Johnson’s Island, Confederate officers prison on Lake Erie, Ohio (Part Two)

History, In the News, Photographs, politics, This and That, Writing and Blogging
entrance. near the lake, looking northwest
emblem
headstones
rear of cemetery facing the lake

(all photos on this page © Sometimes, 2017)   These photos were taken in May 1981 by Bob Dreger, my late husband.

The island prison housed Confederate military officers who were originally  captured during Civil War battles, and imprisoned  at Camp Chase, Columbus Ohio.   The object was to separate the officers from the rank-and-file soldiers and house them in the Northern prison where they remained until the end of the Civil War in 1865, or their death, which ever came first.    Over two hundred of them remain there, in their graves, to this day.

There is more to come from SOMETIMES, so please check back for more information about Johnson’s Island.     (I would continue now, but I have a lunch date with my best friend where we will fight the Civil War again.   We are on the same side…North, anti-Slavery, but present upheaval over Civil War statues opens up new debate across our nation—as if we don’t have plenty to debate! 🙂   For what it’s worth, this on-going perennial battle never dies.

 

 

919 thoughts on “Johnson’s Island, Confederate officers prison on Lake Erie, Ohio (Part Two)”

  1. The Confederate statues have made the news even here, in Australia. We’ve never experienced a civil war so we have no idea of the animosity that can continue to rage, 100? years after wards. Is this simmering anger really about slavery or is the modern day South still very different to the North?
    My personal view is that the victims of war, and by that I include the soldiers themselves, rarely know why they’re dying. They deserve to be remembered, as human beings, so your statue is sad and lovely. Statues of generals though…:(

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    1. I agree with you about the soldiers’ deserving to be honored, even when on the losing side. Every small town or big city of any size has at least one Civil War stature. In the North, where I live, the statues are of Union soldiers, different from the Southern Rebel soldiers. The North wore blue uniforms; the South grey. The war was 1861-1865. The war was over slavery…the South were slave states. It is argued often that the war was over “states’ rights” but in fact it was about states-rights-to-keep slavery.

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      4. yes, but they had a free speech rally today, but the police kept control and kept the two sides separate. It is basically over the confederate statues.. some states have begun destroying them. In my humble opinion the whole thing is stupid.

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      6. there were 20-some people arrested for battling the police. The planned speakers did not speak, and most of the huge crowd…thousands…went home when told to disburse. It’s a racist thing…with all sorts of nasties on one side and peace-loves on the other. I missed most of the CNN coverage because I was at a rock event at which my granddaughters band was the headliner closing act. Watch out…bragging possible! 🙂

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      7. Oh! Congratulations to you, your granddaughter AND her band. That’s brilliant. 🙂
        We heard on the news that the police did a much better job this time.

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      8. thank you. The event was an arts festival in a big Akron Ohio neighborhood, called porch-rocker (not how its spelled.) Bands play at various locations on front porches of private homes. There were 130+ bands that played, and Jeri’s band Time Cat played last on the main stage. Pardon me for bragging but I admit it was a big thrill when almost a thousand people showed up and stayed for the whole show and cheered etc. (brag brag)

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      9. yes the police in Boston did do a good job, they kept the crowds separated and then sent them home early. There were thousands of people there as by helicopter wide shots.

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      14. there are statues of civil war soldiers everywhere, up north here they are Union solders, in south confederates. The ones coming down in the south now are Generals and other bigshots. Personally I think they should drag the states off to a museum or some place for awhile…smashing them to rubble is very stupid…but they don’t ask me.

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      15. Yes, agree with the politics or not, those statues are/were a part of the history when they were put up [much later than the war I believe]. History shouldn’t be sanitized, but I guess those statues are inextricably linked to that poor girl’s murder now.

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      16. indeed…but Heather Heyer is something of a martyr now. The statues should not be destroyed…if they want to take them down they should preserve them. Stupidity should not rule the country.

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      19. OMG…thank you!
        I have to warn you though, it contains language, adult themes and a couple of icky bits. I hope you’re not shocked. 😦

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      20. not easily shocked… I am reading at the point where the character is being interviewed, examined, by the medical people. So far I LOVE it…have it on my Kindle. I was reading on my computer screen though, but had to bookmark it and get back to work. Don’t worry, you really can’t shock me 🙂
        It is true that I am “older”… when people say that I ask them “older than what? the hills? he ages? the Wreck of the Hesperus?” I just turned 83 last month, but hope no one holds that against me…my kids are never shocked, but sometimes disapproving…but my grandkids…now there are some free thinkers. 🙂

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      21. lol – that’s a relief, and I’m thrilled you’re enjoying it so far. I don’t deliberately set out to shock anyone, but at 64 I refused to be…’nice’ just for the sake of being nice. If the story calls for something unpleasant then so be it.
        I’d say you’re something of a free thinker yourself. 😀

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      22. I am at the place where Kenneth is realizing that he is in love with Miia (sorry bad spelling.) Your environment and premise is fascinating, so innovative and unique. I am especially impressed with your logical and procedural detail… believable explanations of the mechanics of the surgeries and methods.

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      23. -dance- You’re the first person to actually comment on those procedures! I spent a long time researching what /might/ need to be done in order to prepare a body for Innerscape. Thank you!

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      24. I wondered if you are a doctor. I appreciate the detail you put into the descriptions and in fact your entire premise is ingenious. The dance sequence with the green dress is gripping. At the end (yes, I finished Episode 1) I went back to the dance and read the part again from the green-dress-in the-bowl through Kenneth’s despair and agony to the end. I am now into Episode 2.

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      27. lol – trust me, neither am. It just so happened that my favourite subject at school was biology so I’m drawn to the whole area. Everything in Innerscape, though, is pieced together from great sites on the internet. What would we do without Papa Google?

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      32. loves science, always creating something…her grandmother (my oldest) babysits (she’s a retired nurse…) and is easily conned into making “slime” and other concoctions in the kitchen.

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      38. have always been afraid of water. A crystal-guru-whatever told me once that the reason for my fear is that I drowned in a former life…clinging to the top of a mast on a sailing ship.

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      41. -grin- do you ever go through your posts and not recognize some of them until you re-read them?
        My blog is heading towards 1000 posts and I swear, I’ve forgetten at least half of them.

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      50. I’;m going to check Stardew Valley. I spend a lot of time on my blog, Sometimes, and my various cyber pals. In a real world I would spend more time on my book business. Then I’m teaching myself Russian on memrise.com

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      52. I had been refreshing my Spanish, and when I finished the duolingo lessons I wanted to continue so I chose Russian because it has its own alphabet characters, seemed impossible at first but now I’ve mostly learned them. I needed Spanish for my doctoral work, and a third “reading proficiency” so I tried French. yuk.

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      53. -grin- I can still read French but my conversational skills have disappeared. Ditto Japanese. Not sure I’d be game to start something so radically different. Bravo. 🙂

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      54. ha! I got a C on the final…French for Reading Proficiency. The instructor said my “translations are beautiful, but too brief”… my stickler for precise nuanced wording did me in, quantity was more important than quality. Just write some sloppy translations I guess.

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      56. Episode 3 may shock you. In some ways it’s my favourite but I know some people are disappointed by it. All I’ll say is that there are 5 episodes in all before the story finally concludes. 🙂

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      60. last night I started reading episode 3…but the Kindle froze up, and would not turn off…so I couldn’t read…or play games…or anything. I may need a new machine. I could read it on my main frame of course, but prefer a smaller venue. Later on my son graciously volunteered his tablet, and I was able to read some on there.

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      61. lol – your Kindle may just have run out of battery. Charge it and it will, hopefully, come right back. You may need to keep the turn on button depressed for a minute until it reboots itself. 🙂

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      66. I want to read Episode 4 again, I missed somethings I think. I really still prefer reading a paperback book, as I do a lot of flipping back and forth to pick up details.

        I read the work of writers that I know personally, a bit closer than otherwise, and I like to work out any issues I have instead of skimming over rough spots as I do with a “strange” writer.
        The only other real novelist that was a close acquaintance of mine is C. Dale Brittain, who authored a series of “Wizard of Yurt” novels. I absolutely loved the series, and went into sort of savoring phrases and passages as I like to do. The author, is a medieval history professor at U of Akron. It has been maybe 20 years since I read these novels, and she has several novels since.

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      67. My cat Tinkerbell interfered with my close reading there for awhile (Ep3) …I thought she was in the process of moving on to another life, but she recovered enough to jump in my lap and get between me and the Kindle screen. She is 19+ so she gets some pain-in-the-ass points.

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      71. OK…an hour ago I sat down here intending to announce Tinkerbell’s demise. She had a bad night, isn’t eating at all, but she did drink some water from a paper cup. This morning she was on a shelf in the bathroom. We went to move her to a more comfortable place, and she let out a screech, and went all limp. She had a very slight breathing. We put her in a box and set out to wait. I cried, more tears than I usually do, and resigned myself to making final arrangements. (A spot back in our “dog yard” where assorted pets are buried.) Then she disappeared from her box and proceeded to walk around blithely. Now she’s laying in the sun by the front door. She is apparently spending all of her nine lives.

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      72. Oh I’m so glad! I’ve always believed that life is worth living so long as each day holds just one good thing in it. Your Tinkerbell is still finding things to enjoy. Give her a very gentle pat from me. And hugs to you.

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      73. Mrs. Tinky is on her way to reincarnation or whatever….she died in the afternoon yesterday, and we took her to the vet to be cremated. She wouldn’t like a plot in the dog yard cemetery we maintain here. I really do not have the $180+ to spare, but Tinky gave me a lot of love and pleasure, so I owe it to her.

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      74. Ah….I’m sorry. Truly sorry. Even when you know it’s inevitable, it hurts like hell. I still mourn my special ‘babies’. Love doesn’t distinguish between four legged friends and those with only two.
        -massive hugs-
        Rest in peace, Tinky.

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      77. I had that little one we named Alice (I think it was just before you started following) that was very young and abandoned, and I fed her with a bottle and then she died on me…breaks my heart every time that happens, and I’m not going to try to save any more abandoned kittens. I do have Baby, though, my black and white that has cerebellar dysplasia… the hip ailment that the kittens get. She can walk, but she walks like a horse instead of a cat…her sister could not even stand up, but Baby has gotten over much of her “tumbling.” Had I not brought her in the house though she would not have survived. She’s a darling. I took Tinkerbell to the vet to have her cremated, just couldn’t bring myself to bury her. She was in her 19th year.

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      78. I have a cat with challenges too. His name is Golli and yes, he’s the Golli in Innerscape. He was knocked over by a car when he was barely one, and it left him with broken hips – fixed – and bad concussion. The concussion left him brain damaged and after we brought him home, I had to feed him by hand and hydrate him with a syringe. We also had to teach him to walk in a straight line again.
        He’s completely blind in one eye and about 85% blind in the other. But you’d never know it to look at him now. My little boy does everything his brothers can do except climb trees. His hearing has taken over from his sight and he’s such a happy little man and so affectionate. He’s my special. I know I shouldn’t play favourites, but… 🙂

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      79. aw Golli! My Baby is flexible, but she still falls over easily, and occasionally will jump up on something and miss, but she’s a lot better at that than when she was little. Even grouchy old Tinkerbell more than tolerated Baby… once Baby leaped onto the bed and landed right on top of Tink, and all she did was “eh…watch it kid.”

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      80. -giggles- that is so sweet. I wonder if they know and make allowances? Once Golli was on his feet again, Buffa used to bring live mice into the house and drop them at Golli’s feet. I wasn’t thrilled, as you can imagine, but I truly believe that even those failed attempts at hunting helped his overall development.

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      81. Baby’s Mother, Peggy had another litter that had the cellebar dysplasia…whatever…they could not walk but “swam” around. They did not survive. Then when Baby and her late sister came along, and it became obvious that they would not make it unless they joined the house cat crew. They were both very active, especially Baby but the other one got around very well despite her somersaults and falls…when she disappeared overnight I brought Baby in the house.

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      83. yes. The APL came and gathered up all the ferals in the neighborhood a couple of years ago, neutered/spayed all the adults, and then brought them back here to our “compound” to live. Peggy is one of the females, a sweet black&white. I made sure she got spayed, because of her defective litters. Baby is fine…clumsy little critter (not little, bigger than her mother) still subject to crashing when she misses a jump or gets knocked over. The other cats (even grumpy Tinkerbell) tolerated Baby and her antics and seem amused by her.

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      85. APL Animal Protective League. They have a “no-kill” policy, so they go out when they can and round up a “colony” of feral cats and have them fixed and give them some shots I think. Then they take the cats back if the “person” wants them. They even provide shelters and food sometimes.

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      86. Oh I wish we had something similar here. We do have an animal protection society and scores of shelters but so many of them kill the animals after a very short time. 😦

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      87. catch 22…people don’t want feral cats hanging around, but they don’t want them killed either. One of our cops shot six feral kittens a couple of year ago and all HELL broke loose! The complainant just wanted him to “do something” with the kittens, which were wild and apparently scratching and biting neighborhood children. Feral cats are a huge problem. Having said that, OUR feral cats have long since evolve into outside pets…not allowed in the house for sheer common sense reasons.

        Actually none of my indoor cats had feral ancestors, but between me and my son in law next door we have about a dozen cats that hang out and eat. The APL built outdoor kennels for them and they frequent those in winter.

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      89. well, my soninlaw who is responsible for our cat population (indirectly of course 🙂 feeds the ones over there, and I feed three or four that live over here (outside) I ration food, because they are all fat cats, comparatively. My cats, indoor and out, prefer a healthy cat food mix I buy in a huge bag from the feed store (straw and food for cows and horses and dogs and cats…) twice a month. The food is good and healthy but not fancy like the cute little shapes etc of the commercial brands. They tend to eat it nicely instead of gobble it down. The odd raccoon and/or opossum also partakes of the food sometimes, but I make a point of not putting food out at night. They always have water.

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      90. lol – mine are fat cats too. And so is the magpie that grew up on my compost!. I used to put food scraps out on the compost heap but I discovered that the neighbourhood fox was coming for a meal. So brazen. Now the magpie gets the odd handout up in a tree and the compost gets nothing but leaves and weeds.

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      94. Our feral population is under control, actually all of the existing cats are third generation since they were feral. The APL does keep them pretty well controlled. Some places the feral population is out of control, but not here so much.

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      95. We don’t have many ferals in the inner city suburbs but we do have a lot of ferals wreaking havoc amongst the native animals. Also foxes and rabbits. And horses, goats, camels, water buffalo [in certain parts of Australia only]. All animals we introduced and didn’t look after. 😦

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      96. the most effective thing is to round up the females and spay them…just getting the males is not that helpful. The APL here is very effective in some areas here. Did I tell you about our local cop that shot the feral kittens? The woman wanted him to “do something.” because the kittens were scratching and biting kids trying to pick them up. That caused a far-reaching stink! People don’t want them killed…just controlled.

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      98. we here on the compound started with three calicos that some idiot dumped off years ago. Then there was a huge black and white which I named Rambo because he was always fighting and beating up other cats… Rambo is Baby’s father…she looks just like him down to the lightning stripe on the top of his back. One of the original calicos is still around, named Barbara…wild critter…although she doesn’t run from me any more. Once she got hit by a car and caused a major neighborhood issue…I went over to look at her, and identified her, but she did one of those claw-and-teeth things at me. Now she comes around to eat, despite her long-since broken/damaged foot. If I call her she comes to eat.

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      101. water buffalos…and camels? hmmm. We do have deer around, which are a nuisance running into cars and eating crops…. but they found something of a sanctuary here because the highway went through the back and there is a big natural area there. If deer would just stay off the road…

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      105. I don’t know any alpacas personally, but there are some farms south of here that have some. We used to have goats, and they were sweet, almost like dogs. I had a running battle with one big “wether” named Wilbur. Also there was a gander named Hermie…I always threatened him with becoming soup, and when he got killed by a dog I actually DID make soup of him…..but no one (including me) would eat the soup.

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      110. -grin- geese scare me silly! Visited my grandfather’s village back in Hungary and this gaggle of geese came up the road and literally chased me off!

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      112. I manage to understand even the most feral. We had a big guy called Rambo…I named him that because he beat everyone up. And a really crazy calico named Barbara…no one can get any where near her except me. I can’t touch her, but she doesn’t run from me.

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      117. Moby is going to the vet at 2:30. We have our big pet carrier dusted off and ready for the trip … but Pearl and Toby both (or in shifts) are parked on top of it ever since it came in the house yesterday. They know that cat carriers aren’t usually their friend… either they go for shots or nasty ear meds or something…or…well, you know… :-{

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      118. 😦 My cats stay away from the cat carrier too, except for Golli. For some reason he likes to go inside and play peekaboo. I really hope that the news about Mobi is okay. -big hugs-

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      121. yes, I had to physically remove Pearl from inside the carrier when I had to put Moby in…fortunately she only weighs about ten pounds. Getting a 18 or so pound cat into even a big carrier took some doing… 🙂

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      123. we have about three of them, my friend traded me for the biggest one because she has three or four little dogs and she likes them to have one box. Moby pretty much filled up the one we took him to the vet in, we took the lid off to extract him. But he was to sick and rotten feeling to care.

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      124. I have two. If we ever have to retreat to the bunker I’ll squash the cats into the carriers and shove Mogi down my shirt. It’s the only way I have any hope of carrying them. My biggest fear is that if a big fire does come through, they’ll run and hide before I can grab them. 😦

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      126. -nods- I do that with one of them but Golli is the only one who ‘plays’ inside. The rest all have memories of being taken to the vet [when they had to be neutered]. The little mongrels have long memories for some things. :/

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      127. well my cats apparently passed their official mourning point…Baby emerged from her hide-out, Pearl started hanging out with the others, Toby came up from the basement. Sister just acts like she does, she’s a very nice cat.

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      129. oh yeah, the old-timers are missed, but practicality reminds me that the two of them created a lot of the negatives around here…Mrs. Tinky was sometimes kept from the cat-box area downstairs by Toby…and at times they would all gang up on Mrs. Tinky and stake her out. They do understand the words “cut it out or your furry ass is in big trouble.”

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      131. my Toby is still hanging out in the basement, he really misses Moby. He was the same a decade ago when his original mentor (Barney) died. Barney literally chose Toby from an Easter basket of four kittens…B looked them all over with his single eye, and pointedly chose Toby to adopt.

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      133. Toby and his sister Pearl are themselves at least 12 years. Scott went downstairs and carried Toby up here last night and he stayed up here with him watching TV. I went downstairs yesterday also, to sort out some things to sell, and I let Toby in the back room where they do craft stuff. He got a good look around. I also put food and water for him special down there, and he did eat and drink.

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      137. yes, Toby. He seems to have recovered, he’s spending the night upstairs as always and hanging out with the girls. Apparently they have a mourning period. I love cats.

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      142. Ugh. I feel for you. I’ve only suffered a flea plague once but it was awful. The pest eradicator had to do the whole house twice, and I hate chemicals of any sort. 😦

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      143. this is a dry year, and it is very warm oftener than usual. I don’t let any cats to come in and out, Sister is trying to figure out ways to get out but I stop her. I have been doing the candle-dish soap-water thing, which catches a handful (like seven).

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      144. Not sure if this will be of help or not but I sprinkle bi-carb of soda on the carpets and leave for 14 hours or so before vacuuming. That’s apparently long enough to actually kill fleas. Not sure how or why but it’s worked here so far and mine go in and out all the time.
        I know they have fleas and during the height of summer I’ll dab that flea stuff on the back of their necks, but it’s expensive so I try to save it for when it’s really needed.
        Of course having said all that, I’ve probably jinxed myself and this summer will be the summer of fleas…-sigh-

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      145. we have used a mixture of baking soda and vinegar to eliminate pee odor with some success. The candle in soapy water trick works too, but I am such a scatterbrain I’m afraid I’ll burn the house down. I might do the exterminator thing, but not sure what to do with my cats during the procedure, they say 12-24 hours. I could put them in large carriers outside, but I’m not sure what Scott and I would do for that long. I should talk to an exterminator instead of hearsay and get some facts about time limits etc. Meanwhile I’ll just complain about it.

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      147. I called in a professional, Orkin, exterminator…he will be here at between 12 and 2. I need to bundle up the cats in carriers and I will just put them in the car and Scott and I will go out to Oberlin College for four hours. There is always something going on there…right now it is protest of the damn Columbus Day. Actually even Oberlin’s city council approved changing the name to “Indigenous People’s Day” or something like that. There are also a lot of cool shops and the like.

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      149. The reason I called Orkin instead of some flybynight outfit is there reputation. It is interesting to note that the cats still refuse to walk on the carpet, they jump from one furniture to another.

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      153. yes, it is a worry…like everything else. sometimes I wonder if cats are worth the hassle, but then I decide YES, they are. We once had a big black and white named Jake; my daughterinlaw rescued him in Pittsburgh when visiting her friend…took him back to Boston with her, then when they moved to Minnesota later they conned me into taking him. He was a great cat, but given to swan diving off of high cabinets and shelves…he died for no reason I could see except maybe a broken neck. !

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      159. I have decided to post some things on my blog; I like to do poems, which I write in notebooks, then post when I feel like it. I got away from much creative writing when the Rump got elected and the country headed South. I has affected me badly, mostly because of the frustration at the “believers” who have no clue.

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      169. I bit the bullet and called an exterminator (Orkin) to discuss the problem. The woman I talked to dispelled various misinformation like the 12-24 hr. time to keep us and cats out of the house after treatment (actually 4 hours.); don’t have to cover anything; and the cost….I expected it to run into a thousand dollars, actually $184 initial and two month follow up at $78. I can do that….the technician will be here tomorrow between 2 and 4. (Nothing like getting to the facts…)

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      171. after the initial treatment we have to wait 48 hours to vacuum… yikes! Scott says that means we’ll be walking around on dead fleas…. oops…scratchy scratchy

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      176. Damn, you really do have a bad case. Reminds me so much of my own experience way back when. Hope I never have to go through that again. 😦

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      177. actually I can pretty much track the path of this flea thing. I think Tinkerbell was so bad because of her weakened elderly condition, and she led to the flea invasion. Sad. Never happened before, and hope it never happens again. It is very dry this year, and the fleas are rampant. Actually we don’t have as many as expected…we caught some (like seven) in a candle-soap-water trap. Before I put the Dawn in the little critters were swimming around the edges of the dish… I admit that it actually crossed my mind to rescue a couple of them…but I refrained. 🙂

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      178. Yeah, the combination of elderly cat and the dry weather probably triggered the whole thing, but I bet you anything the soil outside is crawling with them too. 😦

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      180. Baby has taken to escaping to the outside when she gets a chance, and last time I had to call in my neighbors, and no less than four cats were on guard on the perimeter. Finally the little rat climbed onto the deck and sauntered into the house on her own. I can’t risk having her get lost, as she couldn’t survive on her own.

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      181. Yeah, that has always been my fear, but my lot are now at an age when they know to stay close to home. Golli won’t go anywhere near the road, and it’s clear that he remembers.

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      182. I have to be mercenary, but I’m worrying about where I will get the money for the vet to get Tinkerbell’s ashes. Now, my next Senior Cat is my huge Maine Coon, Moby. I have had him for 17 years. He has never been very cuddly, scared of everything that moves, or even might move…and all of a sudden he is a lap cat. It’s like having two cats on my lap. He has not been one to hang around for petting or grooming, and has long silky fur, but except for a quick pat on the head I haven’t really petted him enough to see anything unusual. But now that he has lost some of his girth his bone structure is more visible. He has some weird bones, shoulder bones…and he has a huge bump or lump at the base of his tail…it is big enough to fill my hand. My daughter says it is probably a tumor. Moby always acts weird, but now the other cats are hanging around him and being upset. My dilemma…I have very limited funds now, and a big vet bill for a 17 year old cat is not in the cards. As long as he isn’t in pain and is eating he just has to suck it up and live it out. He does seem to be enjoying the “old man cat” position. Now I have six cats, four house cats, and two indoor-outdoor…Sister and her daughter Dottie. Calicos. Pearl and Toby the twins. Baby, and Moby.

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      183. I’ve seen pictures of those Maine Coon cats. They’re amazing, and very smart. I fear your Moby may have become needy because he’s starting to fail. 😦 But there’s very little you can do, even if you had the money. Give him love and make his time happy. Sometimes it’s all we can do. -big hugs-

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      184. Its the big lump/growth thing on his spine/tail bone that worries me. He wants to sit on my lap, which isn’t big enough for him…he’s a BIG boy. The “twins” Pearl and Toby lay by him most of the time…they seem to be keeping a vigil like they did with Tinkerbell.

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      185. Towards the end, my Rosie [tortoiseshell] would try to snuggle with the two dogs. For comfort, I think. I hope I’m wrong. For your sake. -huge hugs-

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      186. maybe that’s the thing… little Pearl was so close to Moby this morning she looked like an appendage 🙂 When I reached the verge of panic Moby jumped up and ran to the food and water dish…:-)

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      188. Moby’s appointment is today at 2:30…if he makes it that long. :-} This is a new vet, closer to me in proximity but our pet history is such that I only took assorted animals here for emergency euthanasia. That sounds cold…but it isn’t. Moby does have a history with our old vet who did everything pet related until recently. Now the biggest issue is that the main road is closed half-way because of a turn-about….really! how cool is that… and our terrible traffic problems are worse than ever.

        Moby probably won’t make it through the day, he’s very sick, and we have the pet carrier sitting near him…which Pearl and Toby are now using as their main hang-out.

        Part of me (the part that counts the pennies) hopes that by 2:30 it will be over. I dearly love Moby…but if he’s going I wish he would just go and get it over with.

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      189. Ah…I didn’t realise things were that bad with Mobi. I’m so sorry. I hope he gets to pass quietly at home too. I’ll be thinking of you both.

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      190. After Tinkerbell passed, Moby just went down hill, I was kidding about him being “the old man” because we always said Tink was milking her old-lady card. By the time we loaded him into the cat carrier…no easy task, he was one big cat! He was always a sissy though, so he should have been cowering and scared of everyone but us. By the time we got there Moby was obviously “checking out.” His heart rythym was off, and the vet suspected some other things. As it was the vet bill was $392…the two cats expenses combined. This is not my long-time vet, who is now less accessible, but I don’t think that would have been much of a break in cost. They were “gently obvious” that they expected payment right then….before they gave Moby the euthanasia … and implied that Tink’s ashes could be used as collateral. Scott (son) and I stayed with Moby until the end.

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      191. I knew from the previous comment that Mobi was gone [reading in reverse order again]. I’m glad you were both there but the I feel for you re the cost. We have a lovely young vet lady whose business model is that she’s the travelling vet. She comes to the house and actually charges less than the vets up the road who have all these overheads.

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      192. There is a pet clinic, called 4PetsClinic which does neutering and spaying on a sliding-cost basis. They also do general veterinarian work, but primarily they are a clinic operation that does shots and emergency surgery etc. The clinic is manned by volunteer veterinarians around the county who do freebie work for the clinic, also they are regular practicing vets. Of course not all vets participate.

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      193. One of the most difficult things about this is having to tell my granddaughter Gina that Moby has also died. Everyone expected Tinkerbell to pass soon, almost 20, but Moby seemed in good old-man-cat condition until he just … got sick and died.

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      195. Tinkerbell did not like Moby from the minute he was adopted and I had the bright idea that she would adopt him. Oh hell no! He used to chase her, and she would screech and holler…but still, they probably did have a bond. Tink did not like kittens in general, she was the same with the others….except for Baby, they all tolerated her.

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      197. Baby has cerebellar hypoplasia (not right spelling I think) which makes her very vulnerable. She is sweet and loving, and the cats all like her. She adapted and learned to compensate for her handicaps. Fortunately she can walk (albeit like a horse walks) and her sweet disposition endears to the other cats. Even Tinkerbell was always kind to her.

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      199. she is sweet but she is so weird…she came out of her hideout and head-bumped all three of the others yesterday, which is a good thing. Pearl is my hold-out, she is the one that was glued to Moby in his last days and she is even less forward than ever. She is pretty low key, very stand-offish, even for a cat…all black, small cat.

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      200. Ah…:( They do grieve. One of my cats, Mickey, was run over and it was a full day before I finally found his body at the local pickup. I asked them to bring him back so I could bury him. Pixie, who adored him, had spent the entire day looking for him. When he came back, she sniffed the body and watched me bury him. She didn’t understand, of course, but she stopped looking for him.
        We have to do the same thing with the alpacas if one of them dies. Leave them on the ground for 24 hours so the rest have a chance to understand that they’ve gone. They are herd animals, but I’ve always believed other animals are the same.

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      208. when I found Moby he was a scraggly looking little thing, but Mrs. Tinky was not impressed…She refused to have anything to do with him, and he harassed her for years…she insisted on hissing at him, so he chased her. Now Pearl…she looks just like Moby except she is a short hair black cat. But when she was a kitten Moby adopted Pearl… my Cat Saga just goes on and on! 🙂

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      210. Tinkerbell lived with a dog before she came to live with me. Once I dog-sat my friend’s do when she went on a trip, and when she came to retrieve him upon her return…Tinkerbell was upset and mad at me for a week! She never met a kitten she liked, except Baby…universally loved.

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      211. It’s odd, isn’t it? Cats are territorial with each other but possessive of their dogs. My Pippi was a tiny stray who grew up with our two dogs. When her kittens were due she had them in my bathroom and one of the dogs, Kushi, became their godfather. My lovely Kushi is gone and the kittens are all grown but they’ve all taken to new dog. She’s ‘their’ dog now.

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      214. dogs are ok, but I can’t stand the licking and barking. Cats are more self-sufficient. My late husband just loved dogs…we always had at least one outside dog. He would bring the dog in when the weather got really cold, below about 15…

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      215. I don’t mean to sound like some kind of literary critic. 🙂 But I know what I like, and now that time is becoming scarcer, I don’t waste time reading something I don’t like!

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      216. You’ve got 19 years on me but I intend to be the oldest everything before I decide I’m ready to go. And I suspect you are exactly the same. I do agree re the preciousness of time. I wonder if that knowledge is the greatest gift of all?

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      217. well I want to believe in reincarnation, because accumulated knowledge in a human brain should not be wasted. Maybe that is why I am so intrigued by your AI…. ingenious, and feasible.

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      218. I’ll be honest and admit I’m an atheist, but if I’m wrong, I wouldn’t mind coming back as a cat…or maybe a dog. I’ve always felt a great affinity with animals so that would be fine by me.

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      225. of course not…I don’t offend easy. Anyway, I am not a believer…except for Oneness The only thing that offends me is when someone talks down to me as a sweet little old lady… not one of those words fits me!

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      229. my great gram was 93 when she died. My husband’s female relatives are very long-lived…his sister is 97, mother was 96, grandmoms 98 and 99….and his aunt was 106. Unfortunately they are related to me not at all except through marriage. Bob was 82 when he died.

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      231. I do. However, I like to be independent, so like being single. Except that my son lives with me, always will, he is developmentally handicapped…and can’t live alone.

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      237. My friend says I’m a “desert rat.” My two sons were born in Tucson, Arizona. My heart and soul was too, I believe… My three daughters all live around here in Ohio, and their kids. My oldest son lives in Minnesota with his contingent.

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      238. AOB is a family run operation in Indiana. Their chat is especially helpful to me, instant help when needed. They also do a “ticket” system for big stuff. And they never act like one is stupid for asking questions, even if they are stupid questions.

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      242. Ah…the son of a good friend of mine is currently working on a big sailing ship out of Hobart [in Tasmania]. He loves it. Me, I’d get seasick on the shore.

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      243. My grandmother also spent a lot of time on lake freighters. Her Mom was dead, and her sister was a cook on a ship…so when Gram wasn’t in school she went out on the lakes with her. Lake Erie, but also into the other Great Lakes.

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      247. I love it when I read something and love it from the beginning…and get into it and find it just doesn’t give up.
        Recently I bought a novel written by my beautician’s sister…and I am at a loss to comment. Her plot is very good, and the first half was interesting and fairly gripping, but then it just collapsed three-fourths of the way through. It was as if she reached a given point then just quit…reverting to a skinny outline.

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      248. Ugh, that’s a shame. The dread mid latitudes can be exhausting, and demoralizing. I find when that happens I just stop and do something else for a few weeks [or months]. Usually by the time I go back to the story, I have the energy to let it develop the way it should. It’s hard though.

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      249. re the novel I mentioned…my old instructor-hat made me want to comment with a pen in the margins.. such as : flesh out the details and finish the thing. And don’t tell us every single morning what the heroine had for breakfast…it was an interesting twink at first but got old….ok, she switched to pancakes, good detail…but don’t belabor the syrup and texture of the bacon.

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      250. -giggles- yes! There’s a fine line between realistic details that create an immersive reality, and details that are just plain boring. 😀

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      251. your brief paragraphs speak volumes, which I admire very much. Too much yadada ruins a plot.
        I’m nowhere near ready to go; my greatgrandmother lived to 93, so I find that encouraging. I’m 83 now, and I DO try to keep that in mind. I literally fell on my face three times this year, so I really am trying not to damage anything. 🙂 oldness is a bitch that I try to work around.

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      253. I am a book dealer, online, so am overwhelmed with books, thousands of them from when I closed my physical shops. If I worked at it I’d make some money, but I spend a lot of time playing on the computer.

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      254. Seriously? Wow. Owning a bookshop and being surrounded by books is like one of those lovely fantasies from childhood. But you actually did it.

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      255. I had one of my shops in a giant indoor flea market, mostly paperbacks. The other was in an antique mall, mostly hardbacks. When I brought all my books home about five years ago they are stacked in boxes…everywhere! Fortunately when I die there are (at least) two of my grandchildren who have “called” to inherit them. I never met a book I didn’t like… ha! I sell on Amazon, Alibris, Biblio, and others; especially Amazon but they take a huge fee. I specialize in mid-20th Century popular paperbacks…lots of History…

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      257. I use TheArtofBooks inventory service. It takes care of orders, and shipping through the post office is great, the carrier picks up ready-to-go packages with postage, etc. Amazon is my main venue, costs are high but they are the industry standard I guess. If I had to run to the post office I wouldn’t be able to afford it at all. It’s part business and part hobby….like my whole life. haha

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      258. I’ve never even heard of TheArtofBooks. You are a true professional. Don’t ever say you’re old. Old is someone who laments the 50s and refuses to live in the present. You are young. 🙂

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      259. I think of myself as ageless. The ArtofBooks, AOB is an inventory service used by book dealers. It is excellent, for $20 a month it provides listing software, keeping the venues sorted out, keeping track of sales and new additions. It is absolutely a service I couldn’t do without. I have only about two thousand titles now in my inventory, though I have several thousands waiting to be listed in the venues: Amazon, Alibris, etc. AOB also has good customer support and will give advice and help on all sorts of related issues. There’s a live chat service too, instant troubleshooting.

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      261. ah ha so that’s how you know so much about gaming…that is intriguing! I don’t do many games now, just bubble-shoot stuff…do you remember the old “Adventure” game which was all done with single commands like “jump” or “left” “down” “take (as in stone or whatever.)’ That was a early DOS game. I maintained a huge map which I drew of various levels….always have been pretty anal. 🙂

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      262. You play!?! There is a little game called Stardew Valley that I think you would really enjoy. The graphics are kind of old school but it kept me hooked for weeks.
        I used DOS all the time but it never occurred to me that it might be possible to play games with it as well. I’m impressed. 🙂
        I didn’t get into games until the Offspring was old enough to play. ‘Our’ first was a platform game called Crystal Caves. Motherly self-sacrifice soon gave way to addiction. 😀

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      263. I hear that! I had my first computer in 1983, and have had at least one ever since. I absolutely loved that Adventure game…played for years, until more sophisticated games came out. My daughter plays Second Life….which I downloaded, but I haven’t gotten into it. I used to play MIST and some others, but I tend to get hooked and live out… 🙂

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      264. lol – I’ve had to ration my playing otherwise I’d never get anything done. Luckily my brain goes into neutral after dinner so that’s when I play for an hour or sometimes three. 🙂

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      266. Yes, the early Final Fantasies had some naming issues, but from 7 onwards everyone is in sync.
        The thing I’ve always loved about the Final Fantasy series is that it is so strongly storybased. Plus the fighting is ‘turn based’ which means it’s about strategy rather than speed of reflexes.

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      271. I found the PC version (free) but my security program doesn’t like it, so I need to check it out. Or maybe I’ll buy another version. I like to have a good game to go to when I’m bored. I have one called Egypt something or other…very addictive, I paid for it, and it never gets old.

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      272. I agree. Playing allows me to switch off from the day and relax far better than TV. By the time I’m ready to curl up in bed with a book/Kindle, I feel human. 🙂

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      281. right…or else! 🙂 The doc did prescribe some meds that control my overactive bladder. It’s oxybutynin. It is expensive, even with my insurance it will be $50.00…. if it didn’t work so well I would not get it. At first I had to pay $22.00 but it went up for some reason….probably because it works so well they charge more. bah humbug!

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      283. yes, my main source of income is my widow’s bit from my late husband’s pension which is from the state of Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund. So my prescriptions are covered, OPF provides the supplemental insurance after my Medicare. This new med is good…new…it works very well. The $50.00 is on top of the actual amount they pay. It was $22.00, which was outrageous itself, but then it went up. I guess they figured out it worked really well, and women are so happy not to be peeing themselves all the time so they are willing to pay. I am.

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      284. I’m glad your health is covered but jacking up the price like that is positively evil. I bet if it was a man, the full amount would be subsidised. Sorry, not a rabid feminist but I’m getting grumpy in my old age. We were supposed to be past all this by now.

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      285. well to play the devil’s advocate, this is a brand new (more or less) med for a condition that affects many women, maybe most? overactive bladder. The pharma companies come out with the new meds, then goudge everybody to get some of their investment back…then when it goes generic the price drops.

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      290. I think the whole world has noticed his vendetta. Yet the more 45 does, the better Obama looks in contrast. I’m sure Obama had his bad side, but at least he tried to do something /for/ people instead of just talking about it. 😦

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      291. actually everything he did when he was pres. was blocked by the Republican congress…so much of his accomplishment was by executive order. That 45 can rescind or countermand. The Dems are a handful of votes short of a majority…my Senator is a Dem, so that’s all I can do…the other one is an R, so its b.s. as usual!

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      292. I do enjoy a good book to read if I want, not too much gore, but a lively plot. I’ve always liked John Grisham, but the last couple of his novels have been a big disappointment to me.

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      294. They seemed to have not much of a plot. When I traveled a lot I always had a Grisham with me, I’ve read everything almost that he wrote. Another author I like is Lisa Scottoline.

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      295. Oh, I haven’t heard of her heard. I’ll look her up. I don’t buy much traditionally published stuff any more because of the cost, but I’m still interested.

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      296. Lisa Scottaline is a lawyer, and now writes fiction. I like her characters, and the plots revolving around law firms and courts. I like lawyer-books, which is why I like Grisham. I have read all his books, and Scottaline’s too. She had a best seller a few years ago and then the bookstores brought out a collection of her other novels…I bought about six of them at once, and loved them all. Her new ones never disappoint.

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      298. light reading, fun, not bloody and always fun plots. She had one character who is a court judge, who picks up guys in bars for nefarious purposes…I loved that one.

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      300. once I was at the airport in Philadelphia waiting for a flight, reading a Scottoline novel, and felt a tap of my shoulder and a voice saying “isn’t she great!?” It was a gate attendant… Scottoline is a native of Philadelphia.

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      302. That was one of the last flights I took…used to love flying, but now it can be a nightmare. I always think the best of everything though…so I always got along good. A good book was the first thing I packed when I traveled.

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      306. I do have the side effect that sometimes I don’t know what my notes say. My muse from my brain dictates so fast sometimes that I can’t scribble it out fast enough. Especially with poetry, which usually wants to gush out all at once and it is so easy to “forget” a word or two.

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      308. one of the most valuable courses I ever took in school was Gregg Shorthand…I was fair at it, and it was useful to me throughout my life. At one time I was clerk of council, and kept minutes of meetings. Also as a reporter I could get good quotes. And as a student my notes were quite adequate…I always transcribed my notes as soon as possible, especially names of people or places and any “strange” words.

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      310. I was not “college bound” as a teenager, so took secretary-skills in school. In those days, mid-1950s, girls could realistically be a secretary, teacher, or nurse. I loved shorthand…something about the codification or whatever…like learning Russian, I like the Cyrillic alphabet characters and now that I have pretty much learned what they mean it’s a challenge. The other “most valuable courses” I took were: Latin, various myths and allegories, and assorted linguistical courses. Shakespeare and the Bible….helpful in some ways i.e. meanings and interpretation…but as literature. I love all things literary, think in a previous life I was a scribe, a monk probably.

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      312. absolutely! My favorite all time novel is Humberto Eco’s Name of the Rose. There is a movie version which is very disappointing, but I’ve read the book like four times and recommend it to anyone I can. It appeals to the Historian in me, and my affinity for all things bookish.

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      314. There was a movie out, but it concentrated on obscure parts (sex, etc.) rather than the literary theme which was actually the point of the book. The plot is set in a monastery in 12th Century, involves scribes and the order that maintained the fabulous library…that was the most intriguing part to me. Library of forbidden works. There is a lot of detail, especially in the last handful of chapters.

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      315. -sigh- that’s one reason I tend to stay away from movies of books I’ve loved. I guess the producers didn’t think a story about books would put bums on seats. 😦

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      316. well the brief sex in the kitchen scene in the book turned into a major hot spot in the film. Sean Connery was the star. I was so disappointed that the more intellectual aspects got short shrift in comparison.

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      317. Sadly, almost inevitable. I read somewhere that film studios plonk a bunch of people in a room for a preview and their considered opinion ends up dictating much of the movie.
        The Offspring and I watched an amazing movie called ‘Interstellar’ on DVD recently and you could tell where they /changed/ the perfect and right ending to satisfy movie-goers’ need for a happy ending. Ruined it completely.

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      323. maybe I should just go to BestBuy and buy the game, instead of trying to download the free one online. I found a salesman there who actually understood me, and vice versa, when I asked about NoMan’sSky. I like it when they understand what I want … and even better when I understand what I want. 🙂

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      325. Back in the day when I was still saving up to buy my first computer, I religiously pored over the Computer magazines and read everything I could find on the subject…global search and search and replace and all that jargon. I actually knew more about computers than some of the Radio Shack salespeople. I remember my line: “when all of the contents of the New York City Library are available through my computer I will buy one.” LMAO The new ones hadn’t come out yet, and I was chomping at the bit!

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      326. -grin- I think we were incredibly lucky to become computer nerds when we did. Computers and the internet provide a gateway into the world and the chance to meet like-minded friends. We have a freedom that many people of /my/ generation still don’t have. The world is our oyster. 🙂

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      327. My sister-in-law is 97. We tried to set her up with a computer system and internet, but she absolutely refused. She is a retired RN, very well educated and knowledgeable about all sorts of things…and she would benefit SO much from having internet access. She lives at a retirement home where they have a computer lab, and volunteers to help newbies. But no…she won’t even consider it.

        Likewise with my oldest friend, longevity wise…lives in Arizona. She and her late husband spent maybe three minutes trying to get into a computer system that their daughters tried to set up, but no way! Just email and ability to exchange pictures and to research whatever….. she is another person who would LOVE computer.

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      328. My sister-in-law is only 63 and it took her a long time and a lot of pushing to start using a computer. Even now I’m not sure how comfortable she is with it.
        I suspect a lot of people are just scared of breaking the damn thing. I’ve tried to tell my students that they need a sledgehammer if they want to break it, but it still takes a while to sink in.

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      331. yes, like a toilet…commode…loo…pot…throne… whatever, it doesn’t have to be beautiful, just work when it needs to. I need a new one and someone said it could cost $1,000…… I said oh hell no…Home Depot has them for a $100. It needn’t do any tricks…just flush.

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      334. some day computer systems will come with food vending machine capability and a water fountain… then if they solve the bathroom problem… dumb, I know, but who knows?

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      335. Not dumb at all, but I suspect we’ll stop ‘using’ computers and simply interact with them instead – like glorified light switches. Necessary, but no big deal.

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      337. Can I ask you a question? Did you find the ‘gaming’ bits boring? I did have one reviewer that wasn’t a fan and I’m just curious. Btw, I read both reviews and I’m so chuffed. Thanks again. 🙂

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      340. I do like the games. I like Final Fantasy VII, but my common sense is telling me that I just cannot spend hours playing games. I need to spend more time on my book business online, and also list some stuff on eBay … or Etsy … that will sell quickly and make some money. I like FFVII, but what I’d like to do is walk through the game, I enjoy the interface and characterizations, and good story line…but the fighting is tedious, even using Magic as much as possible.

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      345. I couldn’t figure out what to do with the tip…W and mouse to steer. I did learn how to bring the hero back to life with the potion…I’m on level 7. This time I left the game before “game over” but I can’t figure out how to save a game and restore it at the saving point; instead of starting over with a new game.

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      346. Ugh, it’s been well over 10 years since I played but from memory you have to find ‘Save points’ and save there. I looked it up and there was this handy picture of what a save point looks like:

        just stand next to one, open the menu and then select save from the menu.
        Okay, how are you moving around at the moment?

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      347. I’ll check that link. I found some walk-throughs for FFVII. I’m using the arrow keys to walk, C to run, pretty much just playing by ear….just gave the potion and brought the hero back to life. I use the menu chart for functions. I was a bit nervous about how to quit the game at first. I want to save so I don’t have to start all over at the start.

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      349. Of course. I think this was the one:

        There’s also this youtube video clip. Right at the opening sequence you see Cloud ‘save’ at the save point before going on to do a fight. Afterwards he comes back and you see the save point again.

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      355. not yet. I have a brief list of tips from various sources including you…and there is a wiki I found that has a lot of tips, but I don’t have time to do any deep research.

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      358. a few clues in the walk-through helped enormously. I found the first save point and now understand what it looks like. My problem is I try to put too much into the games…like noting codes for later complicated puzzles….I admit I tend to over-think just about everything. 🙂

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      359. -grin- Go you! Does it really matter if you overthink things? My take on games is that the best ones allow our imaginations to go wild while giving us constant puzzles to solve. And they challenge us. I can never understand why a lot of gamers are in such a rush to ‘beat’ the game. It’s there to be enjoyed!

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      360. I agree. The old Adventure game for CP/M was appealing to me because when I drew a big poster map it laid out the whole thing and it took some imagination along with any skill. When I graduated to WordPerfect and more scholarly pursuits the Adventure game just went by the wayside.

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      365. pure old demonization propaganda. I have a specialty of watching that. Now one of our new targets (besides NK, Iran, Cuba,) is Venezuela. That’s my area, Latin America…and the saber-rattling is the same old same old against Maduro. OIL.

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      367. not a chance…its not just 45, it’s standard operation in Latin America. That’s why there isn’t much about it in the news, one of our secretaries of state Stilwell (I think) once said they are “so far from God and so close to the U.S. This fiasco about help for Puerto Rico is hung up on a 100+ year old law that forbids any non-US ship from doing any business—food, medical, whatever — there. It’s called The Jones Act.

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      369. There is a lot more to this than is public at this time. Puerto Rico and some Virgin Islands and others there are part of our eastern line of defense. This law is part of national security and old Cold War stuff… Yes, if Australia had sent a ship last weekend it would not have been allowed to dock in PR. Now, incidentally, 45 has waived the Jones Act and “foreign” ships can be allowed.

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      379. mainly two, although I am uncomfortable with my “household” email supposed to be dedicated to my business, and household bills, has also expanded to include political crap like newspapers and all sorts of web sites. Even my theoretical “friends and family” venue is cluttered with other stuff.

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      380. yeah, mine is too. I guess it’s inevitable as email is one of the two pieces of info. required for just about every website out there.

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      382. Hah! We agree on so much more thanI ever imagined. I loathe FB as well. It’s like an octopus with billions of tentacles, all of them toxic.

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      383. those social medium are evil if ya ask me… my family down in Florida are always fighting about something….division between those who think, and those who don’t. 🙂

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      384. lol – I do kind of enjoy Twitter as a place to rant every now and then. Facebook though? I have an account but I use it maybe twice a year. I really can’t see the point of it. 😦

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      387. I am not much for extended family, after three son-in-laws + 2 exes, and one daughter -in-law that is super great, an ex-grandson-in-law. I always say I have more sonsinlaw than daughters, even though two are exes. In my family they are either in or out…with me… 🙂

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      388. lol – all of mine are in-laws as I don’t have any blood relies here in Australia any more. Sadly the ones in Hungary [of Mum and Dad’s generation] died out and I haven’t kept up with those of my generation. I speak Hungarian but I can’t really write it so it became too hard.

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      395. I love my family, but most of my sisters and their kids and grandkids and great grands live in Florida. I have always thanked my lucky stars that I was spared all that potential drama and heartbreaks involved in close in proximity family.

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      402. on my blog today I have a video my granddaughter made of her trip through the southwest US, featuring an original song she wrote which she says is her favorite one. It’s a super video, if I do say so myself… 🙂 it is on utube.

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      404. It will be interesting to see what 45 does in Puerto Rico, he’s enroute now. That mess is not pretty, but nothing 45 does is pretty. I will divert from my general criticism and comment that he is becoming better looking…he was always mucho guapo, but now he’s taming that terrible hair and doing a greyer color. He also lost some weight and his clothes are looking better on him. (How’s that for catty criticism?)

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      405. -giggles- yes! I thought he was looking a little less jowly and orange but I thought it might just have been a more flattering camera angle. Maybe someone finally showed him a candid camera shot. 😀

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      406. he looked like the Hulk looming ominously over most of the people in Puerto Rico. Attacked the Mayor of San Juan… now he is threatening PR that they are costing too much (for what the island is worth) and they are all lying about the vast amounts of help he is supplying and they are “whining ingrates.”

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      415. they are going this coming weekend. They go to Vegas then drive over to visit his daughter and grandson who live in California. They are going to spend much of the time in a cabin in California.

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      416. I only visited the States once, when the ex and I went to a computer conference in Las Vegas. It’s a strange place. We were both so relieved to land in San Francisco. Best two days of the whole trip.

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      417. My daughter and husband are in Vegas, and California right now. Their daughter and grandson live there, which is why they go out to visit often. They are good people.

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      420. Far it be for me to stick up for 45, but in this case he is in a spot…the waiver is probably temporary and they still may exclude ships from certain countries which are on our “bad boy country” at this time.

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      422. omg that situation gets worse and worse. 45 says its all great…but it isn’t. The mayor of San Juan, PR…is one of the only real people on the telly…. the big navy hospital ship will go there…next week!, but meantime the people there are more than anything else to 45…a nuisance that will take a lot of money he would rather spend on something like his ridiculous wall on the Mexican border.

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      423. Yes. 😦 We saw a news clip of the Mayor on TV recently and she seems like a smart, honest, dedicated woman. The contrast is painful.

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      428. he is so nasty…made fun of the only woman R candidate…her looks! I didn’t like her, but that’s beside the face. Called one man Little Marco, another Lying Ted, and he had a snide remark about everyone.

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      430. male chauvinist, expects and takes advantage of his power(s) to maul women and expect them to “put out” to his every whim. Every woman in the world has certainly known men like that in their lifetime, creeps that had to be literally fought off.

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      432. I did a hilarious paper on the subject of male dominance once…the women in the class got it and related to my presentation points…the men did not have a clue! 🙂

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      438. this is especially true in the arab countries I think, but also in different ways in the wake of Evangelical teachings … keep the little woman barefoot and pregnant and don’t let her have schooling beyond sewing and cooking… and raising good little nitwits.

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      439. It’s all power, isn’t it? A man who is powerless in the face of the world can at least have one person on earth who is even less powerful than he is. An unbeatable addiction. 😦

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      441. he has insulted the presidents of Mexico, Australia, France, Germany, did a hand-contest with Japan that was really insulting and stupid… insults everyone…especially women who he brags about literally grabbing their privates…. he is a big fat creep.

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      443. these are people who just naturally are opposed to nearly everyone else, especially those of a different race or nationality. You know, travelers who laugh at and ridicule anyone perceived to be “beneath” them. This is very very pervasive, and has always been that way…but 45 has brought out the very worst in people.

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      444. I agree. We used to feel ashamed of our baser impulses because there was a stigma attached to them. Now, he’s invited his followers to indulge with impunity…just the way he does.

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      446. I can sort of understand the general feeling of dissatisfaction with the ‘system’. It’s not working well anywhere in the West at the moment. But how can any sane person think Trump is the antidote???

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      447. no sane person supports trump. He is literally insane, and the investigations are plodding along as slowly as possible. And that idiot we have for a vice president doesn’t reassure me…although I do like his wife. maybe…. 🙂

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      449. I like his wife, as I’ve said before. He was governor of Indiana, when trump picked him for VP…over who trump really wanted. Right now I know he is walking on eggs, because if t I’;ll be back soon…………………

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      453. cool…my basic training was as need-to-know at the newspaper when they first went online…they had a need basis, full-time staff first, then part-timers, etc. As for word processing and and other knowledge of computers I pretty much learned myself.

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      454. Yeah, I was pretty much the same. I was sent off for a two day course on Lotus 123, but that was the extent of my formal education in computers. Everything else has been a case of teaching myself. But the good thing about that is you learn things the hard way so you know how to fix whatever your students throw at you. 😀

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      455. right, my daughter was the sort-of-computer-guru at the hospital where she worked…she knows her way around computers and Word, etc. When I first got my KayPro I had no one to teach me anything…but I figured it out myself. Trial and error for 30 odd years… I had more problems with printers actually. Printers can be inherently evil. Then later versions of Windows… Win10 update seems to be good, I guess its time for them to improve it and screw it up again.

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      456. lol – I have Win10 on my laptop [that I hardly use] but I refuse to have it on my desktop as it takes the Big Brother thing to new levels. You can turn much of it off if you know where to look, but no, I hate 10 with a passion.

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      457. I still hate Microsoft because they forced Word on everyone. I hate Win10…but I hated Win8 even more! The biggest problem I have is with photos/images….that absolutely drives me nuts.

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      458. Yeah, I agree totally. I stayed away from 8 completely and I’ll only use 10 at work where that’s all we have. For my personal use it’s 7 all the way. Until Microsoft or /someone/ come up with a better operating system I’m not budging.

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      461. “On January 13, 2015, Microsoft will stop mainstream support for Windows 7–which is still an extremely popular operating system. But you’ll still be able to use it safely for another five years.” (PCWorld)

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      464. that is interesting info. Not too long ago BestBuy was advertising new computers with Win7. My first Windows was … hmmm, I remember Windows95 with was great, I had that for a long time then XP….. 8 almost sent me to the nut house…7 is still on my old lapatop which has a new hard drive, but I don’t use it anymore; now I’m getting along ok with Win 10 the newest update. What has actually made me cry is working with images…it seems to me sometimes it works and sometimes not! 🙂

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      466. my issues with images are getting them transferred from their url or site over to their source. Like in the WordPress posts, sometimes the pics just slide right over nicely and sometimes they don’t. wrong sequence I guess

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      468. yes they are saved into “Photos” or “PlayMemories” Actually the issue-du-jour is scanning book covers into a file that can be inserted into my inventory listings.

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      473. Sometimes I suspect that the support people are not really bloggers themselves. When I’m having difficulty I don’t want to hear that I don’t understand and therefore are not doing (whatever) correctly. I want support from the git-go…. “insert plug into wall outlet; turn on computer switch;” specifics specifics specifics@

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      478. the word “snake” comes to mind…. he is in a position where if he plays his cards right he will end up in the “king” chair. That means unspeakable suck-up…. holier than thou bible thumper… ready to stab the boss in the back Rs in particular are not nice people…to use an understatement.

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      480. They better hurry up to save us from the shambles. First hurricanes, now terrible forest fires in California…what’s next? tornadoes in the Midwest? earthquake? They have been talking about California breaking off at the San Andreas Fault and crashing into the Pacific Ocean. Yes, we really are drama queens over here… 🙂

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      482. listening to this man blubber on about God and goodness and honesty and truth, saluting the flag and pledge of allegiance….. it literally is making me absolutely ill. good grief…now he is announcing a national day of prayer… I am running out of obscenities to scream at the TV…

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      491. they are against abortion, of course, and stuff like proper flag etiquette… my girl scouts wanted to burn the flag every time it accidentally touched the floor… lol asshoes it will serve them right if they someday have to salute a nazzzy flag. Yea king!

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      493. we are taught very early on to recite the pledge of allegiance, sing the national anthem with hand over heart, and recite the lord’s prayer… by law children can’t be required to do any of that, but in practice…what happens to a six-year-old that tries NOT to fall in line yikes

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      494. Meh…my offspring spent the first 4 years of school at a public school and that included RE [Religious Education]. Coming from a family of atheists that was hard. I hate the way one particularly religious affiliation is shoved down kids’ necks. If they were taught about all religions as a kind of ‘religious philosophy’ class, that would be okay. But this? pttttui….

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      495. each religion seems to hate the others regardless of how “ecumenical” they are….especially these dammed fundamentalists that voted trump in and make up much of his base…I see them as uneducated and unwashed hordes. My daughter said that I think I’m smarter than other people…which isn’t true, although I have a more thorough education through a left-wing (i.e. humanity-first) filter.

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      496. Yes, you’re right about all religions being much the same when it comes to the competition – I mean look at the Buddhist monks in Myenmar?
        As an atheist, I tend not to care although I do find it easier to socialise with other like-minded people.
        I guess we all live in our own filter bubble, but I believe us lefties can at least see outside the bubble even if we don’t want to leave it.

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      497. Buddhism as always been interesting to me, and my grandson is very much into it. The evangelical bible-thumper types are the ones that annoy me…the goal is for the preacherman to build a huge edifice to his own glory… women scrambling to wear long skirts, and do what ever their Man wants them to do. Disgusting. These are largely the trump people. They think and actually say that God sent trump to save the nation. Is that bull cookies or what?

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      498. I can hear a lot of bulls singing soprano. I usually cheer for the underdog but the bible thumpers inspire nothing but a creeping kind of horror. 😦

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      505. reading a wiki about it, I try not to feel guilty when finding tips. I’d really like to walk through the whole game, but not spend a lot of time. Reading the tip sheets also provides structure to the game for me, and I’d like to explore further without taxing my brain cells too much.

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      507. the infernal fighting is annoying…I’ve gotten so I have good results with the magic spells, and also with hand-to-hand combat. I really want to learn how to save the progress though.

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      508. replying in reverse order again so I know you’ve solved the save problem. 🙂
        By the way, FFVII, and in fact all the FFs use turn based fighting which means that it’s fundamentally about /strategy/. I think that’s what I loved best about the whole game.

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      509. yes I see that…the fighting has shortened with some strategic info. I got past the first save point, but unfortunately I was out of potions and other and Cloud needs one badly! I wasted the potions trying to resurrect Cloud. Barrett gets beaten up pretty bad before the game over.

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      511. yes, this is true…there are levels at which games can be saved and picked up in any order. I haven’t figured out the mechanics of that but once I know what CAN be done I usually can figure out HOW to do it.

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      512. I wouldn’t advise doing it a lot coz I think your later games may get over-written. But say you missed something really important, something that you need to complete the game, then it would make sense to go back and repeat only from that saved point onwards.

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      516. do you play No Man’s Sky? One of my blogger pals was into it when it first came out, and I considered getting it but although the cost is minimal I like to get only what I really want.

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      519. Yes, I saw that too. I’m intrigued by the idea that crafting and gathering are equally as important as ‘fighting’. When I get sick of Final Fantasy XIV I may give NMS a try.

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      520. BestBuy has NMS both for playstation/xbox and also for PC. I love it when I talk to computer geeks and we are on the same page 🙂 It costs about $60.00. I was tempted to order it last year when it started, but couldn’t afford it then. Now the reviews are very good on the many updates… I love the concept of searching around looking for whatever I can find.

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      521. Yes, I think the updates have improved it considerably. I love crafting and gathering too so I’m actually holding off because I might enjoy it too much just now. 😀

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      523. I know, “fighting” is old hat, I will go “explorer” status when I go to NMS. My daughter has been playing “Second Life” for a long time, she said when she was working (RN) she only played a little at a time, but now she’s retired and has lots of time…until she gets back into school. 🙂

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      524. I’ve tried Second Life, but the graphics and movement just drove me crazy.
        My gaming goes in cycles. When I’m writing and working it takes a back seat. When I’m ‘fallow’ it comes to the fore. I’m writing like crazy at the moment [non-fiction] so I’m not gaming much.

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      532. ha! I have used more bad words for Windows 8…and the original Windows 10 was a real bitch…the update was mandatory. I was afraid it would screw my operation up…but so far so good. fingers crossed.

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      533. I feel for you. I avoided 8 like the plague and although I have 10 on my laptop [needed for work] I’ve kept 7 on my desktop. The desktop is my workhorse and I intend to keep using it until Microsoft stop all support.

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      534. I need to put a word processing app back on…I have WordPerfect11 on my laptop, but it won’t work on my “main frame” WIN10. I absolutely REFUSE to use Word…Microsoft Word. If I can scrape up the cash I’ll buy the WP update, I still can get student rate I think. I’ve been a loyal customer since WP4.5…. which was wayyyyy back in the day.

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      535. One of my friends uses an open source wordprocessing package…can’t remember the name though. I use a dedicated writing software call StoryBox for most of my writing but I need the Office Suite as I have to teach it. Plus the how-to book I’m writing at the moment has tons of screenshots and StoryBox isn’t really for heavy graphics.
        StoryBox or Scrivener are both very similar and I think both cost around 35-39 dollars US.

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      536. I’ll check out StoryBox and Scrivener…I am familiar with Open Source, which I have used for creative type writing. My dissertation called for footnotes and all that stuff, plus Spanish characters and punctuation, so I used WordPerfect (up to 11.) Actually it was one of the techs at AOB that recommended Open Source to me for spreadsheets as well as word processing.

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      537. I’d really love to get away from all things Microsoft but I’m stuck with it, at least for now. Once I retire for good, I’ll think about maybe trying Linux too.

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      538. I just resent that Microsoft hogs everything and takes over all else. I know some who have used Linux in the past, but I know nothing about it. Right now I need to send a big file (much of granddaughters show from last Saturday) and don’t know how to do it. It’s too big for email, and I haven’t been able to figure out the transfer-apps. Maybe I’ll just burn it to a CD and mail it snail mail. any advice?

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      539. I don’t do much big stuff myself, but I believe Dropbox allows you to upload large files. How large though, I don’t know. There’s also another crowd but can’t think of the name just now. Will try to find it up for you.

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      542. this is probably the only big file I am likely to send. I could figure out WeTransfer, but it was taking too much time, probably because I wasn’t on the main site.

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      544. in this case, I managed to get most of my granddaughter’s band’s performance last week. The video is …let’s say not bad…needs some work on my recording skills. 🙂

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      546. I just sort of jump into what I need to do…screws it up sometimes, but usually not. I have been told that if I do something wrong like try to plug a cord into a hole that doesn’t fit, it just won’t work….won’t hurt anything.

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      548. I taught myself CP/M and WordStar, which came with my first computer, my KayPro2 back in 1983. Not sure if that was DOS then or not. The A Drive held the operating system and still had space for files; the B Drive held 5 1/4″ disc. I was working for the newspaper then and as a part-timer I had computer training when the paper went to computer, so that helped get the hang! I think the trick was/is to find out what the machine will do and then make it do it! 🙂

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      549. OMG…me too! Except I learned in the IT dept of a bank. From memory there were two operating ‘languages’ but DOS eventually took over, maybe because of Microsoft. Wow, that takes me back. We’re dinosaurs, you and I. 😀

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      550. The C:\ prompt… I loved WordStar, but when I started the university the industry-standard they used was WordPerfect4. It was supported by their computer lab. WordStar was on the way out, and boy did I resent that!

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      551. We must have been very much in sync. Wordstar was my first, followed by WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3. Remember that old spreadsheet program? Then Microsoft killed off all the competition. -sigh-

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      552. that’s why I don’t like Microsoft, but I’m nice to them…just in case. 🙂 I don’t know how to do a spreadsheet, on the principle that the less I know the less I may have to do.

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      556. the kids apparently had already learned Calculus in firth or sixth grade. I have always been a do-do when it came to math…I wrote a poem to that effect, I’ll re-post it.

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      557. lol – I think it’s genetic. My Dad was an engineer and an absolute maths wiz. I only took math up till year 11 before I finally talked him into letting me drop it. Oddly enough, logic and stats I really enjoy. -shrug-

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      558. My granddaughters, especially, are all math enthusiasts…my Jeri’s “other” choice of work would have been math, accounting…etc. I’m glad she chose music, where she can and will be mostly happy and satisfied, instead of in a well-off but boring bank job. Oh, I got a C in logic, too…Aristotlian Logic…why I ever thought I could do that beats me. I loved it though. But Logic tests with questions dealing with “Mary Sue and Jill, Tom, Bob and Pete…Main Street, Ave. 7, and Apt. 68—what is their dog’s name?” That kind of question turns my brain to whirling jelly. 🙂

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      559. I agree completely. Life is way too short to waste any of it on make-work. Oddly though, maths and music apparently do go together, at least in some people. 🙂

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      560. yes I think something about the music of the spheres out in cyberspace someplace….I love stuff like that. I can sometimes do math in my head, but on paper I fumble and fret and fail.

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      561. lol – I still remember my times tables, well most of them. I think we are of a generation that was still taught to be self-sufficient in a lot of respects.

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      562. I think so too, although many older women still are handicapped simply by being women…helpless unless they had “a man.” My ex married one of those…she was really desperate and couldn’t do the simplest thing by herself. idiot…and she taught her daughter to be an idiot too.

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      563. -sigh- it’s /easy/ being helpless, but it is no survival trait, that’s for sure. Any woman who expects a man to make her life bearable these days is a fool.

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      565. At the time, mid 1980s, WordStar et al were pretty much among “onlys” and also the KayPro2…my first… was recommended by a friend on the newspaper staff who was into writing and was interested in going on to the computer. The paper actually went computerized at about that time. Although I was a Newbie to computers then, I was still the first kid I knew to have one. I had been saving up to buy an IBM Selectric 2…. and as it happened when I decided to buy a computer I had almost enough money. The total cost was something like $2,000 including a printer. I taught myself CP/M… LOL

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      566. -grin- half the reason I married the ex was because he was into computers too. We had a small computer business for years. Don’t think I married him just for the computers but… 😀

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      568. We did both hardware and software. So hardware sales and installation but not repairs, and then some off the shelf software and I think…3? No four software products that we developed. I was involved in tech support and tech writing for the software. Didn’t really have to learn anything about hardware until after the divorce. Then it was a steep learning curve. 🙂

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      569. I am really impressed. No wonder you are familiar with computers and software. I have always been on a need-to-know basis with my computers. My daughter was sort of the shift guru at the hospital floor where she worked. Now she is retired she is pursuing her masters in nursing with Informatics specialty…that’s this recent effort to get medical offices and hosp. online to facilitate patient records.

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      570. lol – mine is mostly ‘need to know’ as well. It’s just that I kind of enjoy it as well, in a weird masochistic way. 😀
        No offence to all the hard working nurses in hospitals, but records are useless if no one reads them.
        When the Offspring had the appendectomy, they’d only read the last couple of lines of the chart and missed earlier stuff, some of it important. Time is what the staff need.

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      571. The universal records are actually effective in providing information, the key is to get the staffs to accept them. The object is to have medical records available any place any time. We were in Mexico once when I got sunburned so bad I had to go in to a clinic for treatment. That was really inconsequential…hurt like hell…but another time at an archeological site my face was so red a young doctor working a medical facility insisted that I sit down and she did my blood pressure. I always forget my age…I was quite a few years younger then but still over-did. (I think there is a point here, but it got lost in my rhetoric. 🙂

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      573. it drives the doc’s nuts… here our government is trying its damndest to avoid any kind of universal health care… big business… one of my aunts moved to Canada with their teen sons back in the 70s and became Canadian citizens.

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