely not barking (mad). Sorry, a real howler....back to my sandwich....I'd better not wolf it down....I'll shut up now....

fluffy2560 wrote:

I'm not either.  OP says BARF diet.  I nearly choked on my sandwich at that term.   I don't really know what raw dog food is?   .

A trend. Like the human paleolithic diet. Where some people think that we (and our pets) should eat like we did 30,000 years ago.

Quite frankly, it has good and bad points.

Good points: it gets people thinking about the food they eat and what they feed their pets. And this is a really good point, and should not be easily dismissed because it is important. And a lot of processed and packaged food is junk. For dogs too.....

Bat points: Has little evidence to date that it is fully better than modern healthy dietary guidelines. More often simply correlates to a life choice the human makes, and then anthropomorphizing that decision onto their pets as well. Not unlike vegans who do the complete opposite, by thinking their dog should be also a vegan.

Case in point, for dogs, which have been domesticated for over 10,000 years, and have probably not had a fully "raw" diet anymore than their fellow humans have. Humans had fire. They cooked. They tossed the cooked leftovers to the dogs. And because of cooking we humans have actually evolved resistance to some otherwise carcinogenic chemicals formed during cooking. And with the extensive selective breeding found in dogs, it is questionable if their physical characteristics today in any breed need a raw diet any more than we do. Does not hurt them, of course, as long at the diet is properly balanced (and free of parasites). But many home made diets often are imbalanced -- not uncommonly lacking one or more essential minerals, vitamins or fatty acids. If you are going to do it, do it right and get your recipes from a qualified vet who is familiar with this diet. Any maybe toss your dog a freshly killed rabbit or chicken (best young cockles when their bones are still small and soft, and not too many feathers) on occasion (but not recommended for apartment dwellers). Don't just pull a recipe from some web site. Or worse, make it up yourself.

An, no, not just some random ramblings here. I did my graduate work in candid behavioral ecology, and that included a lot of dietary work and analysis. Dogs are not wild wolves. They need not be treated as such.

klsallee wrote:

.... Not unlike vegans who do the complete opposite, by thinking their dog should be also a vegan.

Case in point, for dogs, which have been domesticated for over 10,000 years, and have probably not had a fully "raw" diet anymore than their fellow humans have. Humans had fire. They cooked. They tossed the cooked leftovers to the dogs. And because of cooking we humans have actually evolved resistance to some otherwise carcinogenic chemicals formed during cooking...

I always thought cooking was a way of overcoming the limitations (in evolutionary terms) of the human diet, i.e. it breaks down the tough parts of say, meat, to make it more easily digestible.  Pre-digestion so to speak.  Obviously it has other benefits - kills bugs etc.

There are some people who try to make their kids vegans and hurt them in the process by restricting their diet out of some misguided thinking.  Knowing some of the stories about that kind of thing makes me want to call  it a form of abuse. I suppose it could also apply to animals as well. 

I once met an Italian guy at a 3rd world airport airport visa queue who was a specialist in dietary and medical uses of salt.  It was very interesting stuff.  I couldn't believe how important salt is in our diets and particularly, salt with trace iodine.   Really important to have salt with iodine in it or eat lots of sea fish/shellfish (always good anyway).

When I was mixing up homemade pet food for my dog, I did cook the liver and chicken hearts and of course the brown rice before adding raw carrots and cabbage.
Dogs though will eat just about anything if you don't watch them.
When I first adopted my Doberman, I took him back to a horse ranch where they also ran a Dobie rescue, first thing he did upon hitting the dirt was eat some horse droppings!!!Me being a new pet owner just stared in shock while they women who ran the place grabbed him and took that mess out of his mouth, silly boy!
Won't even mention what I discovered he once ate while knocking over a trash can.
Long story short, I bought a toothbrush for dogs and used it allot on him.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I always thought cooking was a way of overcoming the limitations (in evolutionary terms) of the human diet, i.e. it breaks down the tough parts of say, meat, to make it more easily digestible.  Pre-digestion so to speak.

I just thought it simply made animals even more tasty....

But seriously, cooking probably did the opposite. Allowed humans that could not digest raw meat and veggies as well to survive and reproduce.

Cooking also opened up using more of the animal in diverse ways that also delayed spoilage. Smoked sausage, for example. There are some nasty chemicals in there that prohibit bacterial growth as I mentioned above, but which we have evolved to tolerate to some extent. But even if they may cause us cellular damage in the long term, it is better to survive the next long harsh winter with some preserved smoked food but leave some children in the spring, then to simply die that winter of starvation. Dieing later of cancer after having a gaggle of children does not affect reproductive fitness much (even if it does shorten one's own personal life -- that life is shortened often after reproductive age so does't count much to passing on genes -- unlike starvation before reproducing).

fluffy2560 wrote:

Really important to have salt with iodine in it or eat lots of sea fish/shellfish (always good anyway).

Iodine is an essential element one needs in the diet for sure. It is commonly added to salt to get the maximum coverage for the population as most everyone uses salt. It has also been added to some flour and milk. One can also get it from egg yolks. I presume (but not sure) because a lot of chickens are now fed fish meal and some Iodine ends up in the yolk. Seafood is the natural way to get it of course. Sea salt has natural iodine, but not always up to the recommended daily allowance (especially if one is watching their salt). Dairy products can also supply Iodine.

Confusing about what salt to use since my husband had some thyroid issues.
Went to a salt mine store near the farmers market and bought some nice salt, then over to The Bulk Store to buy Himalayan salt, the red stuff, now sea salt again.
Think the daily intake of freshly ground flak seeds is working better then anything else.
Raw meat is not anything I could handle even trying. My niece took me and one of her buddies to a nice steak dinner in Vegas, It was so "fancy place" inside the old Monte Carlo hotel.
It was more rare then cooked, I had to run into the ladies room because it upset me so much.
My poor niece had a broken foot at the time and hobbled after me to make sure I was ok. Sweet of her, I got ill, it is now referred to as my "orange cone moment" , you know when the janitorial staff places cones out to say "Beware"!! Embarrassing!!!!
Of course it could of been from a whole day of pool side fun, never try to party with people much younger and larger then yourself, it never works out.
Could of been not eating any lunch except for a liquid diet of beer in the hot Vegas sun , music blasting at the pool and that swirling go around inside of a tube with other party people. It was fun, never ever did anything like that in my entire life, never did a Vegas pool day before, starting at age 60 isn't really recommended.All the "youngin's "were super nice to me, guess they thought it funny for a older lady to be in the whirlwind of water, they kept spinning my tube around in circles and moving me down the pool. Fun at the time...Some guy was wearing a wedding dress and jumped in the pool, crazy.
Then they had that old Kettle One vodka in the room before we tried out a Moscow  Mule drink then the red, red wine... I had to go home early, such a bummer because they had a limo coming to take 4 of us ladies to a all male strip review!!
I missed that too,all because of raw meat!
Strange how I have read how my ancestors the Mohawks used to eat human flesh, mostly still beating hearts... Creepy, really creepy.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

never try to party with people much younger and larger then yourself, it never works out.

Good advice.

Those younger or larger people simply do not know how to party properly.

True , half bottle of wine and a nap is the correct way to party on down!!! God help me...

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Confusing about what salt to use since my husband had some thyroid issues.
Went to a salt mine store near the farmers market and bought some nice salt, then over to The Bulk Store to buy Himalayan salt, the red stuff, now sea salt again.
....
I missed that too,all because of raw meat!
Strange how I have read how my ancestors the Mohawks used to eat human flesh, mostly still beating hearts... Creepy, really creepy.

Jeez Marilyn, yet another story for your novel.   You've enough for a TV series.  Kevin Spacey has become available recently I believe but carry a 10ft pole if near him while on set.  Game of Thrones ends soon so there has to be something to fill the schedule.

Never tried Steak Tartare? 

Quite popular in Hungary - Mrs Fluffy has had some before but I've always thought it's just too dangerous.

Did you mean crispy instead of creepy?  Mmmmmm.....yum....

BTW, Yurts spotted near where I live:

Yurt Camping

I was told that it is not the salt itself that is harmful but the microscopic shards of rock left in it from the mining operations. I'm hoping that this settles out to the bottom of the pan when you boil veg or pasta (this is why I think it is better add salt before cooking than sprinkling it on cooked food). I have started buying the pink Himalayan salt for sprinkling on chips and other things that can't be salted before cooking.

Both my grandmothers had heart conditions and if they were in hospital they were put on a salt free diet but I think the body does need salt. I find in hot weather I lose salt by sweating. When sweat runs down your face and into your mouth it normally tastes salty but I find after several hot days it tastes like pure water. Usually when that happens I also start suffering from cramp.

Had a friend in school, we met at age 14 , just so happened we were born at the same time and day, anyways she said she was chubby as a little kid so was always watching what she ate to stay slim.
She would sometimes come to school and her whole face was bloated and her eyes were puffy.
She said she had eaten salt or chips the night before. It was so odd, never saw anyone bloat up like that ever, just her face.
Later I learned she was bulimic , another story with that.
We all learned her "diet tricks" as teenagers, sometimes teens do learn bad habits from their peers...
Sort of got shocked straight when one day we ran into another girl from school, one of the most  beautiful people I have ever seen, before she turned to anorexica. She was a twin with her beautiful dark haired bro, she was blonde, both so pretty looking, She was nearly 6 ft tall and had been 140lbs. perfect for how tall she was. When we saw her on the st. after her being pulled from school for being so ill. She was about 110 lbs. Had been at a low of 98 lbs, when in hospital.
Have to watch out sometimes who your kids are hanging out with, it was a "thing" to do in the 70's to not eat with girls, now I have heard even boys are not eating to stay slim.
I took a short cut because I was lazy as a teen, just used speed, no need to not eat if your going 1,000 miles an hour.
Long rant, not sure why speaking of salt made me think of my old school mate and how she would blow up if even having a speck of salt. I should look up her condition, maybe she had a bad heart?
She did herself in at age 33 so something was not right with her.

fluffy2560 wrote:

BTW, Yurts spotted near where I live:

Yurt Camping

Are we starting a Yurt Spotting club?

And inquisitive minds want to know: how much EU grant money did they get to do this?

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

BTW, Yurts spotted near where I live:

Yurt Camping

Are we starting a Yurt Spotting club?

And inquisitive minds want to know: how much EU grant money did they get to do this?

Now that's an idea. 

Obviously these people have Yurt permission but I cannot see any bathrooms (ok, maybe there's main drainage).  Basically it's camping.  I dunno why anyone would want to camp there as it's not exactly a nice place.   If they can put up yurts, why cannot I put a personal one up in Balaton?

Better get in quick for money from the EU.  Tourism development so go for it.  I caught the tail end of a radio news report from the latest EU summit that Visegrad countries will be severely sanctioned on use of structural and investment funds. Implication was to the point of receiving 0 EUR.  That's because of the refugee thing.  I've tried to find a link but couldn't yet.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Basically it's camping.  I dunno why anyone would want to camp there as it's not exactly a nice place.

I did a lot of camping in the US. A lot. Loved it.

In Europe... um... er... eh.... not my style. I think this "Werner" cartoon captures it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N95b49tAmmw

Yes, it is in German, but one can turn off the sound and it still highlights my experience with "camping" in Europe. And that includes, yes, that.... um.... (PC mode engaged) big fat woman in the bathing suit and the floppy breasts (disengage PC mode --- trust me, you don't want to know what non-PC mode would have been like, I still have nightmares.....).

fluffy2560 wrote:

Better get in quick for money from the EU.  Tourism development so go for it.

Oh, trust me. Insider knowledge. I know some things in this topic that do not end up in the "news".

fidobsa wrote:

Both my grandmothers had heart conditions and if they were in hospital they were put on a salt free diet but I think the body does need salt.

Yes, the body needs salt (sodium chloride - NaCl). And the body also needs water. But too much water results in drowning.

That is, salt is essential, but many commercial foods have too much. And too much is not really that healthy.

klsallee wrote:

And that includes, yes, that.... um.... (PC mode engaged) big fat woman in the bathing suit and the floppy breasts (disengage PC mode --- trust me, you don't want to know what non-PC mode would have been like, I still have nightmares.....).

Was it a cartoon or a documentary?   

I've got deja-vu from that Youtube video.  We had a discussion here where there are those older guys with too much tan in the next size down speedos.  I think the lady in the caravan must be the female equivalent.

klsallee wrote:

...Oh, trust me. Insider knowledge. I know some things in this topic that do not end up in the "news".

Oh, you can't do that!  We're all intrigued now!

Funny video, I don't call that camping when people are right on top of each other and people are in areas with all utilities included.
They should try a 3 day hike in and 3 day out backpacking/camping adventure.
Did that once ,ended with my sister almost divorcing her husband!
This was in the late 60;s so no cell service, you were 100% on your own needed to bring first aid with you etc. Not even sure what we would of done if anyone got injured.Guess one of us would have to run out for help or make a bon fire?
Did another backpacking trip in S. Ca up in the mountains, it was super cold almost snowing. Only a 3 day trip , one long day in and one long day out. The guys went mountain climbing, with ropes, scary to be at base camp alone...
A week in the Girl Scouts as a kid and a few overnights as a kid in my parents old camper/truck in the desert.
Once my baby bro was 12, our son 5 and we took them both out to AZ in the hot summer to camp in a tent near the river.
Driving for hours my husband let the gas tank run out, the rest of us were fast asleep, he wakes me up, says he is too tired to go walk for gas so he sends out my 12 year old bro and I alone about 3 am on lonely desert highway to hitch for gas!
Sounds like the plot for a horror movie. Man alive, I almost divorced him for that one too. The driver is suppose to keep an eye on the tank after all. One of the few times I could of murdered him with my bare hands.
After those fun times, I will only go if we have hotel reservations with no strings attached like hiking, carrying your food in etc.
Sleeping in a camper or mini van is not real camping.
Not really a camping story but semi- related topic, once while out in the desert on a roughing  it sort of day as a kid in the 1960's we 4 kids and parents took a long day trip out in the desert, Death Valley.
Almost turned into a death march. Out for the day of pick nic and gun practice, oh, happened to also be Christmas Eve, our big heavy 1950's Caddie got stuck in the sand out in the middle of nowhere, no cell phones back then and no one else around for miles. It was getting dark, my poor step-dad had to find old sticks, boards whatever he could find    to try and get the car out. He had to build a ramp of sorts.
Of course all we kids could think of was "Santa is coming". Made it out after midnight, not sure what on earth they were thinking going out there on Xmas eve when no one else was around with 4 kids in the car and a few canned sodas and some stale sandwiches... My 2 older sisters were already upset because a bunny was shot with one of my step-dads guns... He was upset too since they kept calling him a murderer... Fun holiday memories.
No way I have to go at least 4 star or I'm not moving. Think I finally can say I deserve a break at 63. I think now they would have to airlift me out if I ever tried a long hike in again.
Wow, rethinking our fun Xmas eve with step-daddy, we should of noticed if he brought shovels, maybe he had other plans for us all, who would take a fam out into the desert with guns and shovels?? Ha, ha, just a thought.

I've never done camping where you have to carry everything on your back but I've done loads of camping with a motorbike. As a student we used to go off for the weekend, usually to Wales, about once a month. They were not usually proper campsites, just a farmers field near a pub. Sometimes it was just 10 or so people from the college bike club, other times we went to organised rallies like the Dragon rally.

The most memorable camp I did was the final summer solstice festival before they banned it at Stonehenge. It was run by hippies and was something like a small scale Woodstock! There was plenty of soft drugs around but the organisers would throw out anyone they suspected of dealing in hard drugs. I have never smoked dope as I was put off by the tobacco aspect but did try it in cakes etc, where it seemed to have minimal effect!

I still have by tent I bought in 1982 but these days it looks very old fashioned amongst all the modern dome tents. Now I don't have Charlie to worry about I will go and do some camping around the Adriatic coast next summer. For his last year or so he could not cope with car travel in hot weather unless we went very early in the morning or very late in the evening.

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

...Oh, trust me. Insider knowledge. I know some things in this topic that do not end up in the "news".

Oh, you can't do that!  We're all intrigued now!

Well, for example, there is the time one of the larger, more tourist oriented city councils on the Balaton tried to get some of that sweet, sweet grant money to heat part of the Balaton in the winter to encourage tourist to come "off season". To swim in the lake. In the winter. Because, apparently, their singular logic was tourists only come to the Balaton region to swim in the lake. So tried to make it a year round event.

No, I am not making this up. That one did not get funding, despite lobbying. But others did.

Heating up Balaton in the winter, now I have heard everything!
I think it might be a interesting idea to allow some sort of floating pool in the Danube for people to swim , some sort of safety net on the bottom so no one drifts off...
We swam this past summer in the Danube way up river in a area that was set up for swimming, was nice enough but still the current was a bit strong at times.
Never did any soft drugs and camping, maybe that's the secret for a good time!
I am sometimes a space cadet, worked in a small barber shop in a remote area of Hawaii, a cute little shop run by a former model/Hippie women in her mid 60's, this was 20 some years back now.
She hired a couple of local ladies to work there too.
I started out there as a fill in because my old boss had a boyfriend who just received  a ton of money from his grandfather, some old movie star or writer... He was in his late 20's and she in her mid 60's. They were going to Thailand and Bali for 6 weeks, his treat and she needed me to take over some of her clients.
I continued to work in that shop when she returned from her holiday, guess they liked me and I fit in with their groove.
Little did I know however that the 3 of them were loaded all day long on pot. I am strange enough to be weird without having the need for help from soft drugs.
How lame I was to not know how high they all were all day long, no wonder it was a fun place to work.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

... my old boss had a boyfriend who just received  a ton of money from his grandfather, some old movie star or writer... He was in his late 20's and she in her mid 60's. They were going to Thailand and Bali for 6 weeks, his treat

Wow. Good for her. Nice "catch". I don't judge. 

I know, huge age difference and he was not bad looking either.
She was older but had been a fashion model in her youth, blonde and tall and really a cool interesting no BS sort of person.
Funny how his relation was in the "hollywood machine" because a shop manager in Ca. was also lucky enough to collect off her Hollywood grandfather. She only worked because she didn't want to be a Hollywood brat or so she said. another cool lady.
Funny though how I found out how the HI boss was able to open up her own shop in a remote but affluent area in Hawaii.
Her crops had come in and given her enough cash to open a shop.
Wow, sometimes money does grow on trees!!
One thing that wasn't fair though was her one child a girl was born with a horrible rare condition, half her face was missing when she was born.
Mom so pretty and daughter looked like something from Freddie's nightmares.
Super nice girl who didn't even act like she was different, her mom gave her so much love and attention she never was shy about her face.
Lots of love and support from friends and people on the Island. She even had a boyfriend of her own and was going to college.
Had at least a dozen operations on her face and was going to have at least another dozen before they were finished rebuilding her jaw, eye sockets etc. I was not even told about how she looked before she walked into the shop, wish someone had warned me first but everyone was so used to her that it didn't seem like a thing to share.
i was taken aback for a min. but hopefully it didn't show on my face.
Wow, some people have challenges in life.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Super nice girl who didn't even act like she was different, her mom gave her so much love and attention she never was shy about her face.

Maybe it was this inner kindness and beauty that the younger man saw in this older woman that mattered the most. Not the age difference.

You're right, she was super nice built a house on her land for her mom who was in her 80's.When I moved away and we were still in contact she said her mom had passed away but my family could come live in her mom's old home if we ever wanted to return to HI.
Cool boss or what?
My mom married my step-dad who was 12 years her jr, he had a good job, a newish Caddie and money in the bank, she had 4 kids no child support coming in and no prospects of making a fortune.
He was crazy about our mom because she was tough, worked to support her family on her own and didn't cry about it.
He had her quit working and treated her like the queen she was.
We kids thought him odd but as long as mom was happy.
My bosses BF bought a Harley when he got his funds, my step-dad did the same, bought himself a Harley, my SIL who is 10 years older then my baby bro bought him a Harley for his wedding gift. Maybe that's the secret to a May/Dec. marriage, a Harley?
When I was hired at that barber shop in HI , I had the strangest interview ever.
I just called on the phone to ask if they were hiring, it was a good 90 min. drive each direction from our place so I just called, thinking it wouldn't be happening.
She said it was a "sign" she was about to put a add in the paper because she was going on her trip to Thailand. Told me to just come ready to work on a Sat. She wasn't even in the shop that day, just asked the 2 local ladies if they liked me or not. They did so she hired me for the 6 weeks only. Got on so well they wouldn't hear of me leaving so I stayed on, long drive but worth it once I got to work.
before she took her vacation she showed me her lock box with all her cash for the shop in there, gave me the keys to the box and the shop. Only met me once! She said she liked my "vibes" and if I took advantage then that would just be my bad Karma, super Hippie women! Of course with every client I did I put in my percentage into her lock box for her to cover costs of rent etc. How can anyone try to cheat a person so sweet and live with themselves. That's what I do miss about Hawaii, lots of people are very kind and take you in like family very quickly.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

before she took her vacation she showed me her lock box with all her cash for the shop in there, gave me the keys to the box and the shop. Only met me once! She said she liked my "vibes" and if I took advantage then that would just be my bad Karma, super Hippie women! Of course with every client I did I put in my percentage into her lock box for her to cover costs of rent etc. How can anyone try to cheat a person so sweet and live with themselves. That's what I do miss about Hawaii, lots of people are very kind and take you in like family very quickly.

When I started my first business, in the last century, everything was done by "gentleman agreements". Never had a problem. Everyone paid on time.

Then within a few years of the current century, clients started to not pay. Had to resort to written contracts.

Then even written contracts become worthless -- going to court to get payment got too expensive.

So now, only do essentially retail. Everyone pays in advance. No exceptions.

Sad.

I hate to say it but the younger generations got jipped in many ways.
They just don't learn to have a code of honor any more...

Home from the hospital, just a quick tune up on my shoulder, in and out within 12 hours.
Just to let people know, yes I did pay for  the anaesthesiologist last week at her clinic, suppose it was under "consultation fees" so not covered by national health. No biggie, she was very nice and gave me all the good stuff to put me to sleep , only a bit of a sore throat today from tubes during surgery.
I feel allot better then I thought I would, they didn't do as much inside  as was expected. Not really good news, they found I need a whole new shoulder joint so whatever they would of done wouldn't of done much in the long run, just a bit of scrapping and sewing up.
Have use of my hand and know I'll be back to normal very soon.
Still able to wash the dishes, that's my gauge for how well I am doing.
Went to a small hospital in Budaors.
Tipped a 50,000 to the doc, minor surgery that only took about one hour.
So in for over 100,000 plus and not totally finished just yet with this issue.
Guess my days of long down dogs with yoga are finished, at least for awhile.
I am really at a loss as to why my shoulder of all places has gone bad, I have  lead a easy life, not digging in a coal mine or anything stressful.
I wonder if not being breast feed as a baby had anything to do with not having great bones?
Perhaps years of living in a a nuke testing area has had it's effects on the bones?
Just interesting to know why and how to prevent this for future generations.
My old school friend is in a wheelchair, she used to play in the water drains with her bros as a kid near a reactor  in Santa Sue, Ca. She also had tons of bone issues, knee replacements in her late 40's and many surgeries on other bones. Just made a mess out of her with operations. Think bad water from ground water from the testing labs has done us in. Place was called Rocketdyne Labs.
There is no way, no how I am going in for a shoulder replacement.
Have to have some limits on things, that's one of mine.
Looks like a future of shots to try to prolong falling apart.
Otherwise I am in 100% good health, just turning into jello from the inside out!
I would recommend that small hospital in Budaors if anyone ever needs to go in.
Called Budaorsi Egeszegugyi Kozpont. day surgery only but clean and nice staff.