Happiness Port Project!

So I'm Stuck In This Tiny Room

Now, I've lived in small places, including a cardboard box, but I've never been told I have to stay there. Well, not since I was nine or so... I'm introverted by nature, but even I get stir crazy after a while. And, while you're out during this madness, the last thing you want is to be near other people. Six feet? My sweet patootie! If you can reach me with a punt, you're too darn close!

What makes it worse for me is this, and some of you know, but most don't. I just moved to Texas from Oregon for a job, and my family is still back there... with my mastiffs. Sure, I can talk to them, but it's not the same. Part of this job, and all of it so far, has been research. If I finished something? Read it again... and again. It was driving me nuts. So, one of the items they gave me was a list of Texas cities, with pronunciations. If you don't live here, well, the document is 17 pages, two columns, and a font so small you can barely read it. Oh, and some of these places defy all the rules of any language I've ever seen.

So, it was a beautiful day in Austin, and I was out on my balcony reading these town names when a neighbor came out. I asked him how to say one, and I tried repeating it, and he chuckled and worked me through it. Well, since everyone was home, guess what happened? Yeah... I had half a dozen people "helping" me with these crazy things, and having a really good laugh. The beer and wine was flowing, and we had one hell of a little party... separately, of course. Thankfully, I'm a natural comedian and enjoy lots of laughter. Human interaction as fine as we could have it!



When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. ~ Swift