06/30/2017

 The mood is serene.

 I woke up rested. This is a novelty.

 I live in a ravine in a tiny, tiny village called Windsor.

 It's as close to country living as you can get and still get a pizza delivered.

 I have a number of birds who have selected my house as their annual breeding ground. It's rather idyllic listening to them singing while I write this.

 What I don't get? If the bird can't fly at 4:30 in the morning, why is the bird singing at 4:30 in the morning? Did I mention the nest is just above the bedroom window which is just above my head?

 I am curious, though. If the bird can't fly, why would it sing and attract attention to the nest?

 My neighbors across the street built an honest-to-god chicken coop and are raising chickens. It looks like about ten or so.

 Initially, there were just hens. I'm guessing they didn't really have a goal in mind when they started. The rooster turned up about six months later.

 Obviously, they'd purchased the first rooster. I'm not sure where the second one came from...if they bought it too or if it'd been hatched from their own hens.

 And I'm just going to guess: They didn't know about roosters having issues with being locked in a pen with another rooster.

 I thought the crowing was loud.

 The fight to the death was epic.

 I wasn't able to tell how the fight ended or if the people were able to break it up (no way in hell would I get between two roosters).

 The rooster I hear every morning now sounds very hoarse. Like it has long-term laryngitis or something.

 I can't say I sympathize.

 Thanks for listening   

06/30/2017 sub-addendum

 The mood is erratic.

 My adventure into the outside world (Target, thanks Becky Shank!) met with mixed success.

 First, I realized there's no way I'm going to an outdoor event while the sun's up. The carnival in Shrewsbury opens at 6pm, I'm not sure what time it closes but I would only be able to do this after dark.

 My legs were beginning to burn through my jeans (very old ones) while I was sitting at a traffic light. Being outdoors when it's sunny carries the risk of bursting into flames like an extra on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 I exaggerate, slightly, but it will result in a sunburn complete with blisters so I have to stay covered up.

 I really did enjoy the first part of the outing. I liked wandering around the store and playing with anything that looked interesting. I even had enough energy for a prank. I stood in the aisle near the pharmacy reading a box of lice treatment while vigorously scratching my head.

 Sadly, everyone was wrapped up in their own worlds and three people walked right past me without paying attention to what I was doing. Bummer. I liked that joke. I'll have to start going to Wal-Mart so I can ask the greeters for stuff I know they don't have....like an armpit-hair styling kit?

 Okay, so here's the first rub....

 The cashier was cheerfully cramming one box after another into the same bag. As I watched it stretch and stretch I asked what was going to happen when I picked it up. He informed me the bags are tested with twenty pound weights.

 So I asked if those weights had corners.

 When he didn't catch on, I pointed to the rip in the side of the bag. Cause by the corner of a box. Steadily getting larger as he stuffed the bag.

 In return for my query, I was rewarded with a dirty look and—two-- replacement bags.

 On to the next issue....

 I worked a number of part time jobs in my life, cashiering was one of them.

 Can I ask, does anyone out there do this now or had you done it before? When you're bagging groceries, would you put food items like mac and cheese, cake mix, etc...in the same bag with dishwasher soap and fabric softener?

 I was very much NOT comfortable with this and asked to have them separated.

 I was unfailingly calm and polite throughout the encounter. The cashier did not feel he needed to be. If there's one thing I've always found annoying it's people who are too cowardly to say what they're really thinking and instead resort to abstract slights as a pathetic form of revenge. Which I felt I did not deserve.

 So I started feeling my blood pressure. The veins were all standing out. I was having tension in my chest....like every day for the past four years. So it was time to go home.

 On the up side. I stopped at KFC and got my extra crispy!

 Curiously enough, they did not have enough chicken ready so they dropped my order in just a moment or two after I made it. I sat at the window for a good ten minutes while my chicken was cooking.

 The sunlight was coming through the tinted windows so there was no burning. I was listening to one movement from Beethoven's glorious Ninth Symphony. It's a stirring and crashing piece but largely consisting of strings so I find it very enjoyable.

 I sat with the A/C running, waiting for my chicken, and I was okay with it.

 The kid apologized when he handed me the bucket. I thanked him, sincerely, for cooking my order fresh. I think he thought it was a veiled insult because there was a long pause then he smiled. I could tell he understood that I'd meant it.

 That made my day for some reason.

 I am home now with my treasure...devouring the skin.

 Oh, and the guy I thanked? Dropped an extra four pieces in.

 I have chicken, man!

 Gonna reassemble the bones when I'm done, make a marionette, and dance it around the chicken-coop.

 For a time, there, I could feel my power again. Calm. Assured.

 I can get this back.

 Thanks for listening

Last edited by Conspiracy Theory (7/01/2017 2:02 pm)

This is really random.
Just watched a show about Nelson Mandela.

Mandela was jailed for 27 years for fighting apartheid.

Bill Clinton asked Mandela about his jailers on the day of his release:
“Tell me the truth: when you were walking down the road that last time didn’t you hate them?”

Mandela answered: “I did. I am old enough to tell the truth ....I felt hatred and fear but I said to myself, if you hate them when you get in that car you will still be their prisoner. I wanted to be free and so I let it go.
I lost 27 years of my life to the hatred of others. I will not lose a moment more."

So, Mandela forgave.
And, when he was inaugurated as the President of South Africa, his jailers were invited to the ceremony.

Wow.

Tarnation wrote:

Bitterness and hate do nothing to the hatee, but bring destruction--and ultimately damnation--to the hater.

 

Dig two graves for that one too?

Tarnation wrote:

Conspiracy Theory wrote:

Tarnation wrote:

Bitterness and hate do nothing to the hatee, but bring destruction--and ultimately damnation--to the hater.

 

Dig two graves for that one too?

Honestly, I am confused by what is meant by "that one".

The one who hates?

The one who is the object of hate?

Or for the comment?

Please elaborate!
 

The quote is "When setting out for revenge, first dig two graves."

Not sure who said this or when