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Well, this is unusual. After a couple hours of reading, I'm not yet tired enough to go to bed. So here I am!
 
It was not dark, felt more like lack of freedom. Everyone simply forgets that later after.
Do we all forget? Or does perception of freedom wax and wane depending on teachers, classes, and how bright the sun shines outside? I had classes wherein I literally counted down seconds before escape and other classes that felt like a day in the country because that was exactly what they were. Plant ecology, for example. After a couple of class periods spent imprisoned in the lab covering basic field techniques, we met in the parking lot once a week and went on an all-afternoon field trip to some fascinating place. We saw a bristlecone pine in the mountains. We saw a kind of sea algae that looks like a miniature palm tree and grows on rocks that are constantly washed by breakers on the coast of California.

Now, ag economics and algebra: dark, painful, and agonizingly restrictive for me personally. Folks who went on to become economists and mathemeticians probably felt differently.
 
If we had the internet back then, we could have spent more time drinking
 
Who looks at the neck of any stringed instrument after the initial learning stage? I had a couple of adhesive dots to aid me in the beginning. Never even noticed when they wore off because I quit depending on them.

Fretted fiddles. Sounds like a mild epithet. "Fretted fiddles, George, what in the hell are you doing with that waffle iron?"
Guitar player here; been playing for more years than I can remember. Yep, occasionally I still look at the fret board when changing chords.
 
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Now, ag economics and algebra: dark, painful, and agonizingly restrictive for me personally. Folks who went on to become economists and mathemeticians probably felt differently.

I liked those classes. I was good at them, and our maths teacher was terrible at keeping discipline. We were playing cards in class once, and he came over to look. We asked him if he wanted us to stop, and he said no, because he knew we were doing the work outside class. Yeah, right. I mean, we would have stopped if he had told us to, it's not like we were being aggressive about it.

On the other hand, our English classes were incredibly boring. Didn't learn very much. Its amazin I learnt to rite atall. Dint got no spelchekas in dem days.
 
Was I to pick up my guitar today, I'd probably not only have to look at the fret board, I'd probably have to locate Mel Bay's masterpiece for guidance. Been years since I've played, and at one time, playing was the most important part of my day.
 
Who looks at the neck of any stringed instrument after the initial learning stage? I had a couple of adhesive dots to aid me in the beginning. Never even noticed when they wore off because I quit depending on them.

I think of those aids as comparable to training wheels on a bicycle. Very handy in the beginning, but unnecessary once you get the hang of the thing.


Guitar player here; been playing for me years than I can remember. Yep, occasionally I still look at the fret board when changing chords.

I do, too, usually when I stray away from the area for the first four or five frets from the nut, where the "cowboy chords" are.
 
We're heading into a pretty frigid week, and a big dump of snow expected Sunday.

I'll have to do groceries tomorrow. I am on a chicken and broccoli kick.
 
Five degrees here, with a predicted overnight low of negative three. Snow on the ground. I'm glad to be home in front of the fire, but this is seasonal for us. Sending out warmest wishes to those who are facing unfamiliar conditions.
 
Five degrees here, with a predicted overnight low of negative three. Snow on the ground. I'm glad to be home in front of the fire, but this is seasonal for us. Sending out warmest wishes to those who are facing unfamiliar conditions.
"Catastrophic national storm endangers 200 million Americans" the headlines are saying. Looks like negative temps tomorrow and maybe a foot of snow on Sunday, which isn't terribly noteworthy up here, but if Texas and Louisiana are getting snow, ice, and temps in the 20s? They're totally fucked.
 
...but if Texas and Louisiana are getting snow, ice, and temps in the 20s? They're totally fucked.
I grew up in south Texas and was in third grade before I ever saw water freeze outside. As a child, my dearest hope in all the world was for snow on one of our winter trips to Arkansas. Never happened.

In March four years ago, my daughter, granddaughter, and I were on our way from a cousin's house in rural Cooke County, TX to my aunt's house in Bowie County. It snowed on us the whole way. Who says God doesn't answer prayers? Sixty-some-odd years late and on a trip I took to get a break from white stuff, but still...
 
I grew up in south Texas and was in third grade before I ever saw water freeze outside. As a child, my dearest hope in all the world was for snow on one of our winter trips to Arkansas. Never happened.

In March four years ago, my daughter, granddaughter, and I were on our way from a cousin's house in rural Cooke County, TX to my aunt's house in Bowie County. It snowed on us the whole way. Who says God doesn't answer prayers? Sixty-some-odd years late and on a trip I took to get a break from white stuff, but still...
Half a dozen people probably died during that storm, unfortunately. Their power grid isn't designed to handle the ice, to boot. Up here, it's a regular day.

Except for the ice storm up in New Hampshire in the late 80s, early 90s, right when we build our house up there. Trees exploded. Literally exploded, flattening acres of National Forest that never recovered. I saw a few smaller ones when I lived up there ten years ago, but nothing like that. But if you haven't heard a tree explode in your life, I don't recommend it.
 
Supposed to be 40+c for the next few days. Winds coming from the west, which is the desert, that's why. Drops like 10c if it blows south. Old people always talking weather hey?
 
Half a dozen people probably died during that storm, unfortunately. Their power grid isn't designed to handle the ice, to boot. Up here, it's a regular day.
Much of my extended family still live in NE Texas/SW Arkansas. That March storm was just wet snow without bitter cold, the kind of snow they get every few years in that area. They close the schools, the kids play in the snow, and it melts by sunset. Very different from ice storms. After the one in December of 2000, my parents didn't have electricity for 6 weeks.
 
I love winter and I like the cold, but it's getting CHILLY here in Ottawa. My feet are cold! I was probably going to put the oven on to cook some frozen pizza anyway, but now I have a proper excuse.

The rest of my severance was deposited yesterday (heavily taxed, of course), so now I get to see how long I can make it last. I haven't experienced financial insecurity since I was a real young feller.
 
I love winter and I like the cold, but it's getting CHILLY here in Ottawa. My feet are cold! I was probably going to put the oven on to cook some frozen pizza anyway, but now I have a proper excuse.

The rest of my severance was deposited yesterday (heavily taxed, of course), so now I get to see how long I can make it last. I haven't experienced financial insecurity since I was a real young feller.
If it makes you feel any better I got my last paycheck deposited today, too. No severance here unfortunately. And no unemployment with me quitting. Tuggies under the bridge for me, it looks like... once it warms up of course.
 
In all my life, I never held a job that offered any kind of severance pay. It's an interesting concept, though.

Got a notice from John the Agent that the first third of my advance has been deposited in my back account, less his fifteen per cent. He is worth every penny he gets, too. No way would I have gotten this far without him.
 
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