Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch-Part Six

[Semiretired]

Uman, do't worry about it. LIke you I sometimes venture to WiFi free zones and disappear for a short time, but always know that when I come back I am always welcome - just like you are.

These are our friends and alwyas will be. RL may be a bit tough at times and keep you busy, but when it does let up just wander back in and say Hi - we just missed ya - that's all...

 

[umanbean]

I didn't really intend to tell y'all this until later, but - wife's in the shower, kids aren't up yet, and, for once, I don't feel like getting outside this morning just yet, so...

This past Mother's Day, my wife and I drove to my brothers house (~2 hrs from here) in my work van, followed by our kids in daughters car. After the festivities, my wife rode back home with the kids and I followed Mom home and spent the night with her. Monday morning, I went to Mom's rental house to finish up getting it ready to rent out again (last renters left it in a mess).

There by myself, on a quiet morning in a quiet, pleasant neighborhood. Around 9:15 a.m., I was bent over the back of my van, radio on, looking for a tool. Someone slipped up behind me, stuck (what I later found out was) a pistol at the base of my skull, and said something I didn't understand. Startled, as I stood up and turned around to my left, I saw a young black guy with a black knit watchcap pulled down to his eyebrows and a black mask pulled up over his nose, dressed in all-black clothes. I swept around hard and fast, raised my left arm hard and knocked his hands off me as I spun around. I stepped into him, pushing him back, and started hitting him... that's when I saw the pistol in his right hand. Even more startled, I jumped back - and he did too. From about 10 feet away, as we locked eyes, he held the pistol up about eye-level, sideways, and pointed it at me - and in that instant I thought he was going to shoot me.

About a millisecond later, I decided I wasn't going to stand still and get shot, so I turned, ran to the (thankfully open) driver side door of my van, reached between the seats and quickly retrieved my always-ready 9mm High Power. Flipped off the safety, turned around pointing the pistol in his direction... and he was gone. I ran to the edge of the carport and looked out to see him getting into a waiting black car at the edge of the street, about 30yds away. I raised the pistol and steadied it, lined up the sights on him, gritted my teeth, and... I didn't shoot - but I wanted to!

I'm sure I could have hit him at least once, and for sure could have shot up the car... but decided against it. If I had shot him, or even at him, while he was "retreating", I probably would have been charged!

Finishing my work there took the rest of the day... and wearing a full-size pistol while installing a new dishwasher, doing yard work, and fixing a fence is a pita.

14 seconds...

At home alone the next morning, in my back yard, I re-enacted the incident with a stopwatch... the whole thing lasted only 14 seconds.... and I could have been shot dead at least two separate times during that 14 seconds.

Quite a harrowing experience... the adrenaline dump alone took me two days to get over - it made my lower back hurt like the dickens!... just pounding, throbbing for days after...

Now I know first hand what is meant by "life changing experience". I'm more thankful, more introspective - and yet more cynical and less trusting.

And I'll never go to that house again (or even to Albany period) unless I'm wearing a Jackass Leather (now Galco) holster, with a Browning HP in it.

 

[3mg Meniere]

Can't like that, uman. Glad your heart is still beating.

 

[clnire]

@umanbean , OMG! What a scary experience! Glad you are back on the porches and in 1 piece. Be safe, I don't blame you for carrying at that place!

 

[Kaezziel]

That's just plain awesome, Kaez. Can't say I wouldn't have done the same, but you actually did. Love ya, bro!

Hahaha! Love ya, too, Bells. I still maintain that it was totally worth it "For the children!". As an added bonus, I get to keep my man-card, right?

Yer a good man, charlie brown.
View attachment 557865

Thanks, Gary! Now, how'd you know that I've always liked that quote?

That's really taking one (or five or six) for the team. Don't know if I could have endured that. I think you're invincible, too.

Hahahaha! Somehow I'm pretty sure that you could have done the same, Peach... women tend to have higher pain tolerances than men. As to the invincibility, I've always thought that I was invincible... I'm five feet tall and bulletproof!

I'd have sent kids fly'n! I am a wimp like that, tho. Good on ya, Kaz!

LMBO! I'll tell ya the same thing I told Peach... you'd have prolly laughed at the l'il sucker. I can see it now, you'd just smack it with a little "Is that all you got?"!

I would have freaked myself! Ya done good Kaz, glad you are not allergic!

It really didn't hurt all that much; I'm kinda used to it. Recently, I was replacing a fascia board on the house, and a red wasp came out from behind it and stung me on the face while I was standing on a ladder. I just climbed down and went to the garage for the wasp spray... hosed 'em down good and kept working. That one didn't even swell up, just itched a bit for about two days. Also, we used to raise honey bees when I was a kid. I'd help dad harvest the honey... we never wore the bee suits, just walked up and smoked 'em. Usually get stung a few times; after a while, ya just get used to it.

I'd do pretty much anything to protect my youngin, and would probably do that if I'd had the presence of mind, but I'm afraid instinct to run flail whatever woulda took over. Hope I could have at least dunked under the water with the kids if they were of breath holding age.

Honestly, I didn't even think about it. I just looked down and saw it, then tried to get the kids off so I could handle it. I did dip it under the water a few times, but the l'il sucker just wouldn't let go!

I picked this up online and it is great against flys, bees, wasp, and any other flying/crawling insects. It shoots a load of salt and is pretty accurate and deadly on flys out to about 5 feet. Gee, I hope I am not violating any rules. It is appropriately called the Bug-A-salt. I have lots of fun with it when I am on the patio when I am smoking my ribs and brisket. What can I say, some things just can't be vaped.

I would still like to get one of those... more for the "fun factor" than anything else!

 

[3mg Meniere]

It really didn't hurt all that much; I'm kinda used to it. Recently, I was replacing a fascia board on the house, and a red wasp came out from behind it and stung me on the face while I was standing on a ladder. I just climbed down and went to the garage for the wasp spray... hosed 'em down good and kept working. That one didn't even swell up, just itched a bit for about two days. Also, we used to raise honey bees when I was a kid. I'd help dad harvest the honey... we never wore the bee suits, just walked up and smoked 'em. Usually get stung a few times; after a while, ya just get used to it.

I knew we had a lot in common. My father was also a beekeeper. He thought that it was more than getting used to it. It was desensitization. He would regularly What ever happened to.... Desensitization to Poison Ivy | National Center for Homeopathy

 

[Kaezziel]

I didn't really intend to tell y'all this until later, but - wife's in the shower, kids aren't up yet, and, for once, I don't feel like getting outside this morning just yet, so...

This past Mother's Day, my wife and I drove to my brothers house (~2 hrs from here) in my work van, followed by our kids in daughters car. After the festivities, my wife rode back home with the kids and I followed Mom home and spent the night with her. Monday morning, I went to Mom's rental house to finish up getting it ready to rent out again (last renters left it in a mess).

There by myself, on a quiet morning in a quiet, pleasant neighborhood. Around 9:15 a.m., I was bent over the back of my van, radio on, looking for a tool. Someone slipped up behind me, stuck (what I later found out was) a pistol at the base of my skull, and said something I didn't understand. Startled, as I stood up and turned around to my left, I saw a young black guy with a black knit watchcap pulled down to his eyebrows and a black mask pulled up over his nose, dressed in all-black clothes. I swept around hard and fast, raised my left arm hard and knocked his hands off me as I spun around. I stepped into him, pushing him back, and started hitting him... that's when I saw the pistol in his right hand. Even more startled, I jumped back - and he did too. From about 10 feet away, as we locked eyes, he held the pistol up about eye-level, sideways, and pointed it at me - and in that instant I thought he was going to shoot me.

About a millisecond later, I decided I wasn't going to stand still and get shot, so I turned, ran to the (thankfully open) driver side door of my van, reached between the seats and quickly retrieved my always-ready 9mm High Power. Flipped off the safety, turned around pointing the pistol in his direction... and he was gone. I ran to the edge of the carport and looked out to see him getting into a waiting black car at the edge of the street, about 30yds away. I raised the pistol and steadied it, lined up the sights on him, gritted my teeth, and... I didn't shoot - but I wanted to!

I'm sure I could have hit him at least once, and for sure could have shot up the car... but decided against it. If I had shot him, or even at him, while he was "retreating", I probably would have been charged!

Finishing my work there took the rest of the day... and wearing a full-size pistol while installing a new dishwasher, doing yard work, and fixing a fence is a pita.

14 seconds...

At home alone the next morning, in my back yard, I re-enacted the incident with a stopwatch... the whole thing lasted only 14 seconds.... and I could have been shot dead at least two separate times during that 14 seconds.

Quite a harrowing experience... the adrenaline dump alone took me two days to get over - it made my lower back hurt like the dickens!... just pounding, throbbing for days after...

Now I know first hand what is meant by "life changing experience". I'm more thankful, more introspective - and yet more cynical and less trusting.

And I'll never go to that house again (or even to Albany period) unless I'm wearing a Jackass Leather (now Galco) holster, with a Browning HP in it.

Holy crap, man! I know that I said I get to keep my man card, but after reading your accounting of this harrowing experience I feel that I have no choice but to pass it on to you. Your presence of mind under such an intense situation is truly humbling, and I hope that I am never pressed into such a "life changing experience". Though I have to admit, this is exactly why I love our 2nd Amendment!

 

[Kaezziel]

I knew we had a lot in common. My father was also a beekeeper. He thought that it was more than getting used to it. It was desensitization. He would regularly What ever happened to.... Desensitization to Poison Ivy | National Center for Homeopathy

He was probably right! The human body has an incredible ability to become desensitized to pretty much anything... including repetitive visual cues, aural annoyances, offensive odors, etc... pretty much, all of the five senses can "turn off" input after prolonged exposure. And that was an interesting read... makes me wonder if the "Oral Ivy" is still available. Now I'm gonna have to go search for it.
As for the bees, I LOVED having fresh honey around the house! We never even put jelly on biscuits, just a bit of butter and honey. To this day, I prefer to use honey in place of other sweeteners.

 

[3mg Meniere]

As for the bees, I LOVED having fresh honey around the house! We never even put jelly on biscuits, just a bit of butter and honey. To this day, I prefer to use honey in place of other sweeteners.

Honey on cottage cheese! YUM!

 

[Kaezziel]

Honey on cottage cheese! YUM!

Hahaha! That would probably be pretty good... if I liked cottage cheese at all.

 

[Janet H]

OKay, I know I'm really tired because your exposure and your message brought me to tears at my desk. I do truly appreciate all the love and concern I've received from my fellow porchers. Now I just have to extend that to myself. I'm not at rock bottom yet, but if I would push myself to do more after this hitch, I think I would melt into little pieces on the floor somewhere. I'm going home for 7 after this hitch. I have to.

{{{{Roto}}}} You might want to let your boss know that you won't be answering your phone this time so he better make provisions. Tell him your leaving the planet for 7 days and can't be reached for any reason.

 

[Kaezziel]

{{{{Roto}}}} You might want to let your boss know that you won't be answering your phone this time so he better make provisions. Tell him your leaving the planet for 7 days and can't be reached for any reason.

Can I tell Life that?

 

[Kaezziel]

Just a little "feel good" story that was repeated on my local radio morning show; I thought I would share it here. Maybe @Ken_A would be interested in the 3D printing aspect of it.

Freddy the Tortoise Gets Her Groove (Shell) Back

 

[Kenna]

Good morning Good Folks!

Long time, no see...

A few months ago, beginning with a solo trip to So. GA to work at my Mom's house for a few days, Real Life shifted into high gear for me! Mom doesn't have WiFi and I am loath to glom onto a neighbor's signal - so in that week, I got out of the habit of coming here almost-daily, which rather quickly morphed into not spending any leisure time on a computer at all - just not enough time/energy to go around.

My son graduated Tech School last week (in the top of his class ... he missed honor roll by 0.6, with a 96.4 gpa), my daughter graduates high school next weekend (5th in her graduating class , so honor roll for sure), and my Mom has needed me a lot more often lately - she's "slowing down" noticeably, and more rapidly than I would've thought. She's quit doing yard work, quit going to her Sorority Sister luncheons, quit going to her church Wed. Senior day luncheons, quit going to my nieces' house to babysit her great-grandkids (Melissa brings them to her house once a week for part of a day)... she used to be so active, now hardly leaves the house anymore.

The prepping for the graduations - the attendant family gatherings and celebration parties, shopping for and purchasing grad. gifts, and busting my .... to work enough to pay for it all has kept me busier than a long-tail cat in a room fulla rockin' chairs!

Even tho I've been AWOL, I still think of all you good folks daily.

And even tho my absence began well before Odyssey week, I jumped back in and started reading (never liked the term 'lurking') a few days before the beginning of that week, and read daily for ~10 days or so. I wanted so badly to be able to go, but I knew my RL was going into over-drive at about that time, so I stayed out of any conversations about it. However, I did attend vicariously through the excellent photos, vids., and updates from attendees.

In the interest of brevity, more later...

Luv y'all, mean it!... Geno

Hey, Geno! Great to have you back! We missed you! No wifi stinks. Almost as bad as no coffee maker. You have really been busy! Spring & early summer is that time of year, & it's wonderful, isn't it? Sorry to hear you're Mother is starting let go of things that once were routine for her. Glad you are staying busy & enjoying life!

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[Kenna]

I didn't really intend to tell y'all this until later, but - wife's in the shower, kids aren't up yet, and, for once, I don't feel like getting outside this morning just yet, so...

This past Mother's Day, my wife and I drove to my brothers house (~2 hrs from here) in my work van, followed by our kids in daughters car. After the festivities, my wife rode back home with the kids and I followed Mom home and spent the night with her. Monday morning, I went to Mom's rental house to finish up getting it ready to rent out again (last renters left it in a mess).

There by myself, on a quiet morning in a quiet, pleasant neighborhood. Around 9:15 a.m., I was bent over the back of my van, radio on, looking for a tool. Someone slipped up behind me, stuck (what I later found out was) a pistol at the base of my skull, and said something I didn't understand. Startled, as I stood up and turned around to my left, I saw a young black guy with a black knit watchcap pulled down to his eyebrows and a black mask pulled up over his nose, dressed in all-black clothes. I swept around hard and fast, raised my left arm hard and knocked his hands off me as I spun around. I stepped into him, pushing him back, and started hitting him... that's when I saw the pistol in his right hand. Even more startled, I jumped back - and he did too. From about 10 feet away, as we locked eyes, he held the pistol up about eye-level, sideways, and pointed it at me - and in that instant I thought he was going to shoot me.

About a millisecond later, I decided I wasn't going to stand still and get shot, so I turned, ran to the (thankfully open) driver side door of my van, reached between the seats and quickly retrieved my always-ready 9mm High Power. Flipped off the safety, turned around pointing the pistol in his direction... and he was gone. I ran to the edge of the carport and looked out to see him getting into a waiting black car at the edge of the street, about 30yds away. I raised the pistol and steadied it, lined up the sights on him, gritted my teeth, and... I didn't shoot - but I wanted to!

I'm sure I could have hit him at least once, and for sure could have shot up the car... but decided against it. If I had shot him, or even at him, while he was "retreating", I probably would have been charged!

Finishing my work there took the rest of the day... and wearing a full-size pistol while installing a new dishwasher, doing yard work, and fixing a fence is a pita.

14 seconds...

At home alone the next morning, in my back yard, I re-enacted the incident with a stopwatch... the whole thing lasted only 14 seconds.... and I could have been shot dead at least two separate times during that 14 seconds.

Quite a harrowing experience... the adrenaline dump alone took me two days to get over - it made my lower back hurt like the dickens!... just pounding, throbbing for days after...

Now I know first hand what is meant by "life changing experience". I'm more thankful, more introspective - and yet more cynical and less trusting.

And I'll never go to that house again (or even to Albany period) unless I'm wearing a Jackass Leather (now Galco) holster, with a Browning HP in it.

Geno! Wow! I'm so glad that went your way! I hope he saw your gun & peed all over himself & the getaway car! Protecting ourselves has become more the routine nowdays. This recent backing off enforcing the law & lighter sentencing has removed any fear of cosequences for crimes. Sad.

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[Janet H]

Can I tell Life that?

Yeah, wouldn't that be convenient!!

@umanbean, wow, so sorry you had that experience, but that was a smart move on your part! Your restraint was admirable because you're right, you could have been the one in trouble! Didn't happen to get the license did you? It might be a good idea to notify the police so they can be on the lookout. They may probably already know about these idiots, but your experience may help in catching them.

Your avi name reminds me of the book The BFG by Roald Dahl. Great story. I see Steven Spielberg has made it into a move that opens on July 4 weekend. Can't wait to see it.

@seapeach, glad to hear your GD seems to be moving right along despite her experience. Kids are amazing.

 

[Ken_A]

Just a little "feel good" story that was repeated on my local radio morning show; I thought I would share it here. Maybe @Ken_A would be interested in the 3D printing aspect of it.
View attachment 558095
Freddy the Tortoise Gets Her Groove (Shell) Back

I remember that story. There have been some where they have replaced bird beaks too.

 

[Uncle Willie]

Good morning Good Folks!

Even tho I've been AWOL, I still think of all you good folks daily.

Luv y'all, mean it!... Geno

Geno, it's always great to see you back .. we'll take what we can get ..

My 9mm S&W with a 14 +1 High Cap Mag is my preferred partner .. "Don't leave home without it" ..

 

[Janet H]

Just a little "feel good" story that was repeated on my local radio morning show; I thought I would share it here. Maybe @Ken_A would be interested in the 3D printing aspect of it.
View attachment 558095
Freddy the Tortoise Gets Her Groove (Shell) Back

Wow, how cool is that!! It's amazing the poor thing didn't die when the shell was burned off. I wonder if it's own shell will ever be able to grow back enough or will it probably need new shells as it gets older.

 

[Kenna]

Just a little "feel good" story that was repeated on my local radio morning show; I thought I would share it here. Maybe @Ken_A would be interested in the 3D printing aspect of it.
View attachment 558095
Freddy the Tortoise Gets Her Groove (Shell) Back

That is so cool! And birds, too? I've seen stories of printing new feet for geese or ducks, & dogs I think. It's wonderful technology.

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